United Nations Monitors Electoral Process in Nicaragua

After a decade of political turmoil in Central America, a series of regional peace accords were signed by the Presidents of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador culminating in the Tela Agreements of August 7, 1989. They asked the United Nations to implement the peace accords. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar appointed Elliot Richardson as his Personal Representative for the Verification of the Electoral Process in Nicaragua (ONUVEN) and Álvaro de Soto as his Personal Representative for the Central American Peace Process as a whole.
This is an unprecedented role for the United Nations, as it has never monitored elections in a sovereign country. The United Nations and the Organization of American States conducted separate but coordinated monitoring efforts in supervising the election process from voter registration and conduct of the campaign to the final tally of votes using radio and satellite networks to link hundreds of impartial international observers throughout Nicaragua.
Elliot Richardson (centre) is being interviewed by Lisa Pilarte, a correspondent for the Associated Press in Managua. On the left is Iqbal Riza, Chief of the ONUVEN mission.