Origin
Nicaragua was the first Central American country to seek OAS assistance with the mine problem. In August 1991, OAS Secretary General Joao Clemente Baena Soares responded to the Nicaraguan request by asking the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) to study the issue and make recommendations on possible solutions. The IADB formed a special commission to conduct a detailed technical analysis of the Nicaraguan needs and assistance requirements. In December 1991, the IADB concluded its study, recommending an initial effort worth an estimated $ 1.6 million.
Subsequently, the OAS General Assembly met in Managua in May 1992, where the member states adopted Resolution 1191, which supported the Central American peace process and recognized the IADB's efforts to support Nicaragua. The resolution also established a special fund to accept contributions from international donors to support mine clearance operations. Soon thereafter, the other Central American republics also asked the OAS to provide similar demining assistance.
As funding was acquired, the IADB continued to move forward with the Nicaraguan plan, requesting its member countries to designate officers and noncommissioned officers to take part in the training and initial supervision of Nicaraguan deminers. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay each provided military personnel to fill a fifteen-member instructor/supervisor team. The United States offered training to the team at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, and in April 1993, the team arrived in Nicaragua to begin training 130 soldiers who were organized into five demining platoons. When training was complete, the IADB team provided supervision of demining operations from June through December of 1993.
By December 1993, however, initial funding was exhausted and the IADB team was withdrawn. In 266 days of work of the 575 initially scheduled, the five platoons cleared sixty objectives, destroyed 2,858 mines, and cleared a surface area of 3,400 square meters.
Although OAS-assisted demining operations would not be reinitiated in Nicaragua until 1996, the success of the initial program sparked greater interest in expanding demining throughout the region. In late 1994, a new IADB supervisor team trained Honduran troops, and Honduran demining operations began in October 1995. In May 1996, a renewed OAS/IADB support effort was launched in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Under a revised funding concept, operations were programmed in modules of six months duration in an effort to tailor and match resources to the specific needs of the country, to define the effort in time and space, and to improve financial management and accountability. Since that time, the program has been in continuous operation, with demining support being expanded into Guatemala in 1998. As of 2004, the OAS/IADB Demining Assistance Program in Central America and Soth America had accounted for the destruction of more than 38,000 antipersonnel landmines and other unexploded ordnance. In 2001, the OAS again expanded its demining operations support to Ecuador and Peru. In June 2003, the IADB, in support of the OAS demining program activated the Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in South America (MARMINAS), with the assignment of nine international monitors to the region.
Subsequently, the OAS General Assembly met in Managua in May 1992, where the member states adopted Resolution 1191, which supported the Central American peace process and recognized the IADB's efforts to support Nicaragua. The resolution also established a special fund to accept contributions from international donors to support mine clearance operations. Soon thereafter, the other Central American republics also asked the OAS to provide similar demining assistance.
As funding was acquired, the IADB continued to move forward with the Nicaraguan plan, requesting its member countries to designate officers and noncommissioned officers to take part in the training and initial supervision of Nicaraguan deminers. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay each provided military personnel to fill a fifteen-member instructor/supervisor team. The United States offered training to the team at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, and in April 1993, the team arrived in Nicaragua to begin training 130 soldiers who were organized into five demining platoons. When training was complete, the IADB team provided supervision of demining operations from June through December of 1993.
By December 1993, however, initial funding was exhausted and the IADB team was withdrawn. In 266 days of work of the 575 initially scheduled, the five platoons cleared sixty objectives, destroyed 2,858 mines, and cleared a surface area of 3,400 square meters.
Although OAS-assisted demining operations would not be reinitiated in Nicaragua until 1996, the success of the initial program sparked greater interest in expanding demining throughout the region. In late 1994, a new IADB supervisor team trained Honduran troops, and Honduran demining operations began in October 1995. In May 1996, a renewed OAS/IADB support effort was launched in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Under a revised funding concept, operations were programmed in modules of six months duration in an effort to tailor and match resources to the specific needs of the country, to define the effort in time and space, and to improve financial management and accountability. Since that time, the program has been in continuous operation, with demining support being expanded into Guatemala in 1998. As of 2004, the OAS/IADB Demining Assistance Program in Central America and Soth America had accounted for the destruction of more than 38,000 antipersonnel landmines and other unexploded ordnance. In 2001, the OAS again expanded its demining operations support to Ecuador and Peru. In June 2003, the IADB, in support of the OAS demining program activated the Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in South America (MARMINAS), with the assignment of nine international monitors to the region.
