Summary of

Unilateral Forgiveness Proves Ineffective in Nicaraguan Political Conflict

By Dennis Sandole and Hugo van der Merwe

This Article Summary written by: Mariya Yevsyukova, Conflict Research Consortium

Citation: Dennis Sandole and Hugo van der Merwe. Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice

In 1979 Sandinista Interior minister Thomas Borge released over 5000 imprisoned national guardsmen. He extended personal forgiveness to two of the guardsmen who had previously tortured Borge himself and raped and murdered Borge's wife. Most of the released guardsmen promptly fled to Honduras and joined the anti-Sandinista forces there. In this case forgiveness failed to produce reconciliation.