Nicaragua

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blindpig
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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Sat Jan 07, 2023 11:36 pm

NicaNotes: Nicaraguan migrants at the U.S. border – are they being “pushed” or “pulled”?
January 5, 2023
By John Perry

[John Perry is based in Masaya, Nicaragua, and writes for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, London Review of Books, FAIR and other outlets.]

(This article was first published by COHA in November of last year.)

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Allowing in Cubans, Nicaraguans and, until recently, Venezuelans, who are “fleeing communism” is more politically acceptable, and Nicaraguans are well aware of this. Nicaraguans know things might suddenly change and this gives them more incentive to try their luck now.

Why are more Nicaraguans heading north to the United States looking for jobs? Until July 2020, numbers were tiny. But in the last 1½ years numbers have increased sharply. Suddenly this has become a story, and government detractors argue, with little evidence, that people are fleeing political repression. “They’d rather die than return to Nicaragua,” is a typical headline. Manuel Orozco, a Nicaraguan based in Washington who strongly opposes the Sandinista government, told The Hill that “Nicaragua’s dictatorship is criminalizing democracy and fueling migration to the U.S.” Then, on September 20, this became the official explanation when White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Nicaraguans are “fleeing political persecution and communism.”

But is this true? Or is the issue being politicized as part of the heated debate about migration? The reality is more mundane: the biggest drivers of migration are economic, not political. Blaming migration on “repressive dictatorships” allows Washington to pretend that its policies are helping Nicaraguans, when in fact they are impoverishing them.

Migrants’ stories in Nicaragua give a more rounded picture

Migrants’ stories collected at the U.S. border are inevitably conditioned by migrants’ vulnerability and needs when confronted by law enforcement or looking for help from border communities. Talking to the families of migrants here in Nicaragua, as those collaborating in this article have done, gives a more rounded picture. In Ciudad Sandino, a city just north of the capital, or in Ciudad Dario, in northern Nicaragua, anecdotally it appears there is hardly anyone who hasn’t had a family member leave for the U.S. The message is that they are motivated by the success stories of people getting jobs and being able to send back $500 or more each month: enough to maintain a family here. The few foreign media who speak to Nicaraguans here confirm the impression that economic opportunities are the main driver.

This is also evidenced by the rapid growth in amounts sent back to family members. Nicaragua’s Central Bank reports remittances to the country totaled US$862.2 million during the third quarter of this year, 63.6% growth over the same period in 2021. They have become one of the biggest sources of national income and most are going directly into the pockets of poorer families.
Migrant success stories
Karla from Esteli told the story of a brother and sister who migrated: “Luis Enrique had a friend in Houston and heard it was all easy and the pay was good. So, he paid the coyotes $2,500 and they got him to Cancun first. He was stuck in a house for a month and couldn’t leave and used up the money he had with him. He finally made it to Houston and after about three months has work. For years, my brother migrated to work every year either to Costa Rica or to El Salvador. But there hasn’t been work in the last few years.” Her brother is a Sandinista government supporter.
Karla said that Flor, also a Sandinista, did the same thing. “When she got to the US, she turned herself in to border officials and told them she had a place to stay in Minneapolis and they flew her there. She didn’t have work lined up, didn’t have appropriate clothes, not even a coat. She then needed about $250 for false papers in order to apply for jobs. She eventually got the further help and clothes she needed through church contacts, and later found work. She says if she had known how hard it would all be she wouldn’t have gone.” Flor apparently wants to pay off all her debts and return to Nicaragua.

A Managua hairdresser tells the story of her brother, Sergio: “He left with his whole family 14 months ago. He lost his job just before the COVID crisis and was looking for work here as a driver. His wife had relatives in the US. They sold everything, took a flight to Guatemala and with help got into and through Mexico up to the U.S. border. They informed border authorities that they had relatives willing to take them in. Sergio is now working in Las Vegas and his two children are attending school.”

A professor at Managua’s UNAN university with connections in the United States recounts the story of three nephews from prominent Nicaraguan families: “They were all graduates of the Lincoln School here in Managua, and all got partial scholarships to study at the Wharton School of Economics, Boston College and the University of Richmond. Two of them, who studied a couple years behind the first, easily obtained work permits to stay in the US. One, who is an industrial engineer, has been working there for four years now.”
Not surprisingly, the people leaving are often well-educated and, in many cases, have jobs in Nicaragua. Far from fleeing repression, they are running toward the “American Dream.”

But what has changed in the last 18 months to make chasing the dream more attractive? Here are the main reasons.

U.S. attitudes towards Nicaraguan migrants have changed

Before July 2020, Nicaraguans hardly registered in “encounters” at the U.S. border. Now there are more than 13,000 registered in a typical month, although they still make up just 6% of the total. But, for Washington, focusing on Nicaraguan migrants is a win-win. The U.S. has a need for low-wage workers, with “Now Hiring!” signs outside many businesses. But simply opening borders to allow in migrants to work would be hugely unpopular. However, allowing in Cubans, Nicaraguans and, until recently, Venezuelans who are “fleeing communism” is more politically acceptable, and Nicaraguans are well aware of this. In September, President Biden defended his management of the southwest border by reference to migrants from these countries, saying that sending them back “is not rational,” even though two-thirds of undocumented migrants are from other countries.

Most undocumented Nicaraguans are being allowed in whether or not they claim asylum (see below). However, the fact that some make asylum claims feeds the stories of waves of refugees fleeing repression and reinforces the U.S. narrative about Nicaragua as a “threat” to the United States. Claims of repression also make it easier to persuade border communities to help and to show solidarity, as is clear from an interview with the head of one migrant aid group who explains how people respond more generously to the needs of those arriving from “broken regimes.”

As one of the stories retold above demonstrates, young people from Nicaragua’s elite, who often speak good English, are also finding the door open to migration. Those on student visas are now allowed to stay once their studies end and migrants who can afford to fly to the U.S. (e.g., on tourist visas) seem able to regularize their stays readily, for example by claiming asylum.

Border control practices differ for Nicaraguans

Unsurprisingly, politics determine the practices followed in dealing with undocumented migrants at the southwest border. In 2020, migrants from Mexico and the “Northern Triangle” countries (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala) accounted for two-thirds of all border encounters and these countries still account for half the total in 2022. But their success rate in crossing the border is heavily limited by current U.S. laws and border practices. So far, this fiscal year about 299,000 people from those nations have been expelled at the border under what is known as Title 42 which, as Tom Ricker explains, is deliberately discriminatory. But Nicaraguans (like Cubans, and until recently, Venezuelans) are treated differently, under Title 8, with only about 9,000 returns of people from those countries. Those allowed to enter the country are sent by bus or plane to wherever they have family or friends, with the government footing the bill, while their migration cases or asylum claims are being processed.

However, there is a sense that favorable border policies could change at any time, as they have recently for Venezuelans. Washington is pressing Mexico to take Nicaraguans returned at the border, as it does other migrant groups, but so far Mexico has resisted this. Nicaraguans know things might suddenly change and this gives them more incentive to try their luck now.

Migration made to look more attractive to Nicaraguans

A very important “pull” factor is the way that migration has been made to appear so attractive within Nicaragua, encouraging the idea that “everyone’s going.” Articles give advice or provide “migration kits,” young people receive frequent adverts on their smart phones, some appearing to be from official U.S. sources, saying they have been “selected” for a work visa or showing how to apply for work visas in specific trades. The U.S. embassy promotes its new “visa wizard”. Facebook posts show people receiving swimming classes “to cross the Rio Grande.” A news item says, “They keep leaving. Only us old people are left;” another interviews people from “deserted” communities in Chinandega. Rightly or wrongly, there is a climate of opinion that the U.S. is “open” to Nicaraguans and you should leave soon while it lasts.

Until recently, there were also few ways for Nicaraguans to get help to make the journey and cross the border. This began to change as people from all over Latin America began to pass through Nicaragua on their way north, and it is now big business. There are Nicaraguan coyotes who will arrange the journey, there are buses taking groups of migrants to Guatemala, and there are loan sharks (including, recently, Colombians) arranging finance to pay the massive costs. As the BBC said recently, “smuggling migrants to the U.S. is big business.”

Nicaragua’s economic recovery is threatened by U.S. sanctions

Nicaragua and Honduras are the poorest countries in mainland Latin America. Nicaraguans’ living costs are low – most food is locally produced, electricity (and currently other fuels) are subsidized and transport is relatively cheap. Partly as a result, wages are low too. Higher pay in other countries – traditionally Costa Rica (and to some extent El Salvador and Panama) – have always attracted Nicaraguans looking for better-paid jobs. Of course, the pay differential with the U.S. is greater still.

Nicaragua had only partly recovered from the US-financed violent coup attempt it suffered in 2018 when its economy (like everywhere else) was hit by the pandemic. While economic growth was 10.3% last year and is forecast to be 4% in 2022, tourism has not yet fully recovered. In part this is because State Department travel advisory erroneously says that Nicaragua is dangerous, when it is Central America’s safest country. On top of this, Washington is steadily tightening its economic sanctions, affecting both farming (the sugar industry) and gold mining (Nicaragua’s biggest export). It has also restricted loans from the World Bank aimed at poverty reduction. Sanctions have wider effects in discouraging investment. People are well aware of what Washington is doing and fear the worst: they know how the much tougher sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela have produced economic disasters in those countries (and migrants passing through reinforce that message).

Such fears are entirely realistic. The U.S. imposed a complete trade embargo on Nicaragua in the 1980s. Biden’s new nominee as ambassador to the country, Hugo Rodriguez, promised the US Congress that he would “support using all economic and diplomatic tools to bring about a change in direction in Nicaragua.” Articles have appeared, suggesting that following the mid-term elections sanctions will be tightened. A prominent think tank has called for a complete embargo on Nicaraguan imports. Self-serving condemnations of Nicaragua’s government by Nicaraguans living in the United States do not help (Orozco told one news channel: “Persecution in Nicaragua is so beastly that people prefer to risk leaving than staying and exposing themselves to more repression.”)

Costa Rica offers fewer opportunities to Nicaraguans

The close ties between Nicaragua and Costa Rica have in the past seen huge migratory movements between these neighboring countries, as Nicaraguans went there to work for periods and then returned. Nicaraguans form more than 11% of Costa Rica’s population and can cross the border easily. Before the pandemic in 2020, when jobs were plentiful, especially seasonal farm work, typically 35,000 Nicaraguans crossed the border in each direction, every month. Numbers fell sharply in 2020 and 2021 and, although they have recovered somewhat, are still well below previous levels (this year they average about 20,000 monthly in each direction). Nicaraguans send less money back from Costa Rica: the country accounts for 7.7% of total remittances now, compared with 18% in 2019.

Costa Rica has a lengthy backlog of refugee applications from Nicaraguans, dating back five years (discussed at length in a previous COHA article), although it has repeatedly maintained that most of these are not genuinely fleeing repression but are economic migrants (most recently on November 18). It is seeking outside aid to enable it to speed up the process and regularize the status of up to 200,000 asylum claimants (mostly Nicaraguans), who would get access to jobs and health care if they can prove their claims are valid. However, reports are appearing of Nicaraguans giving up their asylum claims in Costa Rica, preferring to try their luck in the United States because salaries in Costa Rica have not kept up with inflation.

Costa Rica has also tried to encourage Nicaraguans genuinely working in the country to stay. In October, the two governments signed an agreement on the labor rights of Nicaraguan workers in the neighboring country. However, with continuing evidence of the poor state of the Costa Rican economy, its attraction as a work destination for Nicaraguans is unlikely to recover quickly.
Unable to find work in Costa Rica
Juan, currently in Managua, was one of many who worked in Costa Rica before for stretches but who can’t find work there since the pandemic. He’s a talented man with a brother in Costa Rica but he’s been learning English and plans to try to reach the U.S. with his family. It would mean giving up everything… his home… a little land, but he’s decided to go because “the chances are good.” He is a Sandinista, and has no issues with the government.
Frances, a young woman hairdresser from Managua, first went to Costa Rica and had a very hard time. She eventually returned to Nicaragua. Less than a year ago, she managed to get to the United States and both she and her husband have since found employment. She is working in a hair salon.
But what about the “repression” driving Nicaraguans north?

Media reports about ordinary Nicaraguans suffering “repression” are very misleading. The violent coup attempt in 2018 led to over 400 arrests, for serious crimes like kidnapping and murder. An amnesty in 2019 led to all of these prisoners being released, and the country has since been peaceful. But in the run-up to last year’s presidential election, some of the opposition groups were planning more attacks, and the leaders were arrested and imprisoned for their alleged involvement in this and for continuing to seek foreign intervention. However, most people who supported the 2018 violence can now live freely as long as they cease their involvement in such violent activities. Both last year’s election and recent local elections passed peacefully, with turnouts of 66% and 57%, suggesting that most Nicaraguans want to resolve political differences through the ballot box.

For Nicaraguans, many of the “push” factors that drive migration from the Northern Triangle simply do not apply. For example, few if any Nicaraguans suffer from the crime of extortion by violent gangs, whereas in Honduras it is a huge problem which forces people to leave the country, both to escape threats and to attempt to pay debts. Also, many Hondurans are still homeless after recent hurricanes, whereas in Nicaragua preventive measures saved lives and enabled people to relocate safely. Despite the violence in 2018, Nicaragua has returned to being one of the safest Latin American countries, whereas all three Northern Triangle countries are among the most dangerous.

The route to the U.S. border is a hard one

Of course, traveling to the U.S. without a visa is a huge risk. There are terrible stories of people who never made it or who got entangled in U.S. bureaucracy. Everyone is aware of this but many are undeterred. The fact that prospects seem better for Nicaraguans than for those from the Northern Triangle countries means that many are willing to face the risks.

Nevertheless, the cost of an arranged journey is huge, now up to around $5,000 per person. People are putting up their homes and farms as collateral to loan sharks to get the money to go. Many leave with their entire family, including babies. More recently we have heard of people going without paying coyotes, taking only a few hundred dollars in their pockets and hoping for the best.

Anecdotal reports of the dangers are rife. Nicaraguans have been kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico. Nicaraguan coyotes have been killed for stepping on the toes of Mexican cartels. Migrants are now traveling in tour buses, but this is dangerous and there are risks of robbery and worse. Recently, a bus carrying Nicaraguans was machine-gunned by Guatemalan gangs.

The earlier stories also illustrate some of the hazards facing Nicaraguans once they reach the U.S. For example, those who speak little or no English are likely to find only low-paid work: cleaning, washing dishes, caring for children or seniors, farm work, and so on. Nicaraguans assume they will be helped by friends or family but do not realize that the person who offered a place to stay will not do that indefinitely but will charge them rent. In Nicaragua, many people will recount that migrants’ home situation frequently falls apart: the wife leaves, children get rebellious or grow up with no work ethic since they were supported from a distance, and the money the migrant thought their family was saving to build a house when they returned gets spent elsewhere.

Yet even with all these terrible stories, it is hard to fight the fever, particularly in young people who are seeing their friends and family post enticing pictures from the U.S.

What is the answer?

There is no quick “solution” to migration. Claims that Nicaragua will be emptied of people are absurd but, for a family, cutting ties and emigrating to the U.S. is far more disruptive than temporary migration to Costa Rica. Many families of unsuccessful migrants are left with crippling debts and potential homelessness. If young, educated people leave, this deprives Nicaragua of their skills. So, while there are some short-term economic advantages to both countries from people heading north, in the longer term, migration damages both Nicaragua’s economy and its society.

One thing is clear: Washington rhetoric about “communism” in Nicaragua, its attempts to starve it of development funding and its imposition of sanctions are making conditions worse, not better. If the U.S. really wants to see fewer people trying to cross its borders, it should make genuine attempts to encourage the sustainable development of neighboring countries like Nicaragua, not try to strangle their economies.

Author note: Assistance in compiling this article came from Becca Renk, Susan Lagos and others in Nicaragua, Nan McCurdy in Mexico and Tom Ricker in the United States.

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Briefs for Dec. 8, 2022 to Jan.4, 2023
By Nan McCurdy

Nicaragua: Best Project Execution Rate
During a press conference with journalists held in Tegucigalpa on Dec. 7, the President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mossi, stated that “Nicaragua is the country with the best execution rate of its project portfolio. It is the country with the best highway infrastructure and the new phase of this program is already scheduled to be launched in 2023, along with the financing for construction of the Bluefields Port. Likewise, we congratulate Nicaragua for accepting the electrical mobility challenge and quickly installing 60 charging stations, demonstrating the great commitment of the country to environmental protection and sustainable development.” The Nicaragua Government and CABEI are currently carrying out a 28-project portfolio totaling more than US$1.89 billion for development of productive infrastructure, environmental protection and the fight against poverty which includes building of new hospitals, roads, electricity coverage, low-cost housing, as well as water and sanitation facilities. (Nicaragua News, 8 Dec. 2022)

European Commission: Nicaragua Is Not a Financial Threat
On Dec. 20 the European Commission announced that Nicaragua is no longer part of the list of high-risk countries with deficiencies in their regime against money laundering and financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The press release states that “the European Commission in keeping with the recommendations and updates issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in October this year, has concluded that Nicaragua no longer represents a threat to the international financial system in terms of money laundering and financing of terrorism, after applying the action plan agreed with FATF to resolve deficiencies.” [Note: Part of Nicaragua’s actions against money laundering involved investigating and closing some non-governmental organizations that received millions of dollars from the US and European governments, but did not provide reports to the government.] (Nicaragua News, 21 Dec. 2022)

6,088 to Take Office in Municipalities
Vice President Rosario Murillo announced that President Daniel Ortega will hold a national meeting with the municipal authorities elected November 6, 2022. The Supreme Electoral Council announced that between January 10 and 20 credentials will be delivered to guarantee the inauguration of the citizens who were elected to occupy 6,088 public positions in the 153 municipalities of the country last November. “On January 10, the newly elected municipal authorities receive their credentials, and then they take office. We will have a national installation session [with President Ortega],” said Murillo. (Radio La Primerisima, 2 Jan. 2023)

More than US$61 Million in Loans to Women
The Director of the Government microloan “Zero Usury” Program, Leonor Corea, reported that between January and November 2021, US$61.1 million was provided to 150,500 women to start or expand small businesses in the country’s 153 municipalities, promoting women’s entrepreneurship and the revitalization of the national economy.” The “Zero Usury” program is part of the Plan to Strengthen Productive and Organizational Capabilities of the Creative Economy Model. (Nicaragua News, 8 Dec. 2022)

Nicaragua with Best Covid Vaccination Rate in Region
The Pan American Health Organization reported that with 92.9% of the population fully vaccinated [two shots] against COVID-19, Nicaragua is the country in the region with the highest percentage of fully vaccinated people, followed by Costa Rica (83.5%); Panama (72.2%); El Salvador (67.2%); Honduras (57.2%); Guatemala (38.5%). (Nicaragua News, 22 Dec. 2022)

Fully Registered Property Titles Delivered
The Office of the Attorney General announced that 800 new property titles were delivered the week of Dec. 20 to families in Chinandega, Granada, Jinotega, Río San Juan, and Rivas departments, as well as the Northern Caribbean Autonomous Region. Solicitor General Wendy Morales stated that the titles were delivered house to house. (Nicaragua News, 22 Dec. 2022)

Managua Baseball Stadium Renamed “Sovereignty”
On Dec. 16 the authorities of the Mayor’s Office of Managua, made official the new name of the National Baseball Stadium – Soberania [Sovereignty]. Managua Mahyor Reyna Rueda said “sovereignty in our actions, for all our hearts, sovereignty in our journey that unites each and every one of us as a Nicaraguan family.” (Radio La Primerisima, 16 Dec. 2022)

Nicaragua with 99.2% Electricity Coverage
Nicaragua is concluding the year 2022 with electricity coverage of 99.245%; and 70% generation from renewable sources. Forbes magazine recently highlighted Costa Rica and Nicaragua as the Central American countries with the highest electricity coverage. (Nicaragua News, 22 Dec. 2022)

A Million Students to Receive School Backpacks
The Ministry of Education is preparing to hand out more than one million new school backpacks for the school year which starts in February, announced Vice President Rosario Murillo on Jan. 3. They contain notebooks, pencils, crayons, colored pencils and other school supplies, as well as a glass, plate and spoon. In addition, more than 60,000 briefcases will be given to teachers with the necessary items to plan and teach their classes. Murillo also announced that counseling offices are working to increase the strength and capacity of services for the care of families and schools. Among other things, they work to keep young people free of addictions in a world culture that promotes the consumption of substances that damage human health. (Radio La Primerisima, 3 Jan. 2023)

Increase in Remittances
The Central Bank published statistics on remittances noting that, in October, they totaled US$319.9 million, exceeding by 69.0% those registered in the same month last year (US$189.3 million). In cumulative terms, remittances totaled US$2.6 billion for the year, a 47.6% increase over the same period last year (US$1.75 billion). Nearly eighty percent came from the US; 7.6% from Costa Rica; 7.2% from Spain; and 1.7% from Panama. (Radio La Primerisima, 16 Dec. 2022)

Inauguration of the 177th Women’s Police Station in Veracruz
On Dec. 21, the Nicaraguan Police inaugurated the 177th Women’s Police Station in the community of Veracruz in the municipality of Nindirí, Department of Masaya. Commissioner General Johana Plata, national head of the Women’s Police Stations, said that “in 2022 we have been developing house to house visits in communities, counties, trainings, talks with women; and we created and handed out the booklet, Women, Laws and Mechanisms for the Prevention of Femicide.” She added, “It’s a booklet with information about how to place a complaint and where to file the complaint in crimes of rape, sexual abuse and intimidation.” She said that the effort and commitment must be from everyone, stating, “we are looking for that closeness, trust, communication and empathy with women so that more women will have confidence to place a complaint.” Plata said that the stations have a specialized and trained staff to ensure an immediate and timely response to complaints which includes monitoring and accompaniment. (Radio La Primerisima, 21 Dec. 2022)

US Investment Company Approves Credit for Small Businesses
The Fundación para el Apoyo a la Microempresa (FAMA), a Nicaraguan micro finance institution, and the US micro finance investment company MicroVest announced the approval of a global credit line contract for US$4.5 million in support of the economic reactivation of small, medium, and micro-businesses in the productive, commercial, and service sectors with special attention to women-led initiatives. https://microvestfund.com/nicaragua-a-l ... esilience/ (Nicaragua News, 19 Dec. 2022)

Minimum Wages Negotiated for FTZ Workers
Thanks to a tripartite agreement between the government, labor unions and business owners, fair and equitable salary levels were agreed upon that allow the workers of all the companies that are in the free trade zones to satisfy their basic needs, as well as to guarantee economic and productive stability. The parties agreed on the minimum salary increases to be applied without exclusion in all the companies subject to the special FTZ fiscal regime for the next five years in the period from 2023-2027. These minimum wage categories became effective as of January 1, 2023. For 2023 the monthly minimum salary in the free trade zones will be US$220, an increase of 8%; for 2024, US$237, an 8% increase; in 2025, US$253, a 7% increase; for 2026, US$270, an increase of 6.7%; and in 2027, US$288, a 6.7% increase. This tripartite agreement ensures growth in investment, productivity and labor stability in free zone companies. This is only the minimum wage; many workers earn more than US$325 per month due to incentives and production. In the call center companies, the minimum salaries range between US$600 and US$650 per month. The salaries of free zone workers have improved notably since 2007 when the salary was around US$70 per month. The policies of rapprochement and understanding of workers’ needs have improved the income of employees. In the Department of Estelí, the free zone companies generate US$67 million a year in salaries. This year the number of employees in free trade zones was 140,000 and the plan is to reach 150,000 in 2023. (Radio La Primerisima, 3 Jan. 2023)

China-Latin America Trade Reaches New Heights
In 2022, China-Latin America cooperation took a big step forward. Argentina and Nicaragua joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and figures showed that trade between China and Latin America reached a record high in 2021. Official data showed that trade in 2021 amounted to US$450 billion, up 41% year on year, among which both imports and exports reached record levels of US$222.58 billion and US$229.01 billion, respectively. China continued to be the region’s second largest trading partner. (Informe Pastran, 3 Jan. 2023)

Foreign Minister Moncada Attends Lula’s Inauguration
Foreign Minister Denis Moncada is representing Nicaragua at the presidential inauguration of President Luiz Ignacio Lula de Silva in Brazil. “Moncada will be arriving at midnight on Dec. 31 to participate in the celebration of this great victory of the Brazilian people who have chosen a different path, a path that honors their struggles, that recognizes their rights, and that goes forward to a future of light, life and truth,” said Vice President Rosario Murillo. (Radio La Primerisima, 31 Dec. 2022)

https://afgj.org/nicanotes-1-5-2023
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blindpig
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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:59 pm

NicaNotes: Sixteen Years of Sandinista Government
January 26, 2023

You are invited to a
Sunday, Feb. 5 Nicaragua Webinar
With Camilo Mejia
“Journey of a Native Son”
3pm Eastern, 2pm Nicaragua, noon Pacific, 8pm Greenwich/UK


Image
L to R: Camilo Mejia in a recent visit in Nicaragua with Brian Willson and Enrique Hendrix

CLICK TO REGISTER: bit.ly/NicaFeb5 https://bit.ly/NicaFeb5
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Camilo Mejia is a Nicaraguan citizen based in Miami, Florida. He joined the US military in 1994, and in 2003 he was among the first US soldiers to publicly refuse to return to his unit in Iraq, calling the US occupation of that country oil-driven, illegal and immoral. Since the US-financed attempted coup in 2018, Camilo has spoken out boldly to counter the disinformation campaign against his native Nicaragua. He has recently returned to the US after spending 7 weeks in Nicaragua.

Camilo will start the presentation with a brief account of his early life as the son of Sandinista revolutionaries, his journey from US soldier to antiwar activist in the US, and his work in defense of the Sandinista revolution since the failed attempt at regime change in 2018. He will then share his impressions after visiting his native country for the first time since 1994, a nearly 30-year absence for political reasons tied to his antiwar activism.

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Sixteen Years of Sandinista Government
By Erving Vega

(Erving Vega is the lead reporter and anchor person for Channel TN8’s current
affairs programs)

[This article was first published by Tortilla con Sal in Spanish and by Chicago ALBA Solidarity in English.]

The truth is that we have gone from being the worst at everything to being the best, or among the best, at everything. And if we take into account that the current was not always in our favor, then the merit is undeniable.

It’s recent enough so that memory cannot fail us. Exactly 16 years ago, Nicaragua was in a nosedive. It will suffice as evidence to recall the blackouts of up to 12 hours a day and the national paralysis that this meant, as well as the discomfort and frustration of the entire country. The legacy of 17 years (1990-2006) of three neoliberal governments can be summed up in the data, although the breakdown of so much neglect, corruption and apathy would take much more than a 1,200-word article.

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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 is a good filter with which to assess progress, stagnation or setbacks in the development of a country at a given moment in its history. There are 17 goals. I prefer the first eight because the progress on these eight goals conditions any progress on the nine that follow.

So, the question is, how was Nicaragua in 2006, at the end of the third and last of the neoliberal governments that followed one another since 1990 in light of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their main indicators? And, to get a perspective on the jump that the country has made during the 16 years that followed with a Sandinista government, the question is also how are we today?

I share with you a collection of data that I hope summarizes the answer to both questions using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

AGENDA 2030 / SDGs 1990-2006 NEOLIBERAL GOVERNMENTS 2007-2023 SANDINISTA GOVERNMENT
1. End of poverty According to the Living Standard Measurement Surveys, between 2001-2005 poverty in general increased from 45.8% to 48.3% and extreme poverty went from 15.1% to 17.2%. Poverty in general fell from 48.3% in 2005 to 24.9% in 2016 and extreme poverty fell from 17.2% to 6.9% in the same period.
2. Zero hunger Famine in rural areas that led to roadside sit-ins, mainly in the north of the country. Chronic malnutrition at 27%. Food security policy that includes credit, production packages, food packages, school nutrition program, etc. Lowered chronic malnutrition from 27% to 11.6%.
3. Health and well-being Privatization through the dismantling of the public health system. Patients had to bring alcohol, gauze, suture thread and sheets if hospitalization was required. Restoration of the right to free health care that includes laboratory and high-tech tests, medicines and care supplies.
4. Quality education Lag in coverage and quality determined by: privatization disguised as autotomy, collection of fees, abandoned schools and insufficient furniture. 27,000 classrooms destroyed. Thousands of children, mainly in rural areas, had to bring their own desks or sit on the floor. The illiteracy rate, which had been reduced to 12.96% with the National Literacy Crusade in 1980, increased between 1990 and 2006 to 22.0%. Universal access policy determined by: Restoration of free public education. Prohibition of charging school fees. 35,393 school environments built, repaired and/or expanded. The government resumes the task to reduce illiteracy. Currently the rate is between 4% and 6%
5. Gender equality Position 90 globally in gender equality. Position 5 globally in gender equality and number 1 in Latin America.
6. Clean water and sanitation Potable water coverage in the urban area of ​​65% and in the rural area of ​​26.7%. Sewer coverage in the urban area of ​​36% and in the rural area of ​​33%. Potable water coverage in the urban area of ​​91.5% and in rural areas of 55.4%​​. Sewer coverage in the urban area of ​​54% and in the rural area of ​​50.9%.
7. Clean and affordable energy Coverage of 54% with blackouts between 12 and 14 hours daily. The generation matrix was 80% from sources derived from petroleum and 20% renewable. Coverage of 99.3%. The blackouts were overcome during the first months of 2007 after the Sandinista government took office. The generation matrix is ​​75% from renewable sources and 25% from petroleum.
8. Decent work and economic growth. Net employment rate [formal & informal] 94.8%. Unemployment rate 5.2%. Permanent conflict workers vs employers. Government-business collusion to breach the Minimum Wage Law. National net employment rate [formal and informal] 95.1%. Unemployment rate 4.9%. Contracts between unions and employers. Tripartite agreement and compliance with the Minimum Wage Law.
The numbers speak clearly. They confirm that we have gone from being the worst at everything to being the best, or being among the best, at everything.

For example, no one disputes that we have:

The safest country in Central America. The homicide rate went from 13.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2006 to 7 in 2020.

The best roads in Central America. In 2006 there were 2,439 kilometers of paved roads, with only 30% in OK condition. Currently the road network exceeds five thousand kilometers. According to the World Economic Forum, Nicaragua is among the top five countries with the best roads in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is number one in Central America.

Leadership in renewable energy. According to Sustainability Magazine, Nicaragua is ranked number eight worldwide in promoting policy to generate renewable energy.

The best and largest hospital network in Central America. In 2006 there were 1,092 health units [hospitals and clinics], most of them in a deplorable state. Currently the country has 1,596 health units.

The reduction in maternal deaths is also notable. In 2006 the rate was 93 deaths per 100,000 live births; currently it is 31.4. Infant mortality dropped from 29 per 1,000 live births in 2006 to 12.6 per 1,000 live births in 2021. And although I don’t know of a ranking, surely if there were, Nicaragua would be among the small group of countries where the most advanced technologies are available free of charge to the population including radiotherapy with linear accelerators, extremely expensive fetal surgeries, and others, with free access for those who need it.

The leap is quantitative and qualitative and has occurred at the same time that the world hit us with an economic crisis in 2008, a coup attempt in 2018, a pandemic that still deserves attention, two hurricanes in a row in 2020, and foreign sanctions (aggressions that, far from facilitating, torpedo national efforts). The merit is undeniable. I will conclude with an old cliché from the Bible, opportune for the occasion: He who has ears let him hear.

Briefs
By Nan McCurdy

Exports in 2022 Increased over 2021
From January to December 2022, exports reached US$7.36 billion, which represents an increase of US$865 million over 2021, as reported by the head of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce, Jesús Bermúdez on Jan. 24. Bermudez said that 41% of exports, or US$3.1 billion, corresponded to agricultural products. The Free Trade Zones had US$3.52 billion in exports, 16% more than 2022. Clothing, gold, coffee, automotive harnesses, beef, tobacco, and cane sugar top the lists. Top export destinations were the US, Central America, Mexico and the European Union. (Radio La Primerisima, 24 Jan. 2023)

Geothermal Plant Expansion Increases Generation by 10.4 MW
On Jan. 19 the Canadian company, Polaris Energy, announced that the San Jacinto-Tizate Geothermal Plant Expansion Project has concluded. The US$19.6 million-dollar project increases by 10.4 MW the generating capacity of the plant. The San Jacinto-Tizate plant generated 326,779 MW of electricity between January and September 2022, registering US$30.8 million in sales, representing 68.7% of total production for the company during the period. (Nicaragua News, 20 Jan. 2023)

Nicaragua Has 92% Potable Water Coverage
On Jan. 19 Erving Barreda, head of the Nicaraguan Company of Aqueducts and Sewerage (ENACAL) said that 92% of the population has drinking water service, while in 2006 only 65% of homes had potable water. He said there are still neighborhoods with coverage only a few hours a day but the government wants homes to have water at least 20 hours a day. He added that by 2027 sanitary sewerage coverage with sewage treatment plants is projected to be 80%. Of the challenges for the period 2023-2027, Barreda said that ENACAL continues the expansion of the drinking water and sanitary sewerage and also its sustainability. This year 40 water projects will be inaugurated.

Barreda stated that “2022 was a record year in completing projects financed by the public investment budget resulting in nine sewer projects, among them Masaya, Bilwi, Condega, Niquinohomo, Catarina, San Juan de Oriente, Tola, Totogalpa and Juigalpa.” Emblematic water projects such as the one in Bilwi, for some 16,000 families, were completed. In addition to the urban center, six other communities were also served. San Juan del Sur’s system was expanded to reach more people. A large project is in progress in Leon with the construction of 12 tanks, 18 new wells, and more than 100 kilometers of piping costing US$40 million. In 2023, 17 cities will have improved and expanded water service helping 108,000 families, and 20 cities will have improved sanitation works.

Barreda explained that ENACAL will begin to generate solar energy and biogas energy to have its own power source. “When the wastewater purification process is carried out, methane gas is produced … these gases can move turbines and generate 1 MW of energy,” he explained. A projected solar energy plant is also intended to supply 15% of the energy used by ENACAL in its first stage. (Radio La Primerisima, 19 Jan. 2023)

Solid Growth Allows 5% Salary Increase
On Jan. 20, Vice President Rosario Murillo announced a 5% salary adjustment for all public servants starting February 1. Minister of Finance Iván Acosta noted that “the salary increase, with a big effect on the education and health sectors, represents US$43.8 million dollars of the National Budget for 2023 and is based on the solid economic growth of the country in 2022.” The measure benefits some 160,000 civil servants, including 40,000 working in the Ministry of Health and 64,000 in the Ministry of Education. (Informe Pastran, 20 Jan. 2023)

New Dialysis Center to Serve Carazo and Rivas
Advances continue to be seen in the health system of Carazo with the inauguration of a new nephrology-hemodialysis center in Jinotepe, Department of Carazo, which will serve that Department and Rivas. The Ministry of Health and the Social Security Heath Centers have 23 nephrology-hemodialysis centers with over 1,100 dialysis machines. The new center that will serve people in the departments of Carazo and Rivas has 78 new machines to attend up to 450 people a day. Jorge Acosta, FSLN political secretary in Carazo, said that “patients from Carazo and Rivas had to travel to Managua for treatment three times a week.” Mariano Madrigal, Jinotepe mayor said “This is part of the good will of the Sandinista Government, the will and … the good use of state resources to strengthen the health sector for the development of Nicaragua in health and education.” (TN8tv, 16 Jan. 2023)

Nicaragua Ranks High in Survey on Peace, Security, Economy
The Sandinista government continues to be among the best evaluated in the countries of the Americas, with 76.9% approval, according to a survey released Jan. 24 by the firm M & R Consultores. Problem solution, pandemic management, peace, security and the expectation of improving the economic situation were some of the indicators that made the Sandinista government score among the best in the region. The countries that follow in the ranking are the government of Rodrigo Chaves in Costa Rica with 68.4%, the government of Luis Abinader in the Dominican Republic with 61%, and that of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico with 56%. Further down the list is Joe Biden of the US with 38%, Alberto Fernández of Argentina with 33.2%, Gabriel Boric of Chile with 30% and at the bottom of the list is Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador with 12.6%. See Tables and graphs: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias ... e-america/ (Radio La Primerisima, 24 Jan. 2023)

Nicaraguans Believe They Have Freedom of Expression
Last week M&R Consultants polling firm presented the results of its recent national survey “Public Opinion Monitoring System,” corresponding to the fourth quarter of last year. The survey indicates that 68.2% of Nicaraguans believe the fundamental aspect of a democracy is that the people have real opportunities; 71%state they are satisfied with the functioning of democracy in the country; 79.3% affirm that the fundamental rights of Nicaraguans are respected in the country and 92.5% believe there is complete freedom of expression in Nicaragua. (Nicaragua News, 19 Jan. 2023)

Córdoba to Dollar Exchange Rate Modified
On Jan. 23 the Central Bank announced that it had decided to establish the automatic devaluation of the exchange rate of the córdoba against the US dollar at 1% per annum, which means a reduction of 1% point with respect to the 2% devaluation rate prevailing to date. This rate will begin to be applied and published in the monthly table of the official exchange rate as of February 1, 2023. According to the BCN, this decision is based on the country’s stable public finances, properly financed balance of payments, the stability of the main variables of the financial system, an improvement in the levels of international reserves, and monetary and exchange rate stability. The reduction in the automatic devaluation will help offset the effects of international inflation in the economy and reinforce the predictability of the nominal exchange rate, thus strengthening the stability of the currency. (Radio La Primerisima, 23 Jan. 2023)

Nicaragua’s Message at the VII Summit of CELAC
On Jan. 24, at the VII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC) held in Argentina, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada stated that the region’s priorities include the fight against poverty, terrorism, coups d’état, organized crime, and all the other plagues that come to the region from other worlds. In the message from Nicaragua to the Heads of State and Presidents attending the CELAC Summit, Moncada said that “unity, which makes us strong, turns us into warriors of light, life and truth.” He rejected foreign intervention in any form, including aggressions, invasions, interferences, blockades, economic wars, offenses, threats, humiliations, occupations as well as sanctions, which are nothing more than “aggressions, all illegal, arbitrary and unilateral.” His message also called on the CELAC countries to resist and reject everything that endangers the future, “the luminous horizon of our peoples, where we do not allow any more plundering of our natural and cultural resources, and where the genocide imposed on us for centuries by the colonialist powers is not only denounced, but [our resistance] becomes a battle hymn against criminal wars in songs that demand peace.” He went in to say, “The world urgently needs justice and peace…respectful cooperation and solidarity. The world needs understanding, comprehension and affection. The better world that we all want to create urgently needs … solidarity and the ability to live together, sharing scientific and technological development.” (Radio La Primerisima, 24 Jan. 2023)

Thousands March to Remember Rubén Darío
The afternoon of Jan. 18 Sandinistas participated in a massive walk with the slogan “Nicaragua shines like a sun that never sets!” They marched in celebration of the 156th anniversary of the birth of the poet Rubén Darío. María Teresa Medina, from the Bertha Díaz neighborhood of Managua, said that this was one more demonstration of the support of the people for the Sandinista Government. “We are here once again supporting the achievements, supporting all the victories, supporting the benefits that day by day we are building step by step, together with our people,” she said. Sandinismo held the walk for heroes and martyrs on the day celebrating the birth of the “Prince of Castilian Letters,” Rubén Darío, she added. “A demonstration by youth, by the people – here there are workers, there are women, there are children and youth, divine treasure, as Rubén Dario used to say,” Medina said. The walk began in the El Dorado Park and concluded in the parking lot of the National Sovereignty Stadium. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias ... en-marcha/ (Radio La Primerisima, 18 Jan. 2023)

Some 37,000 Enrolled in Technical Education in 2023
The Nicaragua Technological Institute (INATEC) announced that the 2023 Technical Education Enrollment Campaign reported enrollment of 36,821 students, representing 80% compliance with the projected goal for the 2023 academic year that begins February 13th. INATEC Director, Loyda Barreda, stated that “the enrollment campaign that began January 9 has generated successful results, which we consider the first academic victory of 2023 because it reflects the trust that families place in the public technical education system.” She also explained that INATEC is offering enrollment in 66 technical areas in the 53 centers throughout the country and, for the sixth consecutive year, five technical areas will be taught online in administration, accounting, computing, customs management, and human resources management. (Nicaragua News, 23 Jan. 2023)

Oncology Surgery Campaigns Resume in 2023
The first oncology surgery campaign of 2023 began on Jan. 23 at the Manolo Morales Hospital in Managua. More than 45 patients from different parts of the country will have their right to free quality health care restored through these operations. Dr. Cristian Fonseca, Deputy Director of Medical Attention, explained that during six days they will perform operations on patients suffering from pancreatic, prostate, and thyroid cancers, among other pathologies. Fonseca said that other surgeries have been scheduled for this first semester and for the rest of the year as well. She added that the patients greatly benefit from these surgeries, which are totally free of charge and very expensive in a private hospital. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias ... n-managua/ (Radio La Primerisima, 23 Jan. 2023)

Chicken, Egg Production Grew in 2022
Nicaragua ended 2022 with 340 million pounds of chicken produced in technified and semi-technified farms, the National System of Production, Consumption and Commerce announced on Jan. 23. According to authorities, chicken production grew 7.5 percent in 2022 and 5.4 percent with respect to the goal established in the 2022 Production Plan. Also, 33.8 million boxes of eggs were produced in 2022, which is 4.8% higher than 2021. (Radio La Primerisima, 23 Jan. 2023)

British Newspaper Promotes Nicaraguan Tourism
On Jan. 20, the British newspaper “Daily Mail” published an article entitled, “Erupting with treasures: Birdlife, beaches, volcanoes… Nicaragua offers a wealth of riches for intrepid travelers.” The article states that “Although few British tourists visit or have any knowledge of the country, Nicaragua is a revelation, with its beaches and natural habitat that are more than a match for any country, and colonial cities, rich in culture and beauty; but perhaps most charming of all about Nicaragua is its poetic soul and the fact that it is a country that feels undiscovered yet offers a good infrastructure and plenty of excellent resorts and hotels. Nicaragua still feels exotically ‘other’ without the sterile reference points of global tourism where a sense of having a largely uncharted country to yourself is an increasingly elusive luxury.” (HERE; Nicaragua News, 23 Jan. 2023)

US and Canadian Delegation Calls for an End to Sanctions
Twenty-four US and Canadian citizens urged the governments of the United States and Canada to lift all aggressive measures imposed on Nicaragua. During a visit to Nicaragua from January 7 to 23, the delegation learned about the different programs implemented by the Sandinista Government and heard from citizens in many parts of the country. The participants noted that the different programs prioritize the needs of the population. In addition, they promote the entrepreneurship of Nicaraguan families, especially women. The delegation met with officials from many government ministries including the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Health Ministry as well as the National Assembly and the Women’s Police Stations. In addition, they had exchanges with women from neighborhoods and communities around the country. The visit was organized by the Benjamin Linder House – Jubilee House Community and the Alliance for Global Justice. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias ... nicaragua/ (Radio La Primerisima, 23 Jan. 2023)

https://afgj.org/nicanotes-01-26-2023

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Women in Nicaragua: Power and Protagonism – Delegation Report-Back (January 2023)
January 20, 2023

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Hailing from all corners of the United States and Canada, 22 delegates ranging from the ages of 10 to 80 traveled to Nicaragua from January 7-16, 2023 to investigate the conditions and the lives of Nicaraguan women on a delegation organized by the Jubilee House Community – Casa Benjamin Linder and Alliance for Global Justice. We had the opportunity to meet with a plethora of community organizers, workers, and public officials: from peasant feminist farmers to self-employed unionists; from urban community health workers to nurses and doctors; from battered women’s program directors to women leaders in the police, National Assembly, and Ministry of Women. We met with Nicaraguans from all walks of life and heard their stories of resilience and empowerment despite two hundred years of imperialist aggression and efforts to undermine their sovereignty. With the lowest crime rate in Central America, we found Nicaragua to be a safe, welcoming place that prioritizes the human rights and needs of its people.

We were inspired by the power and protagonism of Nicaraguans and particularly Nicaraguan women and their participation in their communities and governments. Over the past 16 years, the Sandinista government has promoted proactive, preventive, and community-based programs that prioritize the needs of women, children, and the marginalized. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report of 2022 ranks Nicaragua 7th worldwide for gender parity and first in women’s educational attainment, literacy, and women in parliament and cabinet positions. These accomplishments reflect the Sandinista government’s investment in its people, with 57% of its budget dedicated to health and education. Since 2007, when the Sandinistas were reelected, the wellbeing of the Nicaraguan people has improved significantly: infant mortality was reduced by 55% and maternal mortality by 66% by 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic the country has never shut down, but has used public health and popular education methods to keep deaths to 37 per 1 million population (in the United States 3,260 of every 1 million residents have died). Today, around 90% of the population two years and older has received at least two doses of vaccine, the Nicaraguan economy has continued to grow, health and education services have not suffered, and the country has avoided incurring excessive debt like many of its neighbors.

The Sandinista government implements a rights-based framework for policy-making that provides the mechanisms for all people to actualize their human rights to water, housing, education, health, safety, and food. In 2007, under the U.S.-backed neoliberal government, 24% of youths had no schooling. By 2020, that had dropped to 4%. In 2006, one in four people were illiterate. Today, less than 3% of the population is illiterate. Nicaragua is now virtually food self-sufficient, growing practically everything needed to feed its population.

These strides in social indicators are also thanks to the Sandinista government’s community-based model of participation in civic life that empowers all sectors of society and leaves no one behind: often referred to as “el pueblo presidente” (meaning, “the people are president”). More than 600,000 land titles have been provided to peasants since 2007 (55% of them women), and about a third of the national territory has been legally deeded to 304 Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. As a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Nicaragua has passed laws to guarantee women equal rights, free healthcare and education, and 50% political representation, requiring that half of candidates for elected office be women.

We saw with our own eyes Nicaragua’s significant investments in infrastructure that have notably improved the lives of its people and particularly women, notably:

State of the art hospitals and innovative women’s health programs;
Free education at the preschool, vocational, and postdoctoral levels;
Investment in quality roads and transportation, including the construction of a highway from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast (providing access to the capital for Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations), and the addition of electric vehicle charging stations as roads are paved and improved;
Electricity in almost all homes (over 98%);
Over 70% of electricity deriving from renewable sources (up from 26% in 2006); and
Free wifi in parks and expansion of fiber optic cable to remote areas.

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Witnessing these achievements firsthand has brought to light why Nicaragua is the “threat of a good example.” Nicaragua’s leadership in adaptability, creativity, sustainability, and popular democracy proves that another world is possible: one freeing itself from the grip of global capitalist hegemony and predatory imperialism through the empowerment and promotion of the rights of all people. It’s for this reason that the United States and its corporate stakeholders continually seek to demonize Nicaragua and undermine its advancements.

The people we met encouraged us to ask our government to respect their country’s sovereignty and their right to a life of dignity, self-determination, and peace. As we approach the 200th Anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, we strongly urge the Biden Administration and Congress to lift all sanctions imposed on the Nicaraguan people and government. And we urge our fellow North Americans to visit Nicaragua for themselves to enjoy her many beautiful tourist attractions and learn from the example of the Nicaraguan people.

Signed by:

-Rita “Jill” Clark-Gollub (translator and interpreter)
-Richard Gollub (Chief Financial Officer, retired)
-Natalia Burdyńska-Schuurman (National Co-Coordinator, Alliance for Global Justice)
-Susan B. Lagos (Spanish and English teacher)
-Gloria Rodas (undergraduate researcher, UC Berkeley Latinx Research Center)
-Tammy Spengler (licensed clinical social worker)
-Dianne Blais (Secretary, Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom)
-Phoebe Thomas Sorgen (Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Board Trustee and Green Party U.S. Delegate to the Global Green Network)
-Ruby Morris (Sociology and Sustainability Studies student and President of Peace Action at SUNY – Geneseo)
-Ann Faust (MD, FACS, PhD, MBChB, IBCLC)
-Eleanor Perrine (Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
-Meredith Field (PhD, MSEd)
-Nina McGranahan (Environmental Science and Policy student at the University of Maryland – College Park)
-Rebecca Wilson (Federal Tax Attorney, retired)
-Maimuna Dada (Social Services Administrator, retired)
-Mukasa Ricks (Revolutionary Pan-Africanist and former organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Black Panther Party and All-African People’s Revolutionary Party)
-Linda Helland (MPH, CPH, Climate Change and Health Equity Program Manager)
-Jennifer Sullivan (Treasurer, Women’s Caucus of the Green Party U.S.)
-Erica Caines (Co-Coordinator of Black Alliance for Peace – Haiti/Americas Team)
-Amy Davis (cybersecurity analyst)
-Becca Renk Foster (Jubilee House Community)
-Sensei Orla Mohally Renk (President of the Villa Soberana Chapter of the Federation of Secondary School Students, Nicaragua)

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Re: Nicaragua

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‘Resistance is Continual in Nicaragua’
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 7, 2023
Roger McKenzie and Dan Kovalik

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A mural commemorating the third anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution Photo: Susan Ruggles

Roger McKenzie talks to US writer Dan Kovalik about why the people of Nicaragua need our support in their battle to determine their own future


Dan Kovalik first became aware of a place called Nicaragua in the autumn of 1979.

Two new students joined the school he attended as an 11-year-old at Milford, Ohio, in the United States. The students, Juan and Carlos, were both from Nicaragua and, it turns out, they were the sons of the former dictator of the country, Anastasio Somoza who had just been ousted by the popular Sandinista revolution.

Kovalik doesn’t pretend that this sparked any real awareness or sudden interest in revolutionary politics but it did ignite a curiosity about Nicaragua and the region as well as the role of the US.

But in his introduction to his excellent new book, Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention and Resistance, Kovalik says how shocking he found the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador in 1980 while he was saying Mass in a hospital chapel.

The killing of the archbishop by US-backed paramilitaries forced Kovalik for the first time to really “question the nature of my country and government.”

He also tells of a very right-wing teacher who invited a leader of the terrorist group the Nicaraguan Contras to speak at his school.

Kovalik was told that the US-backed Contras were fighting a battle for freedom against the Sandinistas. It wasn’t until he became more politically engaged at college that the truth of the situation began to be revealed and, over time, he became more involved in supporting the revolution.

Over 40 years later as a now renowned human rights lawyer who has written widely on Venezuela, Russia, the CIA, Iran, Bernie Sanders and lots more, why this book now about Nicaragua?

“One of the sparks was the 2018 coup attempt in the country. It just drew me even closer to the revolution.

“But I also realised that a lot of people had abandoned Nicaragua and had been taken in by the Western propaganda about the country being a dictatorship.”

Kovalik calls out those activists on the left who felt able to support other left governments but not Nicaragua.

“Nicaragua is somehow seen as different by people who support Cuba and Venezuela.”

While some accuse the country of being a dictatorship the fact is “Nicaragua has a multiple party democracy and introduced the first democratic elections in 1984.

“That the Sandinistas were voted out of power in 1990 — at virtual gunpoint by the US — and were out of power for 17 years is basically ignored,” he adds.

I ask Kovalik why he chose to foreground resistance in the title of the book when most writers would be content to provide a historical narrative.

“Resistance is continual in Nicaragua,” he says.

The Sandinista revolution was a real David and Goliath story that really does go under the radar.

“The country is very small and poor but when called on, time after time, the Nicaraguan people have risen to the challenge.

“It really is a story of resistance which must be told and retold as often as possible.”

Nicaragua, alongside Cuba, he says, are really the only remaining remnants of armed revolutionary defeats of US-backed forces in Latin America.

“Both countries have faced sanctions but have continued not just to accept solidarity but even with all the pressures they face to provide support to others in the face of US hostility and economic sanctions and military threats.”

The story of Nicaragua is not a tale of resistance without success. Kovalik points to the success of the country in promoting women’s equality.

“Nicaragua is something like seventh in the whole world for women’s equality, which is a major achievement when you consider the resources they have at their disposal.

“It’s an absolute cornerstone of the revolution that, again, goes largely unseen,” he says.

But, Kovalik says, this is no time for self-congratulation. The continuing efforts of the US to overthrow governments in the region and their recent support for the coup in Peru must ring alarm bells for everyone.

He says: “There are still plenty of dangers out there which should tell everyone that we can’t take anything for granted. Nothing is permanent.

“Progress can easily be thwarted so it’s really important that we do all that we can to help consolidate the revolution and not allow others — inside or outside the country — to undermine it.

“Measures to defend and consolidate the Sandinista revolution will be portrayed as dictatorship so we have to vigorously refute this argument.

“The first duty of any revolution is to defend the revolution from attacks.”

Kovalik called on progressives in Britain to step up support for the right of the people of Nicaragua to determine their own future.

“On the whole I’m hopeful for the future as long as we all come together to stop the interference of the US in Latin America and pressure is applied to governments across the world to end sanctions.”

Kovalik adds: “The people of Nicaragua really appreciate the solidarity that is given to them. They especially love visits to their country and the desire to help — so why not visit?

“Material support is of course also really important if you can’t visit yourself.

“The world is better off with the revolution of the Sandinistas so we all have to do what we can to defend them,” he says.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... nicaragua/

Nicaraguan Ambassador: Only Socialist and Revolutionary Countries are Putting People Over Profit
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 7, 2023

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Below we are pleased to publish the text of the powerful speech given by Guisell Morales Echaverry, Ambassador of the Republic of Nicaragua to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Iceland, to the event we recently co-organised at the Marx Memorial Library in London, Socialist solutions to the climate crisis.

Guisell notes it’s the socialist and progressive governments – including China, Cuba and Nicaragua – that are taking the most resolute action on protecting the environment. She goes on to describe Nicaragua’s extraordinary progress tackling ecological issues whilst simultaneously bringing about a historic reduction in poverty and improvement in people’s living conditions.

She concludes: “The capitalist system is killing the planet. With its insatiable pursuit of profit and market anarchy, it’s destroying the environment, wiping out ecosystems and biodiversity, and polluting the air we breathe and the water we drink. Capitalism is driving humanity to extinction. The need to create a new international socialist economic model is urgent.”

– Friends of Socialist China
Climate change is no longer an impending threat or hypothetical problem for future generations. It is here and now. Hurricanes are becoming more powerful. Forests are burning. Plastic and chemical waste is polluting underground water and oceans. Heat waves, drought, floods, and famine are killing people and creating an exodus of refugees. Species are becoming extinct through the senseless destruction of ecosystems.

But also, the knowledge, the science, the means are here: to decarbonise electricity grids and transport, to slashed Pollution levels, to grow food sustainable, to recycle waste, and for the forests to be replanted.

But this requires two things: planning and resources.

Capitalist countries, the historical and current biggest polluters, are not willing to carry out the radical changes that are required, because these changes are not profitable.

Only socialist and revolutionary countries are putting the planet and people over profit, with bold transformative action to curtail climate change.

Only socialist and progressive governments can bring about the daring transformations to overcome this threat to humanity.

We will hear from the panelists – from Dan Kovalik, Lauren Collins, Paul Atkin – about the efforts made by socialist, revolutionary and progressive countries to overcome climate disaster; specifically how Nicaragua, Cuba and China are making huge environmental achievements to improve the living conditions of working people in harmony with the planet.

Nicaragua Sandinista, one of the few countries in the world to be developing sustainably and with environmental protection enshrined in its constitution, has shown that with political will and leadership, even a small country (both in geographical and economic terms) can be a global leader in sustainable growth and the fight against climate change, despite the sanctions imposed by US and Europe – for daring to defend its model, its path of development, its sovereignty – and demonstrate with its example that another world is possible.

While contributing very little towards global emissions (0.02 percent), Nicaragua, 6th in the world among the most vulnerable countries, is disproportionately feeling the effects of climate change, suffering more strong and frequent tropical storms and hurricanes category 4/5: Mitch in 1998, with 3,800 deaths and 1.2 billion in loses; Felix in 2007, with 159 deaths and 700 million in loses; Eta and Iota in Nov 2020, which caused two fatalities and damages equivalent to 6.2 percent of the national GDP. Furthermore, La Niña and El Niño rainfall behavior is causing flooding and drought.

At global level, since the COP21 in Paris in 2015, Nicaragua, along with the ALBA group, and G77+China and like-minded countries, has been a strong voice urging for climate justice, based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, calling for compensation and direct and unconditional cooperation, advocating for climate finance,

for the protection of forests and biodiversity, to generate clean energy and restore the right to health and life of Mother Earth and of the peoples of the world.

The developed countries continue to fall far short of the of the annual 100 billion dollars climate finance they committed to in 2015 in Paris. Thus developing countries are denied the opportunity to recover from the effects of climate injustice; are impeded in their struggle to the worst consequences for the planet and humanity.

Nicaragua, along with several nations, has demanded in recent COPs that those most responsible for environmental depredation recognise our losses, recognise the damage they have caused, and contribute to recovery.

All initiatives to elevate losses and damages to the same category of mitigation and adaptation within the framework of the Climate Convention have been blocked by United States.

Progressive Nicaragua is responding by putting humanity and people first and is doing its part.

Knowing that the extinction facing humanity can only be resolved through structural changes, the Sandinista government is building a social model based on solidarity, inclusion, and equity, focusing its human development plan on using with respect the Earth’s natural resources for social and national development, on achieving “buen vivir” (living well).

Nicaragua is implementing a series of emblematic climate and development policies, programs and projects such as the Renewable Energy Programme, Zero Hunger Program and Food Sovereignty Programme; the low interest credits and productive bonuses program for small farmers; the food packages, healthy playgrounds and school nutrition programs; the promotion of production based on agroforestry and agroecology.

These initiatives have contributed to a drastic reduction of chronic malnutrition from 27 percent in 2006 to 11.6 percent today; to the country producing 90 percent of the food it consumes; to reducing by half the rates of poverty and extreme poverty (poverty fell from 48.3 percent in 2005 to 24.9 percent in 2016, and extreme poverty fell from 17.2 percent to 6.9 percent) while cutting emissions, without compromising the economic development of the country.

The environment and natural resources are the basis of our agricultural and mainly primary economy. The poorest have the greatest direct contact with nature in their activities and poverty cannot be reduced if the environment deteriorates and natural resources are not managed sustainably.

Science and technology have been prioritized to increase production and productivity, to support mitigation and adaptation, and to overcome the losses and damages from climate change, reinforcing protection of biodiversity and the processes of desertification of the dry corridor.

Just this January, the UN Secretary General said: “If we want to avert climate catastrophe, renewables are the only credible path forward. Together, let’s jumpstart a renewables revolution and create a brighter future for all.”

Nicaragua under Sandinista Leadership started that renewable revolution in 2007, changing its energy matrix. We rank 8th in the world in promoting policies towards developing affordable and non-polluting energy.

In 2006, 54 percent of the population had access to electricity, and only 25 percent of that energy was renewable. The current coverage is 99.3 percent, and 78 percent comes from renewable source. The goal is to achieve 90 percent renewable in 2023.

Under the Strategy for the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, we are developing the BioClima Project to capture 47.3 million tons of greenhouse gases in 20 years, integrating ecosystem conservation with sustainable production, to increase the resilience of the livelihoods of campesinos, indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples.

We are promoting community forestry, forest plantations and the establishment of agroforestry and silvopasture. We are implementing a Forest Carbon Cooperative Fund and a National Fund for Forest Investment.

We have a Policy and National Plan on Adaptation, Mitigation and Response System to Climate Change to adapt and preserve the nation’s natural areas and environmental services, implementing large forest recovery programs in Bosawás and Indio-Maíz Reserves, in the Dry Corridor and the National Reforestation Crusade, with the participation of the organised youth, schools, universities, and even the Nicaraguan army and police, with the goal of restoring 2.8 million hectares of degraded forest, improving the resilience of ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity, to make rural livelihoods sustainable.

The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua has defined as a priority the conservation, protection and restoration of the natural wealth of ecosystems and wildlife and its 20 main biological corridors, through the creation of alliances with local government and with families, through the approach of creative solutions based on nature, within the context of sustainable and local development, to improve the livelihoods of the people and communities, through the creation of municipal ecological parks, public and private wild reserves; environmental and forest bonds, forest incentives for carbon capture and creating recycling cooperatives.

To contribute to the protection of the ozone layer, we have joined the Global Methane Initiative and have completely eliminated the consumption of CFC gases.

The Comprehensive Transportation Plan of Managua has as its goal a direct reduction of 892,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years, and we started this year the implementation of an electric vehicle programme.

Also, wastewater treatment systems coverage has increased from 19.66 percent in 2006 to 57.63 percent today.

But the programs to fight climate change and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals are undermined by the imposition of illegal unilateral coercive measures by imperial forces.

The capitalist system is killing the planet. With its insatiable pursuit of profit and market anarchy, it’s destroying the environment, wiping out ecosystems and biodiversity, and polluting the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Capitalism is driving humanity to extinction.

The need to create a new international socialist economic model is urgent.

Because we deeply believe in our own path towards a better, just and humane world, we are convinced that it is possible for all peoples.



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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:05 pm

Nicaraguan Assembly Deports 222 Traitors to the Homeland

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Appeals Court Judge issues deportation sentence, Feb. 9, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @niquiranaff

Published 9 February 2023 (20 hours 47 minutes ago)

The Sandinista National Liberation Front sent a bill to remove the nationality of those who betray the constitutional principles related to the sovereignty and independence of Nicaragua.


On Thursday, the National Assembly approved a reform to article 21 of the Constitution by which it is established that all traitors to the Homeland lose their Nicaraguan nationality,

This bill was sent by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and approved with 89 votes in favor. As a result of the new norm, 222 traitors to the homeland will be deported.

In the statement of reasons for the bill, the FSLN lawmakers recalled that the Constitution's Article 1 stipulates that every citizen must preserve and defend the nation's independence, sovereignty, and self-determination.

This constitutional principle appears embodied in the "Act for the Defense of the Peoples' Rights to Independence and Self-Determination for Peace" (Law 1055), which was published in the official registry in Dec. 2020.

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The tweet reads, "United we will defend ourselves against aggressors and traitors. Sovereignty in my land!!" The Augusto C. Sandino's poster reads, "He who sells his country for a few dollars does not deserve to be called a Nicaraguan!"

In correspondence with the above, the Nicaraguan lawmakers considered it necessary to reform the Constitution's Article 21 so that traitors to the homeland lose their citizenship.

Given that all these legal changes prompted immediate effects, a Managua Court of Appeals ordered the deportation of 222 U.S.-backed activists who were previously jailed for crimes such as incitement to violence, terrorism, and economic destabilization.

Besides losing their nationality, these people had been permanently disqualified from exercising any public function in Nicaragua. The list of the 222 deportees has not yet been officially released. However, it is known that they have already traveled to the U.S. on a flight.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Nic ... -0011.html

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NicaNotes: New US Immigration Policies’ Effect on Nicaragua: Brain Drain and Deportation
February 9, 2023
By Nan McCurdy

(Nan McCurdy is editor of NicaNotes, and the Nicaragua Webinar series. She has lived for 32 of the last 38 years in Nicaragua. Currently she works in the state of Puebla Mexico in health, appropriate technology and other development programs with rural families.)

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On Jan. 5, the Biden administration announced new legal pathways to the US which include expanding the “Parole Process” for Venezuelans to Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans, a policy that will favor richer migrants. Migration from these countries has dropped since then.

The Sandinista party won the presidency of Nicaragua in January 2007 and from that time through 2020 there was only a trickle of migrants to the US – at most a few hundred a month. But that began to change in 2020 when Nicaraguans who crossed into the US and were encountered by the border officials found that they were not expelled, and instead given help with air or bus transportation to get to their final destination.

In February 2021 many of us, inside and outside of Nicaragua, began to hear the stories from people who crossed the border or from their family or friends that, once they crossed the border, they should just find a border official and they would receive help with transportation getting to the home of family or friends. The other news that traveled like wildfire was that there were jobs available and with pretty good wages (US$14 to 18 an hour). Since 2021 the number of Nicaraguan migrants increased substantially. And the dream of migrating north spread like a virus.

From Nicaragua’s population of 6.5 million, more than 163,876 Nicaraguans were “encountered” at the US border in FY2022 (Sept. 30, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022) — many times more than those who entered during the same period in 2020 – just 2,291, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. In FY 2021 there were 50,109. In the first three months of FY 2023 (Oct., Nov. and Dec.) there were 90,553.

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This graph shows how migration from Nicaragua has grown in the last three years from a very low level in US fiscal year 2020 to a much higher level in the first months of fiscal year 2023, that is Oct.-Dec. 2022. Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nati ... encounters

U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 2.2 million migrants at the southwest border in the 2022 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Close to half were rapidly expelled under the Title 42 policy.

It is uncertain how many people are migrating to the U.S. from Central America. But the Migration Policy Institute says of the 3.4 million Central Americans living in the U.S., about 85% of them are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over 450,000 people arrived at the border in 2020, as the pandemic slowed world-wide migration. In 2021 the number nearly quadrupled to at least 1.7 million migrants who were expelled or detained in the U.S, or in Mexico. More than 189,000 arrived at the U.S. border in June 2021, the record for one month.

Under Title 8, which is what has been primarily used with Nicaraguan migrants in recent years, a person can be removed quickly or allowed to stay. Most Nicaraguans are released temporarily into the US while their removal cases (and possible asylum claims) are adjudicated. They have also been largely exempt from Title 42, unlike other Central Americans and Mexicans. Title 42 began under the Trump Administration as what they called a “Covid health-related norm,” and is used as an express mechanism to expel undocumented migrants. Under Title 42 when border officials encounter most people from Mexico and the northern triangle of Central America they are expelled to Mexico without immigration charges. The one good thing for these migrants is that they can try again, if necessary, multiple times; recidivism rates are now 26% compared to 7% in 2019.

The Biden Administration, like that of Trump, has spent more than half a billion dollars since 2017 in Nicaragua destabilization efforts in hopes of overthrowing the Sandinistas – the US’s perceived nemesis since 1979 when they overthrew dictator Somoza – a faithful ally of the US who took good care of US investors and oligarchs. US-imposed Sanctions in 2018 and 2021 are one way the US has turned the screws on Nicaragua’s economy. Many of the other mechanisms they utilize require hundreds of millions of dollars, and as more US citizens become aware of the progress for the majority in Nicaragua, like free universal health care and education, the best social infrastructure and roads in the region, greatly improved gender equity, low maternal and child mortality, 90% food sovereignty, 99.2% coverage in electricity mainly with renewable energy, the US may find taxpayers don’t want their money used on attempted coups.

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Biden and the corporate media mouthpiece for the government have been trying to convince the US public that the Nicaraguan government is an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security and part of what they call “the troika of tyranny” – along with two other maligned countries – Cuba and Venezuela. But this narrative didn’t jive with the fact that people weren’t leaving Nicaragua, especially when citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have migrated in droves for the last thirteen years or more. Thus the uptick in Nicaraguan migration in the last two years allows the US government and media now to say, “ People are fleeing repression!” and constitutionally elected president Daniel Ortega “is a dictator.”

They don’t tell you that the US puts pop-up advertisements on Facebook and Instagram in Nicaragua about good jobs in the north, or that Nicaraguans are treated much better when they cross the border than their Central American brothers and sisters. With more Nicaraguan migrants it is easier now for the US to blame migration on the administration of the Sandinista government. However, from 2007 through 2020, all under the Sandinista government, a negligible number of Nicaraguans went north, a drop in the bucket compared to the high number of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

So it makes no sense that the Sandinista government is now the reason that people have recently migrated in record numbers, especially since every aspect of life has improved yearly from 2007 to April 2018 and again from late 2020 to date. The break in that trend included the US-directed coup attempt in 2018, the pandemic, and two hurricanes.

The New York Times in December wrote that Nicaraguans were leaving because of violence. Nicaragua is the safest country in Central America and one of the safest in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has about one-eighth the percentage of murders as Honduras, and about one-fourth that of El Salvador and Guatemala. Nicaragua is the Number 1 country in the world for percentage of population who say they always feel at peace – some 73%!

In September 2021 US President Joe Biden said that “it is not rational” to deport to Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela migrants arriving from those countries…”I am now mindful of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. The possibility of sending them back to those countries is not rational …”

In 2021 and 2022 Border Patrol Encounters were higher than in the past across the board and this has to do with the economic effects that the pandemic had on the majority of economies. Some elements more unique to Nicaragua that spur migration are two sets of US sanctions, two very damaging hurricanes at the end of 2020, and less work in Costa Rica.

The sanctions have been against individuals but also have limited multilateral loans, especially from the World Bank and the International Development Bank. The World Bank did not provide loans between March 2018 and November 2020. The sanctions have spurred migration – supposedly something the US does not want – so according to Tom Ricker in a 2022 analysis of migration from Nicaragua, the sanctions have backfired, leading to more migration north.

For at least forty years many Nicaraguans have worked all or part of the year in Costa Rica, many gaining legal status. But Costa Rica’s economy was hurt by Covid and fewer jobs in that country resulted in more people returning to Nicaragua than going to Costa Rica in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, over 5,000 more Nicaraguans left Costa Rica than entered it. Lack of jobs in Costa Rica, for those who have historically worked there, is one of the reasons for more migration north to the United States.

Other pull factors are the US labor shortage and the fact that Nicaraguans have been largely exempted from Title 42 at the US border. If people can successfully cross the border, the border guards help them get to their destination, they likely find work and, compared to their home countries, good paying work which allows them to send money home. Other pull factors are US companies advertising jobs to Nicaraguans on social media.

According to the US Chamber of Commerce, there are currently more than 10 million job openings in the US and only 5.7 million unemployed. In Minnesota there are only 43 workers for every hundred job openings. I personally know eleven undocumented migrants working in Minnesota. All these migrants had received the message from a friend or family member to simply look for a border official after crossing over; and now they are working in the US under Title 8. From what they tell me, at every hearing they are given more time to stay in the US without a final decision about their status.

About a fourth of migrants living in the US, some 11 million, are undocumented and 55% of those are from Mexico. The number peaked in 2007 and has since dropped slightly. The highest increase was from 1994 to 2000 with the signing of NAFTA which destroyed an entire sector of Mexican agriculture. The US Department of Labor National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) estimated that 70% of the 1.8 million US agricultural workers were born in Mexico and that 70% of foreign-born crop workers are undocumented. So at least half of US crop workers are undocumented. US agriculture employs a higher percentage of undocumented workers than any other industry in part because pay in this sector is lower than in other sectors.

Biden’s latest immigration plan: brain drain and deportation

The new US plan for Nicaragua is “brain drain,” and will only benefit the Nicaraguans who are better off and more educated and not currently in the US under Title 8. On Jan. 5, the administration announced new legal pathways to the US which include expanding the “Parole Process” for Venezuelans to Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans. Up to 30,000 individuals could be accepted per month from these four countries. They must have valid passports, an eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks, can come for two years and receive work authorization. Those applying must have someone with legal papers in the US who agrees to provide financial and other support.

When the migrant arrives at the US port of entry, there will be additional screening and vetting. If granted “parole,” it will typically be for two years. Once granted parole, migrants may apply for employment authorization and social security numbers. By January 27, according to CNN some 800 Nicaraguans had been pre-approved for “parole” allowing them to travel by air, at their own cost to the US.

The same White House statement says that for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians, there will be “new consequences for individuals who attempt to enter unlawfully, increasing the use of expedited removal.” Individuals who irregularly cross the Panama, Mexico, or U.S. border after Jan. 5, 2022, will be subject to expulsion to Mexico, which will now accept 30,000 individuals per month from these four countries who fail to use these new pathways.

With the new pathway for more educated middle-class Nicaraguans, there will likely be more deportations back to Managua, or to Mexico and then Managua. Many of these people are from the dryer poorer countryside of Nicaragua where their earnings are low. Many have previously worked in Costa Rica, and will likely try their luck there again.

But what about all those unfilled jobs in the US, especially in the agricultural sector where Nicaraguans and others are picking up the slack? And what about the US administration’s claims that people are leaving Nicaragua due to repression?

It’s quite possible that, despite the new measures, Nicaraguans, like Cubans, will continue to be treated differently than their Central American neighbors and allowed to stay longer until a final legal decision on their cases. However, eventually it is probable that most will be deported.

Briefs
By Nan McCurdy

Message for People Who Donate to the Nicaragua Solidarity Fund
The Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) is confronting a serious attack from the far-right in reaction to fiscally sponsoring organizers who are peacefully advocating for the liberation of the Palestinian people. The AfGJ says in a statement, “The charges against us have been rejected for years, including in late 2021 when we were temporarily affected by the same bogus charge that we were ‘funding terrorism.’ For the time being, we are unable to process online donations. Our credit card merchant processor, Card Connect, abruptly ended our contract. We were made aware of these changes on January 26th. We are working on securing an alternate merchant processor, working with our lawyer to fight the accusations and Card Connect’s decision to terminate our contract, and notifying our base of this escalated assault from the ultra-right. What can you do at this moment?”

If you are a donor to the Nicaragua Solidarity Fund please send paper checks. Here are the instructions: All checks should be made out to ‘Alliance for Global Justice’ or ‘AfGJ’. Please indicate the name of the fiscally-sponsored organization in the memo line (in this case Nicaragua Solidarity Fund). Send checks to: Nicaragua Solidarity Fund c/o Alliance for Global Justice, 225 E 26th St., Suite 1, Tucson, AZ 85713

One-hour Webinar with Camilo Mejia from Feb. 5th – Youtube video
You can watch the video recording of our Feb. 5th webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dDw5Ec ... esternMass

Delegation Opportunity: March Coffee and Cooperatives Brigade
Where: Managua, Chinandega & Estelí, Nicaragua
When: 11-19 March 2023
Cost: $850 per person for all-inclusive brigade
For detailed information: https://www.casabenjaminlinder.org/tours
Application deadline: 10 February 2023
Description:
Where does your coffee come from? Join us to follow your organic coffee’s journey from crop to cup! We’ll visit the beautiful El Porvenir Coffee Co-op, meet the farmers and their families, watch the coffee processing and participate in the selection process. We will learn how cooperatives fit into Nicaragua’s unusual economic model, and hear about the country’s pro-cooperative policies. We will meet all kinds of co-ops – bus & taxi, coffee, cigar-making and ceramics. We will talk with women worker-owners about their co-ops and get a chance to see Nicaragua’s natural beauty.

Strong Investment in Schools
The Ministry of Education presented a Report on the School Infrastructure Investment Plan implemented by the government. The report states that US$213.3 million has been invested in construction, rehabilitation and equipping of 6,111 schools between 2007 and 2022, restoring the right to free and quality education for the 1.8 million students of the country. Minister of Education Lilliam Herrera stated that “MINED plans to invest US$27.4 million in school infrastructure in 2023, guaranteeing spaces with optimal conditions for learning, safety and comfort.” (Nicaragua News, 3 Feb. 2023)

Thousands of Schools Equipped with Technology
The Ministry of Education presented a report on the Plan to Teach/Learn through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Classrooms which states that 7,322 schools have been equipped with ICT classrooms over the last seven years, guaranteeing comprehensive education through access to technological tools. Education Advisor Tamara López stated that “this allows teachers to formulate academic plans that are more dynamic and interesting, fostering curiosity and a desire to learn in students. It is important that students have full access to technology and that they feel capable of competing in a world that is increasingly dependent on technology.” (Nicaragua News, 7 Feb. 2023)

Greater Use of Renewables in January
The National Center for Electricity Dispatch reported that 79% of electricity generated between January 1 and 22, 2023, came from renewable sources: 19% biomass, 18.7% wind, 14% geothermal, 13 hydroelectric, 0.47% solar, and 13.73% regional renewable energy imports. (Nicaragua News, 3 Feb. 2023)

Guaranteeing the Health of People over 60
The Ministry of Health and the Social Security Institute (INSS) launched the National Elderly Special Care Plan on Jan. 31 which will strengthen and guarantee access to healthcare for all people over 60 years of age. MINSA Secretary General, Carlos Sáenz detailed that “under the plan a nutritional census of the elderly will be carried out during the year; house-to-house visits every 3 months; scheduling of medical check-ups or surgeries; specialized care and clinical management for people with chronic diseases and/or disabilities; detection and early care for cancer, as well as psychological care to guarantee a good state of mental health among the elderly.” This Plan is part of the successful Family and Community Healthcare Model implemented by the government. (Nicaragua News, 2 Feb. 2023)

Strengthening Diagnosis and Treatment
To strengthen its diagnostic and treatment capabilities, the Ministry of Health delivered portable ultrasound machines, EKG’s, ventilators, thermal cribs, x-rays, nebulizers, and medication refrigerators to eight hospitals. The US$1.37 million for the purchase of the equipment was provided by the General Budget. (Nicaragua News, 2 Feb. 2023)

Reduction of Housing Deficit
The Nicaragua Institute for Urban and Rural Housing (INVUR) presented a report on the “Casas para el Pueblo” [Houses for the People] Low-Cost Housing Program that the Government is implementing. Some 4,300 homes were built in 2022, for a cumulative total of 130,676 low-cost homes built over the last 15 years, contributing to a reduction of the housing shortage. INVUR Codirector, Gabriela Palacios, stated that “INVUR plans to build 7,400 homes in 2023 to contribute to the goal of 50,000 low-income homes built by 2026.” (Nicaragua News, 1 Feb. 2023)

New Cigar Factory to Create 200 Jobs
The Villiger Nicaragua Cigar Company is investing US$2 million to build and equip a new cigar factory in Estelí creating 200 new jobs. The Manager of the Swiss-German company, Henry Villiger stated that “construction of the factory is part of our expansion plans with the certainty that it will be a lucrative investment and will guarantee decent jobs.” Villiger opened another factory in Nicaragua in 2021. (Nicaragua News, 2 Feb. 2023; https://tobaccobusiness.com/villiger-ci ... n-factory/)

Production of Cocoa Increased in 2022
The Nicaragua System of Production, Consumption and Commerce reported that the 2022-2023 cocoa harvest was 212,562 quintals, 20% growth over the previous agricultural cycle. Export of fine cocoa in 2022 represented US$22 million in sales, a 12% increase over 2021. (Nicaragua News, 2 Feb. 2023)

Unemployment and Underemployment Decreasing
The Nicaragua Institute for Development Information published the Employment Survey Report for December 2022 which states that the unemployment rate was 2.6%, a reduction of 0.9% compared to the same month in 2021. The underemployment rate was 38.3% in December, 4.1% less than Dec. 2021. (Nicaragua News, 1 Feb. 2023)

Priests Sentenced for Conspiracy and Propagation of False News
Priests Ramiro Tijerino, José Luis Díaz, Sadiel Eugarrios Cano and Raúl Antonio Vega and seminarians Darvin Leiva Mendoza and Melkin Centeno were sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crimes of undermining national integrity and propagating false news, breaking the laws of Nicaragua. The Second Criminal District Trial Judge, Nadia Tardencilla, also convicted Sergio Cadena Flores, found guilty of the same crimes. The judge sentenced the accused to five years in prison for the crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and five years in prison for propagation of false news. (Radio La Primerisima, 7 Feb. 2023)

Ministry of the Interior Cancels 17 Non-Profit Organizations
In January, the Ministry of the Interior cancelled the registration of 17 non-governmental organizations. The organizations failed to comply with the law, not reporting financial statements, allowing boards of directors to expire and other violations. Among the organizations whose legal status was cancelled is the Association of Private Banks of Nicaragua (ASOBAMP), which failed to comply with the law: The term of its board of directors had expired (in April of 2020) and it had not reported its financial statements since the 2019-2020 period. According to the media outlet Confidencial, some observers think that the bankers “let ASOBANP die” by not updating its Board of Directors since 2020. A source told Confidencial, “I never understood that Asobanp was so functional…. It seems to me that there was a kind of abandonment.”

Other organizations cancelled are Asociación Casa Xalteva, Fundación A.MAR.TE, Asociación de Jubilados del Departamento de León (Asojudel), Asociación Centroamericana de Criadores de Caballos de Raza Iberoamericano (Iberonic), Asociación de Comerciantes del Mercado Central (Acomercen), the Nicaraguan Association of Lawyers and Notaries (Anayn), the Association for the Development of Santo Tomás del Norte (Asodesn), the Association of Chronic Renal Insufficiency Patients Nueva Esperanza (Asociación Adedircne), the Abundant Love Foundation (FAA) and the Association of Women Mayors of Nicaragua, Asociación Fondo Histórico Documental de la Música Nicaragüense (Fonmunic), Asociación Dimensiones del Desarrollo (Dides), Asociación de Desmovilizados del S.M.P. de Nicaragua Esperanza y Reconciliación, Asociación Civil Cihualcoalt para el Desarrollo Integral Socio Económico (Asocideis), Club Veinte-Treinta de Managua and Fundación Isla (FIS). (Confidencial, 3 Feb. 2023)

No More Imperialist Domination in the World:
Excerpts from a speech by President Ortega and an announcement from the Iranian Foreign Minister
On Feb. 1, speaking at a gathering to honor a delegation from Iran led by Foreign Minister Dr. Hossein Amir-Abdollahián, President Daniel Ortega said that these are times of struggle for the sovereignty of the world’s peoples and for peace, and that there is certainty and conviction that imperialist domination cannot continue in the world. “We are facing the same enemy that you faced and defeated with the Iranian Revolution in 1979,” said the president. “It is the same [enemy] we faced here in Nicaragua and defeated in 1979,” he added. “And the enemies of peace as we well know want to continue maintaining imperialist … colonialist, neocolonialist policies, not only in what they call the backyard of the United States, which is Latin America and the Caribbean, but in the world; for them, the world is their backyard,” he said. “How many wars, how many aggressions, how many crimes have been committed against the people by the imperialists of the earth?” he asked. The president said that the empires installed slavery in the name of democracy and occupied entire nations. And the peoples rebelled; they were becoming independent, he said, but the empire has continued to insist on its hegemonic policy.

Ortega went on to say, “We saw the latest acts of [US] terrorism there in Iran, launching drone attacks on security points and defying the will for peace of Iran and the peoples of the world. We welcome you on this day that marks the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism at Stalingrad. That heroic people, the Soviet people, resisted all the machinery of the Nazi forces.” He added that also on a day like today a very dear brother of the Latin American peoples and of the people of Iran took office as President of the Republic of Venezuela, Commander Hugo Chavez.

“The meeting that recently took place in the Republic of Argentina with CELAC was a meeting for life and there we were talking about the people of nations and states that are committed to defend Latin American and Caribbean region as a region for peace. Meanwhile, the so-called Western democracies, the United States and Europe, continue their terrorist campaigns against the people. We are well aware of the threats, aggressions and sanctions against the people of Iran,” he said. President Ortega said that the Secretary General of the United Nations is an instrument of imperialist policy and he referred to the UN Human Rights organisms in the same terms.

“We continue in the battle that calls for the unity of our peoples and our regions, and we have the certainty that the future is already defined, that imperialist domination can no longer exist in the world,” he said.

Ortega explained that Nicaragua is a nation with a very small territory, but installed in a strategic point, in the center of the Americas. He criticized the aggressiveness of the Yankee empire for attacking and attempting to take over Nicaragua. In this regard, he explained that “their intention was to take over our territory to install a canal. That explains the invasions,” he said.

The leader expressed his solidarity with the Bolivian people, where they are suffering attacks, and also with the Peruvian people, where the oligarchy, managed by the empire, has fueled a coup d’état against President Pedro Castillo. “In the midst of all these dramatic situations there are new winds that bring us more strength to continue fighting for sovereignty, for the unity of our peoples and for peace,” he said.

During the visit of the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Memorandum of Understanding on the Mechanism of Cooperation and Political Consultations between the two countries was signed. The Iranian Foreign Minister stated that they are planning a future visit of the President of that Islamic nation, Ebrahim Raisi, to the Latin American region, including the friendly country of Nicaragua. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias ... -el-mundo/ (Radio La Primerisima, 2 Feb. 2023)

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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:02 pm

Nicaragua is Run by Women with a Revolutionary Feminism
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 15, 2023

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As the Sandinista Revolution is finally able to make its platform a reality, Nicaragua has made significant achievements in healthcare, education, housing, renewable energy and food sovereignty, to name a few. One achievement that is starting to get more attention is the gain in equality for women. The Global Gender Gap Report for 2022 ranked Nicaragua 7th in the world for gender parity.

On Clearing the FOG, Margaret Flowers of Popular Resistance recently interviewed Jill Clark-Gollub, who recently returned from a delegation to Nicaragua that focused on conditions for women. She describes the country as “run by women” who connect their feminism to the struggles against capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy. Clark-Gollub also dispels misinformation about Nicaragua being promoted in the US corporate media and explains how the US is working to undermine the gains of the Sandinistas through hybrid warfare.

Below is transcript of the interview which took place on January 30, 2023. You can listen to this episode here.

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Margaret Flowers:
You’re listening to CLEARING THE FOG: speaking truth to expose the FORCES OF GREED, with Margaret Flowers. And now I turn to my guest, Jill Clark-Gollub. Jill is a long-time translator, an activist with Friends of Latin America, Assistant editor at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a supporter of the friends of the ATC (the rural workers organization in Nicaragua), and she’s also part of the Women’s Internationalist Front for Justice and Peace, a new organization. Thank you so much for taking time to join me today, Jill.

Jill Clark-Gollub:
Thank you so much for having me, Margaret. It’s a pleasure to be here.

MF:
Great. So, I’m excited to talk with you because you just returned recently from a delegation to Nicaragua. And this was 22 people from the United States and Canada hosted by the Jubilee House Community-Casa Benjamin Linder and the Alliance for Global Justice. And you were there to explore the conditions for women in Nicaragua. Can you talk a little bit about that delegation and what you did while you were there?

JCG:
Sure. So the delegates were from all over the United States, and from college age up to 80 years old. Also, two school-age children accompanied their mother on the trip and had some of their own programming. But in addition to the four college undergrads, our group included a pediatric surgeon, a university professor, a Climate Change and Health Equity program manager, a licensed clinical social worker, Green Party and Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom members, activists from the Black Alliance for Peace and other social movements, and a handful of retired professionals. So, this was a very well-informed and overall, a really solid group of women and a few men.

MF:
Great. And while you were in Nicaragua, what types of places did you visit? Who did you speak with?

JCG:
The delegation was designed to see how Nicaragua came to be rated so highly by various international agencies in terms of gender equality. The World Economic Forum, which is not any pro-socialist outfit, ranks Nicaragua first in the Americas and 7th worldwide in gender parity. We met with health professionals and toured a hospital and clinic. We met with people working on ending violence against women, including from the women’s police stations. We met with women in Parliament; with women and men trade union members, and with women peasants, and learned about their own brand of peasant feminism.
So, what we found reinforced the impression that I have been forming on study delegations to Nicaragua over the last four years: that this is a country run by women. The country has what they call a 50-50 law. This means that every party that runs candidates for an elected office has to have half of them be women. So in an election for the mayor and vice mayor, one of those top two positions must be a woman; and with candidates for city council a given party has to run as many women as men. And the same for the national legislature. Forty percent of police officers are women. And a large majority of health workers are women, which is probably also true in the United States. But from doctors and nurses down to cleaning and support staff, all these health workers are in in a union and they benefit–not because of the union—but by being Nicaraguan citizens, they benefit from free education from primary school through graduate school. The health workers in the union told us that they take advantage of opportunities to keep getting further certifications and further degrees because that helps them rise in the ranks for their careers.

We learned that (over) 50 percent of the national budget is spent on social policies like health, education, poverty reduction, and infrastructure, like roads. We toured one of the 24 new hospitals that have been built since the Sandinistas came back into office in 2007. And this was a beautiful state-of-the-art hospital and was very impressive. And it’s run by a 39-year-old woman who is the director of the hospital. This young doctor said that people often ask her, “You’re the director of the hospital?” But yeah, she is and she’s quite competent! And that beautiful hospital is part of a network of modern hospitals that now exists in Nicaragua and are available free of charge to everyone in Nicaragua, even foreigners, who might have a medical issue arise while they’re visiting. We learned that maternal mortality has fallen by two-thirds since the Sandinistas came back into office in 2007, and child mortality and malnutrition have fallen at similar rates. And part of this is not only the robust health system but creative approaches such as the maternity wait homes program. We visited one of these maternity wait homes. This is where women in urban areas who are experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, and women in remote areas that don’t have easy access to a hospital, can come after I think, 36, or 37 weeks of gestation. And they stay there for two or three weeks until their baby is born, where they get rest and good nutrition and good follow-up care. And they’re right there by a hospital where they can give birth. We saw a beautiful facility that was in the community of Ciudad Sandino.

So there are many interesting things that we got to see and learn about. We learned more about the community-based health model, where health workers are in charge of 3,500 to 5,000 people in a neighborhood. And they know who’s pregnant, who’s elderly, who has diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, who has a disability and might need a wheelchair and extra support. And that’s why they did such a great job of handling COVID-19. And we also met with people in another unique program that they have: what they call women’s police stations. These include police officers trained to deal with victims of trauma, violence against women and children, and sexual abuse, in a way that doesn’t re-traumatize or re-victimize people. And we also talked to police officers and someone said, “We notice that when we see police officers, they don’t seem to be carrying guns.” And we were told yes, they do not generally carry guns unless they’re guarding a physical facility or on an operation. There are, you know, there are raids against drug traffickers because of Nicaragua’s location, but for regular policing on the street—traffic cops, and what you might see around your neighborhood—these police officers do not (carry guns), there is not even one gun for every police officer. That really contrasts with what we see in the United States where we have our police departments getting more and more militarized with the abundance of weapons that there are in this country. And so, even while they have some of the lowest spending on policing and defense per capita in the region, they have the lowest crime rate in Central America. So, this community-based policing and community-based health care has been really effective.
And I’d just like to mention that also when we talk about victims of crime and violence, there’s very much an atmosphere of healing and addressing the whole person, the whole family. There is not so much an emphasis on punishment. And that’s why there’s been very much an effort—and this is part of the Sandinista tradition in Nicaragua—of reconciliation among all parties. And in fact, the national government that has been in office since 2007 calls itself the Government of National Reconciliation and Unity.

So, we also found out there is a union of self-employed workers, which is very interesting, and we met with them. These are primarily street vendors who organized themselves in a union and fought for the right to not be kicked out of certain public spaces and in front of buildings and so forth. They came to meet with us and were very eager to talk about how when there’s going to be construction on a street corner where one of them works, they get help to move to another street corner so that they can still earn a living during that time. And then, of course, these people benefit from health and education benefits and their children getting better jobs. And we saw a lot of that. I don’t know if you have any questions now.

MF:
Yeah, I mean, it’s amazing. And there was a recent Gallup poll that found that out of 122 countries, Nicaragua was the number one country where the most people reported feeling at peace. 73 percent of the population said they always feel at peace in Nicaragua. It’s interesting that nine out of the top 14 countries in the world were Latin American countries and compared to Nicaragua, only 28 percent of people in the United States said that they feel at peace. But it wasn’t always that way. In Nicaragua there’s been in the last few decades a lot of turmoil: the dictatorship of the Somozas, the Revolution, and then the U.S. Contra war against the Sandinistas, and then the neoliberal period. And then finally, in 2006, Daniel Ortega is elected. And so, it’s really been, since then, as you said that, these programs have been put in place. Can you talk a little bit about the difference between the approach in Nicaragua and that in the United States? I mean fundamentally in Nicaragua it’s more based on human rights and talk a little bit about that, right?

JCG:
Exactly. There is the UN declaration—the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is incorporated into Nicaraguan law. And so, the first thing that President Ortega did when he came back into office in 2007 was to declare that education was free and for all, because during the neoliberal years, they had something going on which we kind of see creeping into our educational system in the US as it gets more and more privatized. They said that, oh, to give you more educational freedom, you’re going to get to pay for your teacher and, you know, you can bring your own desk to school, and we don’t need to have those school lunch programs. And you can pay all these school fees and you have to pay a fee to take the end of the year exams. And so there were a lot of kids that dropped out of school, and this was a really low time for Nicaragua. You talked about all those other periods of violence, but this was a time of tremendous institutionalized violence—people dying of hunger, and people dying on the doorsteps of hospitals because they couldn’t pay to have services, or they couldn’t pay for a taxi to go to the hospital that performed the service that they needed.

And so, starting in 2007, Nicaragua had 11 years of tremendous growth. And this is when all of these programs really took a foothold. Many of them got stymied in the 1980s because of the Contra war and also because Somoza had left the coffers completely empty. The three neoliberal presidents from 1990 to the beginning of 2007 also did their fair share of looting of the government coffers. But Nicaragua, the Sandinista government, had a very effective strategy which they called tripartite government—working with the business owners, with the trade unions, and the government. And they negotiated minimum wage raises every year and all kinds of improvements for workers, while at the same time building up health and education services, and infrastructure, and things like roads. Then, I know you probably mentioned this before in Popular Resistance at least, but there was a violent coup attempt in 2018 in Nicaragua. That was a very ugly situation like the guarimbas in Venezuela, and it lasted for three months. To put it in the U.S. context, it was like what happened on January 6th, but with people getting targeted in their neighborhoods and over the course of three months. But fortunately, that is now past and the Nicaraguans are very enthusiastic about their government. They have been making progress despite increasing U.S. sanctions since then, and despite a pandemic and two category 4 and 5 hurricanes two years ago. But the country is making progress and people are just getting more education, more healthcare, seeing more development for their country. And the road network is now the best in in all of Central America. And I think maybe the second or third best in Latin America. And whereas previously, Nicaragua had the worst roads in the region, this is really important for helping people in different communities to have access to school, to higher education, to hospitals, to just get to a health clinic when somebody has an accident, and to let farmers– 40% of Nicaragua’s population still is rural and many are engaged in small scale agriculture, so roads allow farmers to get their products to market as well. And another wonderful benefit of the roads has been connecting Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, which had a different development history from Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast. This is where a majority of Nicaragua’s Indigenous and Afro-descendant population lives, and so they are now more connected with the rest of the country. I’ve said a lot.

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Photos from the Women in Nicaragua: Power and Protagonism delegation in January 2023.

MF:
So much that we could talk about! You know, the Caribbean coast is a really interesting place, because—I traveled there in 2021 when I was on a delegation—because there’s been so much work done to make partnerships with Indigenous communities and the university system trying to bring in Indigenous knowledge to make that more widely available to people, as well as work on land reform. I was in—it’s called Bilwi now, but it was Puerto Cabezas I think before—and that land has been returned to the Indigenous people who owned it and they actually receive taxes from this capital city. I think of the possibilities here in the United States, with our similar history against the Indigenous population and the possibilities of what we could be doing.

JCG:
Yes, Nicaragua has many things in common with a lot of socialist, or socialist, leaning revolutions and around the world. But it has some very unique features, and one of them is that it’s one of the countries that has redistributed the most land. And I think now 600,000 land titles have been officially issued to people. This is both homes in urban areas and small farming plots in rural areas. One-third or over one-third of the national territory has been legally deeded to Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in the Caribbean coast autonomous regions. So they own the land and farm it or manage forests communally. That’s a very unique and beautiful experience. Just a little more information for your listeners… The delegation that we just completed looking at women was preceded by an online course to learn about women in Nicaragua. It was done in English and Spanish with simultaneous interpretation. In it you can hear from a lot of women talking about the process. The last episode is about the Caribbean coast, but we have an episode on overall rights of women. We have one on small businesses, or the community and popular economy, and women who have benefited from programs to specifically target women heads of household to improve the family’s economy and diet. They get a few farm animals, and farming implements and seeds, and technical services to help them with their small farms. And this has not only improved their family economy and the diet for their children and reduced malnutrition, it’s also part of why Nicaragua is almost completely food sovereign. There’s a national policy to support native seeds and agroecology. And you mentioned the Nicaraguan rural workers association. That’s been an important part of the worldwide movement for peasant rights called La Via Campesina.

MF:
Which actually came out of Nicaragua and the mid-1990s right? Yes, yeah. I remember meeting— I stayed with a family kind of in the mountains, pretty far away from any kind of major city. You know, it took us hours of driving on these dirt roads to get up to this village. And one of the daughters of the family that we stayed with was a single mother. She had received business training and she operated a store right there that provided goods to the people in that community. But this also gave her economic autonomy and security. And for her son, the school was right there. He could walk to school. It was just a great setup for her to be able to raise her son and have some Independence and self-sufficiency.

JCG:
I’ve also heard about other people meeting with families, rural families staying like you did, and learning that the son’s becoming a doctor, the daughter’s becoming a lawyer, another child or nephew is becoming some other kind of professional, and they’re worried about who’s going to stay on the farm. And that’s actually something that Nicaragua has been pretty successful at. Forty percent of the population still lives in rural areas, which is higher than most of Latin America. Also, part of the mission of La Via Campesina is to make life more dignified in the countryside so that its pleasant for people to stay there and it encourages people to stay there, which is how the country can grow its own food.

So I mentioned that online course that talks about women. There’s a session on Women Experiencing Hybrid Warfare, which I highly recommend, which is some young women telling about what they’ve experienced and what they have to be aware of so that another coup attempt can’t take any foothold against the people of Nicaragua. And there’s a session on peasant and popular feminism. And so this group wants to continue to offer these online courses. And some of the topics that we’ve talked about are the Caribbean coast autonomy, which is very unique and something that I think would be interesting to people who look at Indigenous and Afro-descendant rights. And also food sovereignty is another very interesting topic.

But I want to get back to something that we learned from the Nicaraguan women on this trip and also through the online course in describing their version of feminism. It really helped me have greater clarity. This particularly came out when we visited with a women’s Cooperative of the ATC, near El Crucero, not too far from Managua. And it was beautiful to see those women again and how they continue to make progress. And we met with women who are in several communities, small communities in the northern mountainous region of Nicaragua, going north from the city of Estelí. This is called the Among Women Foundation—la Fundación Entre Mujeres—or the FEM as its known. And they have come from a place where they were poor peasant women who didn’t know how to read and write, who were suffering terribly in the 1990s under a woman president whom the US had helped usher into power, and they couldn’t feed their kids and they were suffering violence in their own homes. And so they organized and formed this organization. And over the years, they’ve advocated strongly for women’s education and to raise awareness about femicide and for sexual and reproductive rights. And they were allied with some of the feminist groups in Managua, who tend to be the kind of people that get a lot of press in the United States and tell us things like there are no rights for women in Nicaragua, because abortion is not legal. And they (the FEM) were distancing from them because they didn’t see them as really supporting what peasant women need. And they (the FEM) have a big campaign to save their seeds, which is so important for food, sovereignty. And with the 2018 coup attempt, they totally broke with those women because they saw that they were allied with the Catholic church and that they were helping bring violence to their country. And now they were telling us that they have clarified their understanding of their role in their communities. They still feel that they’re very local, but they say they are fighting a troika of oppression, which is: capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy. And when you think about it, that really covers a lot and we can see how capitalism hurts women when, for example, it privatizes health and people can’t afford to get health services and women are dying in childbirth and from other things that they shouldn’t be dying from, from cancers that go untreated and so forth. And we can see the colonialism. Nicaragua was a colony of Spain for 300 years and for the last 200 years, since the Monroe Doctrine, whose anniversary is this year, the United States is trying to have Nicaragua be its neo-colony. And over the last forty-three or so years, Nicaragua has been resisting that, and more and more effectively every day. And the Nicaraguan women are aware that the coup attempt of 2018 was an attempt to bring that neo-colonial status back, to bring Nicaragua back under U.S. control; and that the sanctions and the attacks on Nicaragua are all aimed at discrediting and trying to isolate Nicaragua, so that it can be more vulnerable to control by capitalist interests and by the United States government. And then of course, patriarchy puts women in a disadvantaged position and it’s all facilitated by capitalism and colonialism. So I really think that we have a lot to learn from the women of Nicaragua, and really the Nicaraguan people. And the women also told us, that they had, for example, a mobile clinic program to help women in rural areas receive medical services more easily. And they said, “we’ve just discontinued that because the government is doing that now. And we realized that also part of our fight is to support this government, because this government is doing what we peasant women in Nicaragua need it to do, right?”

MF:
Yeah. And that attack, that hybrid warfare by the United States. I mean, it continues, as you said, and the media, the corporate media in the United States is part of that. Just prior to our interview, I thought, well, I’m going to look up and see, you know, what’s in the news recently about Nicaragua. And in the corporate media, it’s all about the dictatorship and it’s not safe to travel there. And religious—they’re claiming religious persecution. And it’s just amazing to me because that flies completely in the face of the facts.

JCG:
Yeah, I was surprised that we had a meeting that actually clarified this issue with the church. So just to tell your listeners really briefly, another unique thing about the Nicaraguan Revolution is that when it came about in the 1970s, liberation theology was really flourishing in Latin America. And there were many believers of Liberation Theology—both priests and nuns and lay people—who were very much driven by that place of faith that we need to help people have a better life here on Earth and help liberate people. They were involved in the revolution and there were priests in government, and there were many activist religious people. But the Catholic Church hierarchy has always been against that. And the Catholic Church hierarchy has remained constant. The Catholic Church hierarchy supported the (2018) coup efforts, and there were even videos and recordings of priests that were present for scenes of torture. And even directing torture, and telling people how to hide this. On a previous visit I met some people who talked about this. They were practicing Catholics who were very disturbed to see their Parish priest directing people to loot and burn a government services building. And so this has led some Catholics to not formally practice their faith. Although they very much believe in their Christian beliefs and that they need to work to help bring about a more just society.

So from back in the 1960s—starting in the 1960s—there was something called Christian Base Communities in Nicaragua and other countries, and a few of these Christian Base Communities still survive. We went to Sunday services with one of these communities in a poor neighborhood of Managua, and it was really a beautiful experience. People who are not necessarily very religious were very moved because it’s such a horizontal experience. There is no priest. This is led by the members of the community. And it was three women up front, before they even knew that this was a group looking at women’s issues. After their service, we had this dialogue. They had suffered some threats of violence during 2018 because people knew that they were Sandinistas. They also helped collect signatures on a petition to recall one of the bishops who was really one of the ringleaders of the violence. They petitioned Pope Francis, and they got over half a million adult Catholics in Nicaragua to sign—a small country where less than half the people are Catholic. That’s a really large percentage of the population. And Pope Francis did recall him to Rome and now he left Rome and is in Miami and he claims that he had to flee for his life from the “dictator” Daniel Ortega, okay? But the real story is different.

But also, the people in this community were telling us about their issues with the hierarchy and how the hierarchy represents the old order. They’re allied with money and they’re allied with the patriarchal system. So once again, if you want to fight capitalism, neocolonialism, and patriarchy for women’s emancipation, the Catholic Church hierarchy is not on your side. And they are actively part– they are being manipulated, I believe, by the US government to give bad press to Nicaragua. Last August one of these bishops who was inciting violence and who was using his radio stations to collect money to pay people for violence, was placed under house arrest and now his trial is starting. So you’re going to be hearing more about that.

MF:
Alright. And this is the context that people the United States don’t hear at all because the US has a long history of hybrid warfare against Nicaragua. It continues to this day and under, you know, I think it was President Trump, under his administration the NICA Act was passed. And then under was it under Biden that the RENACER Act passed?

JCG:
Yes. Biden signed the RENACER Act just a few days before Nicaraguans went to the polls for the presidential election in November of 2021.

MF:
Yep. And that was all based on a lie of claiming that, you know, there was corruption and dictatorship in Nicaragua. And then I guess recently more sanctions were imposed by the Biden Administration.

JCG:
Yes. They keep adding sanctions and they say that they’re targeted sanctions, but they target people like the Minister of Health. That sanction affects everyone in the country who uses health services because when the Minister of Health is sanctioned, she couldn’t be involved in any international procurement of any supplies needed for the healthcare system. So they, in fact had to replace her and they keep doing this with different people. And they also recently sanctioned Nicaragua’s gold exports, which was the largest earner of export funds for Nicaragua. So that all of this helps… You know, when 57% of the budget goes to social programs, you’re cutting funds for things like that. This is going to affect social programs, but the Nicaraguans so far have been very resilient and producing over 90% of the food that your population eats is a big help. But, you know, we see where this is going. We see what’s happened to countries like Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba and we don’t want that to happen to Nicaragua. So I definitely hope that your listeners, if they are not yet plugged into solidarity groups, that they will be. I don’t know that writing Congress is the most effective thing, but you can help spread the word and awareness. And I know that you, Margaret, are very involved in the Sanctions Kill campaign, and I would encourage all of your listeners to be involved as well. Because sanctions do kill. They are not harmless. They are form of warfare.

MF:
And actually, the International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism is launching on January 28th and their main focus is going to be on sanctions. The US has illegal sanctions and economic blockades against so many countries. So there’s a lot that we can be doing here. Now, you mentioned the school, the classes. Where can people find those online courses?

JCG:
You can go to Casa Benjamin Linder https://www.casabenjaminlinder.org/ and look for the Nicaragua Study Guide, https://www.casabenjaminlinder.org/nica ... tudy-guide and Alliance for Global Justice https://afgj.org/ and look for these. And we will certainly also be having a webinar with the fabulous participants in our delegation giving their report back. And we will definitely let you know, so that popular resistance can share links for that.

MF:
Yeah. And there’s so many different delegations going to Nicaragua, I think people should not listen to these travel advisories. I mean it’s very safe to be in Nicaragua would you agree?

JCG:
Absolutely. I mean you can walk around the streets in the evening and you can go jogging before the sun comes up, and I haven’t heard of anybody having any problem.

MF:
Yeah, and I did both of those, but when I was down there! And yeah, the people are just wonderful. It’s a beautiful country, the volcanoes and the lakes. And I mean, there’s just so much natural beauty there as well. And then we didn’t mention the energy, you know, Nicaragua, go ahead.

JCG:
Yeah, Nicaragua’s like 77% renewable energy that’s the making up its grid these days. They’re just barely beginning to tap into wind and solar. They also have geothermal, hydro, and biomass. Geothermal is very interesting, and I know I was just telling you that there’s a delegation that’s going to be looking at that coming up in June. That’s a family-based delegation I would say.

MF:
Yes. And that’s so the kids can look at volcanoes and all kinds of cool stuff like that. And then just, if you would quickly, do you mind just saying, a few words about the Women’s Internationalist Front for Justice and Peace. This is so interesting.

JCG:
Sure. This is a group of Latina women, mostly in the US that formed in April, to raise the profile of Francia Márquez, who was the candidate for vice president and now is vice president of Colombia. Because there have been so many killings of social movement leaders in Colombia and killing of leftist candidates over Colombia’s history, we wanted to raise her profile to make it harder to assassinate her. And from there, we’ve supported the campaign of Lula in Brazil, and supporting very much what we call the Troika of Resistance: Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua—the countries that are really on the front lines doing what so many of our countries would like to be doing and facing the wrath of the United States for doing it. But also, the new democracies like Honduras, which is now facing similar attacks. And the US ambassador to Nicaragua during the coup attempt of 2018 is now the U.S. ambassador to Honduras. She’s doing the same kind of things, and she speaks about Honduran politics openly and she criticizes Honduras for cracking down on NGOs, which Nicaraguan and many countries have had to do, to stop money laundering and to stop a channel of hybrid warfare money coming in. And they’ve even gone so far as to accuse Honduras, Xiomara Castro, of not being pro women because she hasn’t legalized abortion yet. You know, this is when she had been in office for less than a year.

And there is something that I did want to mention about Nicaragua. Did I say that abortion is not legal in Nicaragua? And some people on the left take that as the one yardstick by which to measure whether or not a country is pro women or has respect for women’s rights. That law was passed before the Sandinistas came back into power and before they had a majority in the legislature, and it was enjoying over 80% support amongst the population. The Nicaraguan population is very Christian and is generally not in favor of abortion. However, there is family planning free of charge and available at all clinics. At this one clinic in Ciudad Sandino we heard about the program to give implants to young women. And also, there are still about 30 percent of women having children at a young age, but the average age to have the first child is now almost 27 years old, that’s great progress. And also, the average number of children is less than 3, and I have talked to peasant women on previous visits in Nicaragua and heard that women in their communities—whereas before their mothers and grandmothers had 10 or 14 kids—women now are having two or maybe three kids, and then getting sterilized before they leave the hospital. And we’ve heard this repeatedly from other groups of women, and from health professionals that women, once they’ve had the number of babies that they want to have, they get to have a free tubal ligation before they leave the hospital. This is encouraged and this is free of charge. And you know, birth control is also widely available.

MF:
So you know, yeah, this is part of when we try to establish our norms upon other countries and judge them in that way.

JCG:
But there’s something else, Margaret. One other thing that reminded me of the Cubans’ approach with the Cuban Family Code, which has been celebrated for how progressive it is, and it really was a wonderful process of consultations all throughout the country. Initially people were not in favor of same-sex marriage. So when we were on the delegation, someone asked at the Ministry of Women if same-sex marriage was recognized, and the minister said, “We have no problem with that. The FSLN as a party has no problem with that. But we know that we can’t just pass a law. We need our society to get there, right?” And I think that this could also be applied to abortion. So these are things that society is working on. And also with the police, somebody asked about trans women and they said, you know, the police protect the rights of trans women; the police have no problem protecting trans women. And I actually was pleased to see for the first time on this last visit to Nicaragua, I noticed trans women openly in the street. So I think you know, there is more acceptance of that and also I know amongst the women of the FEM that they definitely work on gender diversity rights and changing the culture, and it’s really beautiful to see what they’ve been accomplishing. And I think this is true of the ATC as well.

MF:
Right. And I think it’s kind of like a natural evolution of once you’re able to create a political system in which people’s rights are supported, their basic needs are being met, then you have that structure in place and that opportunity to start having some of these broader discussions about rights and respecting people’s rights and autonomy. So you know, it’s U.S. interference through economic warfare through the, as you said, you know, influence through the NGOs and trying to impact elections that inhibits the ability of the society to make this progress. So we need to be aware that it’s you know, for judging Nicaragua, we need to be focused on what the United States has been doing to the country which is actually inhibiting the ability of people, right, to some extent, to organize on issues. But they are doing it anyways.

JCG:
Yeah, and they are making progress and I see this. My mother’s Nicaraguan, so I’ve known about Nicaragua for a long time and I was active in the ‘80s, and then became active and really looking at Nicaragua more for the last four to five years. And I see progress every time that I go on these same social issues.

MF:
Well, there’s so much for us for us to learn in the United States from Nicaragua and so many different facets. So I really appreciate the work that you do both going on these delegations and reporting about them. But also you’ve done a lot of support for different types of educational programs and webinars here in the United States. And it’s so critical for us to have these opportunities to learn about Nicaragua.

JCG:
And I really appreciate everything that you do through Popular Resistance, Margaret. You really help social movements in our different countries stay connected and get information from each other. So thank you for all you do.

MF:
Thank you. Thank you for taking time to speak.

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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Fri Mar 03, 2023 3:07 pm

Nicaragua’s ‘Political Prisoners’ Would Be Criminals by US Standards
JOHN PERRY

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Pro-government march in Nicaragua

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The New York Times (2/9/23) reports that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega “rose to power after helping overthrow another notorious Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza, in 1979.”
“Nicaragua Frees Hundreds of Political Prisoners to the United States,” the New York Times (2/9/23) reported. In an unexpected move on February 9, the Nicaraguan government deported to the United States 222 people who were in prison, and moved to strip them of their citizenship. The prisoners had been convicted of various crimes, including terrorism, conspiracy to overthrow the democratically elected government, requesting the United States to intervene in Nicaragua, economic damage and threatening the country’s stability, most relating to the violent coup attempt in 2018 and its aftermath.

President Daniel Ortega explained that the US ambassador had unconditionally accepted an offer to send the 222 “mercenaries” (as Ortega called them) to Washington. Two others opted to stay in prison in Nicaragua, and an additional four were rejected by the US.

Despite the Times’ relatively benign headline, its story was heavily weighted against a country that had “slid into autocratic rule,” and whose government had “targeted opponents in civil society, the church and the news media.” For the Times, the “political prisoners” were not criminals but “opposition members, business figures, student activists and journalists.”

For the Washington Post (2/9/23), they included “some of Nicaragua’s best-known opposition politicians” and “presidential hopefuls.” Their release had “eased one of Latin America’s grimmest human rights sagas.” It added that “several of the prisoners had planned to run against Ortega in 2021 elections, but were detained before the balloting.”

The Guardian (2/9/23) blamed the imprisonments on “Nicaragua’s authoritarian regime” and its “ferocious two-year political crackdown,” intended to “obliterate any challenge” before the last presidential election in 2021.

Bad when they do it
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The Guardian (2/16/23) did not note that the British government has stripped at least 767 people of citizenship since 2010.
The corporate media were given a second bite of the cherry when the Nicaraguan government announced, six days later, that it was rescinding the citizenship of a further 94 people, most of them living abroad, in some cases for many years. The list included such notable names as authors Sergio Ramírez and Gioconda Belli. The Times (2/17/23) quoted the United Nations refugee agency as saying that international law “prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, including on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds.” For the Guardian (2/16/23), “Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian regime has intensified its political crackdown.”

Neither mentioned that law in the US and Britain, and other countries, permits the revocation of citizenship in the US for, among other things, engaging in a conspiracy “to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States,” and in Britain of “those who pose a threat to the country.” The British government has made orders to deprive at least 767 people of citizenship since 2010.

There are other important considerations that apply in Nicaragua’s case, which the media ignore. First, it is a small country, with limited means to defend itself, that has been the subject of US intervention for decades—militarily in the 1980s, politically more recently, and economically since sanctions were imposed in 2018. Those calling for even stronger US pressure (e.g., curbs on trade) are putting the well-being of Nicaraguans at real risk.

From Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare.
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In 1983, the CIA wrote a manual, Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare, that advised Nicaraguans fighting the Sandinistas to lead “demonstrators into clashes with the authorities, to provoke riots or shootings, which lead to the killing of one or more persons, who will be seen as the martyrs; this situation should be taken advantage of immediately against the government to create even bigger conflicts.”
Second, there is a precedent for a country’s unelected citizens being recognized as its “real” government by the US and its allies, in the case of self-proclaimed “president” Juan Guaidó in Venezuela, a gambit that successfully stole the country’s assets (Venezuelanalysis, 1/11/22), even though it did not provoke the hoped-for military coup (FAIR.org, 5/1/19). The possibility of similar tactics being used against Nicaragua might well have been a factor influencing the action it took.

The corporate media’s accounts of the Nicaraguan government’s reasons for the deportations and cancellations of citizenship were both perfunctory and disparaging. For example, the Guardian’s second article (2/16/23) said the government “called the deportees, who were also stripped of their citizenship, ‘traitors to the motherland.’” The rest of its article was given over to criticism of the Ortega government.

The New York Times (2/9/23) quoted Nicaraguan journalist Carlos Chamorro, one of the 94, as saying, “All prisoners of conscience are innocent.” It made no assessment of his claim.

The Washington Post (2/9/23) did include Ortega’s criticism of US financing of opposition groups: “These people are returning to a country that has used them…to sow terror, death and destruction here in Nicaragua,” Ortega said. But it went on to report in its own voice that “Ortega crushed a nationwide anti-government uprising in 2018, the beginning of a new wave of repression.”

Three months of January 6
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In the United States, the New York Times (12/19/22) does not express shock that people who try to overthrow the elected government are treated as criminals.
As FAIR has shown in a range of articles, media coverage of Nicaragua consistently presents the image of a country suffering extreme repression. The story of the 222 deportees was a further opportunity to repeat this treatment. For example, included in the Guardian’s coverage (2/16/23) was an official from Human Rights Watch saying, “The country is on the verge of becoming the Western Hemisphere’s equivalent of North Korea.” Whether it is the closure of NGOs, the results of the 2021 presidential election, the reasons for increased Nicaraguan migration to the United States, or the country’s response to Covid-19, corporate media ignore good news about Nicaragua, give prominence to the views of government opponents and, if Daniel Ortega is quoted, this is done in a disparaging way.

The most extraordinary example of this bias is the corporate media’s pretense that the “terror, death and destruction” of the 2018 coup attempt either never occurred or were perpetrated solely by the “authoritarian regime.” Yet there was ample evidence at the time, and since, of horrific acts of violence against police and Sandinista supporters. Examples can be seen in two short videos (warnings about content apply), here and here, which include clips made by opposition protesters themselves and uploaded to social media.

The uprising that shook Nicaragua lasted roughly three months, resulted officially in 251 deaths (including 22 police officers; others put the total deaths as higher) and over 2,000 injured. It allegedly “caused $1 billion in economic damages,” and led to an economic collapse. (After years of growth, GDP fell by 3.4% in 2018).

The coup attempt led to at least 777 arrests, with many of those convicted given lengthy prison sentences. But importantly, and mostly ignored by the corporate media, 492 prisoners were released between mid-March and mid-June 2019.

Nicaragua’s experience in 2018 stands comparison with the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, and the response to it by the US justice system, generally with the corporate media’s support. The siege of the Capitol lasted only a few hours and led to five deaths, about 140 injuries to police and $2.7 million in damage. Reporting uncritically on the sanctions against those responsible, the New York Times (12/19/22) said that more than 900 people had been charged so far, facing prison sentences of up to ten years.

Later, the Times (1/23/23) reported that four culprits had been charged with “seditious conspiracy,” under a statute dating from the civil war period. In words not dissimilar to those used by the Nicaraguan judge who announced the order stripping 94 people of citizenship, one of the prosecutors was quoted as saying that the defendants “perverted the constitutional order.” He added that they “were willing to use force and violence to impose their view of the Constitution and their view of America on the rest of the country.” Unlike the Times’ reports on Nicaragua, there is no hint of criticism of these charges, nor questioning of whether they are justified.

Evidence of wrongdoing

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William Sirias Quiroz testified that Medardo Mairena, one of the prisoners deported by Nicaragua, personally supervised his torture at the hands of opposition militants, saying, “We have to make an example of this one.”

This is the context in which the 222 supposedly “innocent” people released into the United States had been charged and found guilty during 2021 and 2022. Questions about the wrongdoing of the 222 were set aside in corporate media coverage, yet it would have been easy to find evidence of wrongdoing. Here are three examples:

*Cristiana Chamorro headed an NGO, the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, that received $76 million from USAID. This was used to influence Nicaragua’s elections via an array of opposition media outlets, several owned by the Chamorro family. She refused to comply with transparency laws and closed her foundation; she was then convicted of money laundering.
*Félix Maradiaga was convicted of treachery because he had pleaded for economic sanctions against Nicaragua.
*Medardo Mairena and Pedro Mena had organized a range of armed attacks in 2018, for which they had been pardoned in the 2019 amnesty. These included the siege of the police station in Morrito on July 12, 2018, in which five people were killed. Both were later convicted again for further offenses. In 2020, a large number of victims provided evidence of the violence directed by Mairena and his associates in 2018 in the central region of Nicaragua.

For US corporate media, none of this was relevant. The real reason for the original arrests in 2021 was simple: Ortega expected to lose that year’s election, so he locked up his opponents.

It is true that several of those imprisoned had expressed interest in running. But in a joint post-election analysis with journalist Rick Sterling, I argued that they would have had little chance of taking part, much less of winning.

However, according to the Washington Post (2/9/23), this meant that Ortega, “essentially unopposed, cruised to a fourth consecutive term.” In fact, he won 76% of the vote on a 65% turnout, standing against five others, including two candidates from parties that had been in government in the years before Ortega returned to power.

‘A terrible place’
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Travel + Leisure (4/29/22) praises Nicaragua as “home to a rich cultural heritage and friendly locals who go out of their way to get you the most delicious seafood, help you catch a wave, or show you the way around the backroads.”
Why were the prisoners released? The Post admitted that there had been no “quid pro quo,” but then carried a quote claiming that Ortega was “buying some breathing room internationally.”

The New York Times reported that the releases “bolster the argument that sanctions are effective,” linking this to its portrayal of Nicaragua as an authoritarian regime: “The sanctions have also stretched the government’s ability to pay off pro-Ortega paramilitaries or expand the police force to manage dissent.”

Not that sanctions would be relaxed, of course: “Officials…said they would continue to apply pressure to the Ortega administration,” the paper reported, as “the Biden administration does not believe that ‘the nature of the government’ has changed.” Dan Restrepo, President Obama’s national security adviser for Latin America, declared, “Nicaragua remains a terrible place for Nicaraguans, and a lot more has to change.”

Readers of the corporate media who are unfamiliar with Nicaragua receive impressions of the country, reinforced with every news item, that it is a “terrible place,” in the grip of a police state. As someone who lives in the country, I find a huge disjuncture between these descriptions and the reality of Nicaraguan daily life.

Readers of the Times or the Post might be surprised to hear Nicaragua was recently judged to be the place in the world where people are most at peace (CNBC, 1/7/23). InSight Crime (2/8/23) ranked it the second-safest country in Latin America, according to reported data on homicides. It tackled Covid-19 more successfully than its neighbors, and has the highest vaccination rate in the region. Websites devoted to tourism dub it a favorite destination in Central America and extol its friendliness.

Finally, the government’s decision to deport the 222 was popular in Nicaragua itself, at least among government supporters. There were enthusiastic demonstrations in at least 30 cities the following weekend, including the one where I live. Unpersuaded, the British Independent (2/12/23) said that the “Sandinista political machine mobilized a few thousand of its faithful.” They must not have seen the reports from the capital, Managua, where tens of thousands filled the streets.

https://fair.org/home/nicaraguas-politi ... standards/

*******

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Calls grow for cessation of hostility against Nicaragua
February 25, 2023Nicaragua

A slanderous campaign which has sought to discredit the Government of Nicaragua and Sandinista Revolution has sparked a backlash.

Organizations in the United States, Canada and the UK are among a growing list of signers of a statement which denounces the escalation of aggression against Nicaragua through hostile policies, particularly illegal sanctions, which have been coupled with a strong media disinformation campaign.

The statement elaborated by the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition rejects the US designation of Nicaragua as “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States and calls for the lifting of economic sanctions. The statement has already received the backing of groups including Popular Resistance, Code Pink, Alliance for Global Justice, Black Alliance for Peace, and Fire This Time, among dozens of other organizations.

The statement can be read and signed here.https://nicasolidarity.net/taking-actio ... ievements/

[youtube]https://youtu.be/19aA49oPm2A[/youtube]

https://kawsachunnews.com/calls-grow-fo ... -nicaragua
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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:32 pm

Nicaragua: Reconciliation Does Not Mean Forgetting
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 4, 2023
Jill Clark-Gollub

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Opposition sniper firing from behind a roadblock in 2018. Photo by opposition activist Carl David Goette-Luciak.

Hybrid warfare tactics, including information warfare and the co-opting of human rights groups, make it hard to tell the good guys from the bad in the US-backed coup attempt in Nicaragua in 2018. But it is important to note the telltale signs of class oppression and terrorist tactics to understand the truth about the 222 people recently released to the US who were convicted of treason in Nicaragua for savage acts of violence against their people. They had benefited from an amnesty in 2019, but violated its terms by participating in a new coup plot in 2020 and 2021. In releasing the 222 over to the US, the Nicaraguan authorities effectively pardoned them a second time in order to bring further reconciliation to society. But for the sake of historical memory and non-repetition, it is important to remember their crimes.


I recently saw the film “Argentina, 1985,” a strong contender for this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. It tells the tale of a brave team of prosecutors seeking justice on behalf of their compatriots for the crimes committed by the Videla military dictatorship that imposed a reign of terror on Argentina from 1976 to 1983. Viewers watch as a population that was intimidated into keeping quiet about the atrocities it witnessed, was coaxed out of the shadows to give testimony in open court against the perpetrators. Young people were emboldened to call out their enemies for what they were: fascists. “Facho” they said to the faces of those who were complicit in the horrors of that period. The publicity for the film talks about how fascism continues to be a threat today. I could not agree more.

As I watched and cheered the film’s ultimate triumph of good over evil, I could not help but lament how much the lines between good and evil have been blurred since then. In the 1980s it was easier to tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. The Reagan administration was the ugly face of the US empire. Human rights groups, members of the US Congress, and European governments sometimes spoke in defense of the empire’s victims before it was all over. And no one was confused about who was on the left and who was on the right.

In the early 1980s, there was more skepticism of official narratives after the Church Committee uncovered CIA spying on US citizens, infiltration of political movements, and the planting of stories in the media. Then the Reagan administration switched tactics by setting up the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to run psychological operations for the CIA, but with less oversight. Now the NED funds local media outlets to funnel the US version of events to the international media. And as we have seen since the persecution of Julian Assange and in reporting around the Ukraine war, reporters are more deferential than ever to that official narrative. Social media blurs reality even more, as its trolls, bots, and fake news images can convince a population that up is down and down is up. And traitors to a country’s popular revolution can use NED image makers to depict themselves as “the true revolutionaries,” while they themselves terrorize the population, as they did to the people of Nicaragua from April to July of 2018.

The Nicaraguan people are still facing the fallout from five years ago when protests over modest pension reform were used to launch a violent coup attempt, while people were lured into the streets with deceptive images on their phones. Violent demonstrators accused the police of repression while they themselves burned down offices bringing services to the poor majority benefitting from government social programs. Dangerous roadblocks were set up around the country at which paid “peaceful protestors” not only practiced extortion on the population, they also raped, tortured, and killed, even burning some alive, particularly seeking out those who had any connections to the Sandinista movement—student leaders, journalists, even municipal government workers—and posted ghastly images of their victims on social media to further terrorize the population.

I was one of many who naively hoped that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights would conduct an investigation to clarify what was happening. However, when the Commission arrived, the only evidence it took was from blatantly biased opposition media, refusing to hear from witnesses whose testimony did not conform to its foregone conclusion. It failed to reply to complaints about its report that manipulated facts in a specific case to misplace blame. Amnesty International also confirmed its place in the human rights industrial complex at the service of US geopolitical interests and did not respond to this well-documented refutation of its report.

While among the working class inside Nicaragua there is little doubt now about who was responsible for all the damage to the country in 2018, and who attempted to do the same in 2021, there is sadly much confusion outside the country. Those abroad who care about the people of Nicaragua would do well to visit the country. They would find a population living in safety, with food security, and enjoying ever more educational, health, housing, and recreational benefits. And if visitors ask about the events of 2018, they learn that, just as in the Contra war of the 1980s, the physical infrastructure making this progress possible is precisely what was targeted by the violent coup attempt—health posts, ambulances, local government offices, and public universities. While every single computer at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) was destroyed, and its child care center was burned down during a violent weeks-long occupation of its Managua campus, the private universities were left intact while their classes continued online. None of the sons or daughters of the bourgeoisie were injured or killed, nor were any prominent opposition activists.

Outside Nicaragua we are bombarded with stories about “political prisoners,” the “true revolutionaries,” and a “dictatorship.” This not only ignores the fact that everyday working people—not the wealthy families of Nicaragua’s history—are running things and protecting their government and revolution but also the fact that the “heroes” paraded before the US media abandoned their revolution long ago. Lacking any significant political backing from the local population, they were taking money from the United States government to spread disinformation and even coordinate violence. Any claims of being “progressive” are disproven by looking at the right-wing company they keep, the fact that they immediately cheered on the racist coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia, and this image they posted celebrating the deaths of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez:

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Successful right-wing coups are not just a thing of the past, as witnessed recently in Honduras, Bolivia, and now Peru. In all of those cases, violent racism was unleashed on the impoverished majority. In Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, supporters of a progressive government were singled out for public humiliation by being stripped and painted, as seen in the photo below and the video at the end—certainly tactics evocative of fascism. Fortunately, the 2018 coup attempt did not succeed in Nicaragua (nor did the guarimbas in Venezuela). But the deliberate barrage of disinformation can trick casual observers into thinking that the government of the working class was responsible for the violence. Looking at things like who benefited from the violence and disruption (the NED and those on its payroll) and who suffered from it (the Nicaraguan majority and their government and thriving economy), gives us important clues about who was responsible for it. People in countries that are rebuilding their democracies should take note. Just as the tactics of the Argentinian dictatorship were exported to Central America in the 1980s, hybrid warfare tactics applied in one country will surely be applied in another.

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Bolivia 2019, MAS Mayor Patricia Arce after paint attack. Photo: Jorge Ábrego, EFE

Like the Argentinian people in 1985, the Nicaraguan people had a catharsis in 2018 when they realized they were not alone in facing the fascist threat. As poignantly described by Yorlis Gabriela Luna in the Prologue to Live from Nicaragua: Uprising or Coup, found on this page, people regained their strength once they banded together with their neighbors to dismantle the “roadblocks of death.” This video gives you a glimpse of what they thought of the “student protesters.” The recently released 222 prisoners benefited from an amnesty in 2019 and a prisoner release in 2023—effectively let off the hook twice for repeated crimes. But we must not forget what they did. This factsheet helps us remember.

As Malcolm X said, “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing,” … or loving the fachos. Check out this video by Paul Baker for further evidence of the cruelty orchestrated by those recently returned to the US.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... orgetting/

Gracias a Dios: The People’s Church in Nicaragua
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 5, 2023
Becca Renk

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Nicaragua remains a profoundly spiritual country with thriving religious communities, but they are not the religious communities that the traditional church would like to see.

“We are not typical Catholics,” explains Yamil Ríos of the Saint Paul the Apostle Christian Base Community in Managua. “Because we don’t have a priest here, thanks be to God.” Around the room parishioners chuckle on their folding chairs which are set up in a half circle. At the front of the room, musicians shift their instruments, gearing up for another upbeat number.

In today’s Nicaragua, there is a rupture between the Catholic hierarchy and its abandoned base. The politicized official church has long collaborated with U.S. imperialism and, as a consequence, is losing the community of faith comprised of the poor and working people of Nicaragua.

Christian Base Communities with a preferential option for the poor

Christian Base Communities in Nicaragua, like St. Paul the Apostle, flourished during the insurrection in the 1970s and after the 1979 overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship. This bloody dictatorship was supported by the Catholic Church hierarchy during its almost 45 years of rule. These communities were places where lay people led liberation theology bible studies, celebrated mass and helped their neighbors.

Unlike Cuba, the Nicaraguan revolution was never secular. Nicaragua’s Revolution was so influenced by liberation theology that in the 1980s there was a popular saying: “Between Christianity and revolution there is no contradiction.” Foreign minister Father Miguel d’Escoto, a Maryknoll priest, often said: “You can’t be a follower of Jesus and not be a revolutionary.”

Father Miguel was not the only priest in government. At that time, several others were also at the cabinet level working to improve the lives of the poor majority. But they were not the priests of the Church hierarchy, which was openly opposed to the Sandinista Revolution. Pope John Paul II himself came to Nicaragua to chastise the priests in government, and the Vatican later censored them.

Thanks to relentless antagonism from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, few faith communities like St. Paul the Apostle are still active in Nicaragua today.

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Las Lobas

“This community is a lay community in the sense that we are the ones who carry out our own religious rites. We don’t consider that those who are ordained – priests – are above us or have more power or more authority,” explains community member Eduardo Valdez.

“In the early 1990s after the Sandinista party was defeated at the polls, the Catholic hierarchy didn’t look favorably on communities like ours,” Valdez continues, “due to our belief in the preferential option for the poor. They wanted to impose silence on us, they wanted us to quit singing our songs of commitment, and there was a time of conflict and rupture with the priests. Since 1994 we have not had a priest; so we are lay people, women and men, who carry out our own religious celebrations.”

At the community’s Sunday service, three women sit at the central table and lead mass with prayers and readings from the Bible in an order familiar to Catholics everywhere. When it’s time for the homily, however, the floor is opened to the parishioners. The mic is passed around as young and old – and mostly women – give their interpretation of the gospel as it relates to them and their lives in their working class neighborhood of Managua. When it’s time for communion, the lay women explicitly invite everyone to take communion, no matter what religious tradition they come from. “Everyone is welcome,” they insist.

The musicians strike up a song from the Nicaraguan Peasants Mass. “Let’s go to the Lord’s cornfield,” they sing. “Jesus Christ invites us to his harvest of love, the corn shines in the light of the sun, let’s go to the cornfield of communion.” In place of communion wafers are delicious traditional corn cookies. After everyone has taken communion, the basket of leftover cookies is passed around and everyone munches on more.

Rupture of Nicaraguans from the Catholic hierarchy

While the St. Paul the Apostle Community is the oldest such community in the country, tracing its roots back to the 1960s, its members are not by any means the only faithful to break with the traditional Catholic Church. Recent polls show that only 37% of Nicaraguans today identify as Catholics, as opposed to 94% in the mid-90s and 50% only a few years ago. What has caused this recent rupture?

During the U.S.-led coup attempt in 2018, violent criminals held the entire country hostage for months through thousands of road blocks which, in addition to crippling the country’s economy and causing the loss of thousands of jobs, were centers of terrible violence.

Although the U.S. was funding the attempted ousting of Nicaragua’s democratically elected Sandinista government, the Catholic Church hierarchy in Nicaragua was instigating it. Around the country, priests called for violence from the pulpit. Some actually initiated violence, including in Ciudad Sandino where a parish priest was seen encouraging the burning of the Sandinista party headquarters and the looting of the social security offices.

At the “roadblocks of death,” Sandinista supporters were identified, beaten, raped, tortured and murdered – with priests watching and sometimes participating in the horrifying violence. Video evidence shows priests storing weapons in churches, beating people, dousing people in gasoline, and directing gangs to disappear bodies. Parishioners saw what the priests did with their own eyes, and unsurprisingly, have turned away from the Church as a result.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez

“What happened here in the Nicaraguan Catholic Church was really horrible,” says peasantnfarmer Benjamín Cabrera of Ciudad Sandino. “Because the messages that the priests give during mass are just full of hate…Father Rolando Álvarez, what an onslaught, how he expresses himself, how he turns on the people, how he sickens the hearts of the people.”

Bishop of Matagalpa and Estelí, Álvarez is one of the most reviled figures in the Nicaraguan church, known for his offensive rhetoric and openly calling for violence from the pulpit. In the town of Chagüitillo, during mass at the church that the people themselves had raised the money for and built with their own hands, Álvarez asked who in the congregation was Sandinista. When all the Sandinistas raised their hands, he pointed to the door and said, “Get out of my church.”

Last August, Álvarez’ was placed under house arrest and investigated for a series of crimes, including undermining national integrity and propagation of disinformation. Recently, the Nicaraguan government approved deporting Álvarez, along with 222 convicted traitors, to the U.S. Álvarez refused to board the plane to the U.S. without first speaking to the Nicaraguan bishops. He also demanded that the 11 priests and seminarians who had already boarded – co-conspirators of his who had already been convicted of crimes – deplane to speak with him. Because the decision to deport Álvarez was made by the Nicaraguan government and had nothing to do with the Church, his demands were refused.

Alvarez was told he could choose to board the plane or not; he chose to remain in Nicaragua. Much to his surprise, Álvarez was not brought back to his home to continue house arrest, but was sent straight to La Modelo prison. He was tried and convicted later that week and sentenced to 26 years in prison for treason and other crimes.

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People keep their faith, but few go to church

“I don’t know what happened to the Church,” Cabrera throws his hands up. “It hurts me because I’ve always been a Catholic, I was a Delegate of the Word. But how can I now support these priests? How could I look at them? The Church has fallen. People keep their faith, but few go to church…Maybe where you’re from they tell a different story, but that’s not true. If you go out and ask people, ‘What happened to the Church?’ The story that we’re telling you, you will hear it from a lot of other people too. The church was one of the primary bases of the coup.”

In light of the actions of hatred and violence of its priests in Nicaragua, a country where 77% of the population support the Sandinista government, perhaps the Church should be less surprised by its empty pews.

Unlike the shrinking Catholic Church, Pentecostal protestant churches continue to grow – a recent outdoor vigil in the northern border town of Somotillo drew a crowd of thousands. The popularity of personal over institutionalized religion is growing: people praying and worshipping in their homes and lay communities, continuing their faith in what Edwin Sánchez calls a “close and quality relationship with [God rather than] a hollow and distant one.”

Today, Nicaragua remains a profoundly spiritual country with thriving religious communities, but they are not the religious communities that the traditional church would like to see. Their existence challenges the very foundations of the Church and it is therefore unsurprising that they draw the ire of its priests.

“A real option for the poor can’t be purely spiritual, just an empty concept where the poor continue being poor and miserable,” explains Valdez of the St. Paul the Apostle Community. “That option for the poor has political implications, it has implications for power. It means that we the poor have to access power to make that option a reality, and we see the hand of God in that political struggle, in the liberation of the people. That is why we are Sandinistas. We are a Sandinista and anti-imperialist community because of our faith.”

As Father Miguel d’Escoto said, “You cannot be a follower of Jesus if you are not a revolutionary, and that, inevitably, implies being a recalcitrant anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist.”

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... nicaragua/
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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:21 pm

The Imbalance of San Pedro
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 13, 2023
Fabrizio Casari

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Pope Francis’ words against Sandinista Nicaragua have aroused astonishment in some quarters, consternation in others. In criticizing the decision of the judicial authority to impose a harsh prison sentence on Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, Francis has gone far beyond what ecclesial language permits, and far beyond what reasonableness suggests.

He has accused President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo of “imbalance”, but the truly unbalanced statements seem to be his own, especially when he launches into a comparison as reckless as it is anti-historical – possibly the fruit of rancor and not of knowledge – between the Nicaragua of 2023 and the Russia of 1917 or the Germany of 1935. A truly crude comparison, lacking in depth, impractical in terms of text, context, history and scale. A bar room tale rather than an argument steeped in millennial wisdom such as a Pope should be able to sustain.

It is easy to remind the Pope how accurately the Vatican should know the differences between distinct historical phases and opposing ideologies. If not by academic knowledge, at least by direct experience, since the Catholic Church was the implacable enemy of the Russian Revolution as of any other liberation process that liberated Europe from the monarchies, while it was the main ally of Nazism. With the blessing of Pope Pius XII and the support of the monarchies, Nazism staged the Holocaust and the military occupation of much of Europe, accompanying its chain of horrors with its fetid presence. So it is precisely the Pope who should have more balance when it comes to assessing the great events of history, both when they produced the irruption of the principles of equity and justice and when they manifested themselves as immense tragedies.

Francis is not a true historian, but he should at least know the history of the Vatican. A history of horror and bloodshed, of ferocity and crimes that have always gone unpunished, a history of oppression and repression, of cosmic ignorance and superstitious prejudices with which it has kept a part of the world ignorant of any scientific knowledge, of any ethics other than that of submission. Under its garb, the history of the Vatican tells of the greatest crimes of history committed by raising the cross.

From the Crusades to the forced evangelization of Latin America, which the Pope cannot ignore. As a Jesuit, he also cannot ignore the deliberate inquisition of its founder, Ignatius of Loyola. As an Argentinean, he cannot ignore the Vatican’s support for the military dictatorships of Videla and Pinochet, of Somoza, Rios Mont, Stroessner and Banzer. Cardinal Pío Laghi blessed the death flights ordered by Massera that unloaded tortured prisoners in the Río de la Plata. And today, in addition to all this horror, there is the impressive chain of sexual crimes. And to all this horror is added today the impressive chain of sexual crimes, as well as the shameful historical event that demonstrated the business and monetary link between his bank – the IOR (Institudo Obras Religiosas) – and the Italian mafia criminality.

The Pope described Bishop Rolando Alvarez as a “very serious, very capable man,” forgetting or pretending to forget the bishop’s role in the 2018 coup and, even more, the attempt to revive the coup opposition in Nicaragua by using the church pulpit for his vulgar rallies in which he regularly called for revolt against the government. He was offered the possibility of leaving Nicaragua on the same flight as the coup plotters-turned-emigrants, but he refused to leave. The vocation to feigned martyrdom, after all, has always been one of his passions.

The bishop of Matagalpa is neither a prisoner of conscience nor a victim of the clash between institutionality and subversion in the Central American country. He has been and is an active actor in the reorganization process of the right wing coup. Monsignor of known fascist sympathies and hypertrophic ego, devoid of any spiritual dimension and eager for political protagonism, tried to build a series of provocations to contaminate the civil life of the country and produce a climate of confrontation. The plan consisted in transforming the basilica of Matagalpa into a meeting place and reference point for the entire opposition and the coup plotters of the city. From the basilica would come the provocations, in a crescendo of tension that would configure the Monsignor as leader of the opposition, a role with which he would also launch his candidacy to the summit of the Episcopal Conference. To this end, Alvarez had arranged for the use of his private media system, which, with robust injections of lies and false alarms, was to generate attention for him and his war against the government.

The loss of innocence

It is really difficult to accuse Nicaragua of lacking sensitivity to the motives of a church that is dedicated to spiritual and pastoral commitment. The Sandinista Front has always recognized a central role for the Church in the political events of the country, accepting or proposing a mediating role and recognizing its social usefulness and the need to support it. And this despite the fact that the history of the Nicaraguan church has never shone for progressivism, far from it.

Even in the political affair of the post-coup attempt of 2018, Managua has repeatedly offered the Holy Roman Church willingness to dialogue in exchange for a clear position from the Vatican, demanding respect for the democratic rules of the country and non-interference in its political affairs by religious institutions. An objectively sharable and sensible position, which recognizes in the principle of separation of functions the condition for a possible coexistence.

The Vatican has understandable concerns about Nicaragua. It had an important role which, by its own decision, to pander to the reactionary and fascist instincts of the Church of Rome, it chose to abandon in favor of an open confrontation with Sandinismo. Due to the very high level of religiosity of the Nicaraguan population, the ecclesiastical hierarchy had been recognized as having a prominent role in the running of the country. Public financing of its activities, government support and the assignment of a role of interlocutor and permanent reference in a model of shared governance.

Today, the demonstration of the role they played in the coup dug an impassable groove between the faithful and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. They pretended to be mediators by lying but they were the leaders of the coup attempt. The audio and video recordings of priests giving instructions to the coup plotters to hide the corpse of a policeman burned alive under a barricade, or of other agitators in cassocks inviting to war, left a deep impression on the Nicaraguan population. The progressive dominance of the evangelical churches and the membership crisis of the Catholic Church have reduced the specific weight of the NLC, and the end of state financing, together with the loss of its political role, place the ecclesiastical hierarchies on the verge of a crisis of role and perspective. And the situation is likely to be further aggravated by the reduced, almost non-existent capacity of interdiction of the Church, since the government itself, considering itself free of any partition and respect for religious sensibilities, could proceed with reforms that would progressively lead to an even more pronounced secular profile of the juridical and legislative system.

The Pope’s words confirm that the Vatican has decided to take the opposition to the Sandinista government into its own hands. With the end of the neutral appearance and the exquisitely religious profile in favor of an eminently political one, it is intended to fill the vacuum left by the coup d’état that has left the country. But Nicaragua has clear respective roles and responsibilities. The Church is responsible for protecting souls, Sandinismo for protecting bodies. Those who think of exerting pressure and threats, convinced that the fearsome weight of the Catholic institution can bend Managua, are making an unforgivable mistake that affects the present and the future of possible relations.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... san-pedro/

Nicaragua: Of “Guarangos” Popes, Decrepit Churches, Small and Large Homelands
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 13, 2023
Jorge Capelán

[On Friday there was a scandal that is still reverberating around the world. In a interview with the right-wing and anti-popular media par excellence, Infobae, sworn enemy of everything that smells of Patria Grande, Mr. Jorge Bergoglio, that for about 10 years has held the religious name of Francis, delivered an outburst of, if not biblical, at least moral, geopolitical and historical proportions.

Questioned in this way by the sly journalist Daniel Hadad, about his opinion of the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, Bergoglio said:

“With much respect, I have no choice but to think of an imbalance in the person who leads [Comandante Daniel Ortega]. There we have a bishop in prison, a very serious, very capable man [terrorist Rolando Alvarez]. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile. It is something that is out of what we are living, it is as if it were bringing the communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitlerian dictatorship of 1935, bringing here the same ones… They are a type of gross dictatorships. Or, to use a nice distinction from Argentina, guarangas. Guarangas”.

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The Catholic Church is not in the best position to talk about Nazism or dictatorships.

There is a lot of cane to grind in those unfortunate statements. First of all, it should be explained that the interview lasted about an hour and covered all kinds of topics regarding the Pope’s personal life, the Catholic Church and Vatican affairs. He only spoke about Nicaragua for about 30 seconds. However, Infobae titled the interview “Pope Francis opined on Nicaragua: “It is like communist or Hitler dictatorships, rude””.

Another thing to clarify is the meaning of the adjective “guarango” in the Southern Cone, which Bergoglio seems to like so much. It means “fool”, “stupid” and “immature”.

It is surprising how, in order to qualify the government led by Comandante Daniel Ortega, Bergoglio thinks of bringing to light “the communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitlerian dictatorship of 1935”, having at hand much closer examples in which he himself played an important role.

However, his recent declarations on Nicaragua cast doubt on what place in history he put himself when, as Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Argentina, the Argentine dictatorship murdered 30,000 of his compatriots and even sent soldiers to distant Central America to advise the Contras on the best way to assassinate Nicaraguans.

If Bergoglio blithely ignores real dictatorships like the one in his own country and prefers to take examples from History Channel about Germany and the Soviet Union (by the way, many things can be said about Hitler, except that he was a dictator) and calls them “guarangas”, perhaps there is some truth in the very well documented journalistic versions that indicate that in the 70s he collaborated with the dictatorship and that his indiscretions caused the arrest of the Jesuit priests Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics at the hands of the military regime.

Since his election in 2013 by a group of prospective cardinals and behind the backs of the faithful, Bergoglio has taken on the task of selling himself as a progressive pope, concerned about the environment (everyone remembers his encyclical Laudato Si), concerned about indigenous people and inclusion in the church, although the latter has not yet taken hold.

There are still those who, from an anti-imperialist perspective, claim him as “the apostle of the unity of the Patria Grande”. How deluded they are, bent on seeing progress in “progressive” governments that since returning to power have done nothing but administer the decrepit neoliberal model!

And that is what Bergoglio is at the global level as pope of the Catholic Church: the simple administrator of a church that struggles to maintain its share of privileges within the Western order of neocolonial exploitation. Let no one expect pears from the elm tree, because he will never give them.

It is said that Bergoglio was a close friend of Methol Ferré, a very important Uruguayan geopolitician, with leftist nationalist ideas, and close to the intellectual current of another very important geopolitician, the Argentine Jorge Abelardo Ramos.

For Bergoglio, who has identified himself with Peronism, it should always have been very clear what is meant in Latin America when one speaks of “dictatorship” and “democracy”. When the powerful chant “dictatorship”, in reality they are seeking to attack political projects with a genuine popular base and which question the neocolonial status quo in our region.

This is clearly demonstrated by Ramos in his book Historia de la Nación Latinoamericana (see chapter X and following). The accusations of “dictatorships” on the part of the port-cities built in the heat of the Spanish colony and later of the English and French neo-colonization of the continent, were directed against any political alternative that sought to unite the Patria Grande under an endogenous project of material and cultural development. “Dictators” were Belgrano, San Martin, Bolivar, Artigas up to our days with Sandino, Fidel, Chavez or Comandante Daniel.

Jorge Abelardo Ramos, who was truly lucid in these matters, wrote about Argentina: “We are a country because we were unable to integrate a Nation and we were Argentines because we failed to be Latin Americans. Here lies our whole drama and the key to the revolution to come”. Bergoglio’s “guarango” seems to be unaware of this. His was a typical Argentine “guarangada”, from a country that unfortunately is incapable of entering the Patria Grande nuestroamericana that many of us prefer to call Abya Yala.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... homelands/
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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 28, 2023 2:39 pm

NicaNotes ACTION ALERT: UN Human Rights Report on Nicaragua is Fatally Flawed and Should be Withdrawn
March 23, 2023

This week’s NicaNotes features an action alert from Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, in response to an extremely negative report (summary is here) released on March 2 by the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN). We see this report as not only biased, but replete with false statements. We are asking for organizational and individual signers as soon as possible in protest. The deadline for initial signers is Thursday night (tonight), so that our first response to the UN Human Rights Council can be sent on Friday morning (tomorrow).

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The GHREN Report is based on material from only one side in spite of its mandate to examine all human rights violations. Photo of buildings burned by the opposition in 2018 is from the Nicaraguan “Report of the Committee for Truth, Justice, and Peace.”

But that is just the beginning; we’ll keep gathering signatures. Below you’ll see the protest statement, and you can sign onto the statement on this form, as an individual, on behalf of your organization, or both. (Go here for the Spanish-language version.) You’ll also find an impressive amount of additional information below to counter the claims of the report.

UN Human Rights Report on Nicaragua is Fatally Flawed and Should be Withdrawn

To the United Nations Human Rights Council:

The report of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN), released by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on March 2, 2023, should never have been published:

It is extremely biased, based on material from only one side in what was a serious and prolonged conflict, despite the requirement to examine “all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Nicaragua since April 2018.”
The claim that the group was unable to get material from the Nicaraguan government is false because the government had already submitted very substantial documentation to both the UN and the OAS, which was never taken into account by either body.
It completely fails to address the enormous damage done to ordinary people, businesses, and public services by violent protesters in 2018, perpetuating a gross injustice against the human rights of thousands of Nicaraguans.
It makes many allegations that are demonstrably wrong and do not withstand a simple checking of the facts.
It was presented in a sensational and unprofessional manner, making unfounded and damaging slurs against the Nicaraguan people and their government.
This report is an attempt to use a multilateral human rights body to lend legitimacy to a regime change campaign and justify sanctions. It is an abuse of the United Nations system.

Instead of repeating these unsubstantiated claims against a country clearly being targeted for regime change by the United States, the UNHRC should be condemning the economic coercive measures the latter country has imposed on one-third of humanity, which violate the UN Charter, kill thousands, and constitute crimes against humanity.

If the UNHRC wants to help the people of sanctioned countries, it must advocate the immediate lifting of coercive measures, which would create a climate more favorable to the enjoyment of civil and political rights. If the UNHRC wants to facilitate peace and reconciliation in Nicaragua, it must examine the testimony of ordinary Nicaraguans and the findings of the Nicaraguan Commission for Truth, Justice and Peace here. Other essential material that needs to be considered is found here, and here, and here. The spurious, unprofessional report published by the GHREN on March 2, 2023, must be withdrawn.

Initial individual signers:

Professor Alfred de Zayas, Geneva, former UN Independent Expert on International Order, author of “Building a Just World Order”, Clarity Press 2021
Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University
Daniel Kovalik, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh, and author of numerous books, including Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention and Resistance
Sara Flounders, International Action Center, editor of Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy, by the SanctionsKill Campaign
Arlene Reed (Diablo, CA) M.Ed.
Arnold Matlin, M.D.
Barbara Larcom, Ph.D.
Coleen R Littlejohn, Sanctions Kill
Daniel Mitchell McCurdy
Erika Takeo
Dr Francisco Dominguez, former Head of Research on Latin America, Middlesex University, London, UK
James Poke, Chair, Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, London
Janet Pavone
Jill Clark-Gollub
Jonah Blaustein
Katherine Hoyt, Ph.D. Alliance for Global Justice, author of The Many Faces of Sandinista Democracy, Ohio University Press
Lawrence C. Hager
Margaret Matlin, Ph.D.
Miamon Miller, Chapala, Jalisco, México
Miguel Mairena, United Methodist Missionary
Nan McCurdy, United Methodist Missionary
Nora Mitchell McCurdy
Rick Kohn, Ph.D., Professor, University of Maryland-College Park
Rob Murray
Roger D. Harris
S. Brian Willson, Viet Nam, veteran, author/activist, lawyer
Sofía M. Clark, political scientist, Managua
Susan B. Lagos, retired teacher, activist
Dr. Thomas Muhr, Principal Researcher, ISCTE-University Institute Lisbon, Portugal

Initial organizational signers:

Alliance for Global Justice
Casa Baltimore Limay
Chicago ALBA Solidarity
Friends of Latin America
Friends of the ATC
Green Renaissance-Sovereign Rights Movement
International Action Center
Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition
Rochester Committee for Latin America
SanctionsKill Campaign
Task Force on the Americas / Marin Interfaith Task Force
Jubilee House Community
Casa Benjamin Linder

Briefs
By Nan McCurdy

Electricity Coverage 99.275% with 80% Renewable Energy
An official report from the Ministry of Energy and Mines shows that electricity coverage continues to advance in a consistent and sustained manner, reaching 99.275% at the end of February of this year. Since 2007 to date, 690,694 homes have been electrified and 3,633,465 inhabitants have benefited. Since 2007, 9,796 projects have been executed, increasing coverage from 54% to 99%. Last week five electrification projects were inaugurated in Murra, Somoto, Matiguás, El Rama and Río Blanco. This year the goal is to electrify 6,159 more homes with an investment of US$22.8 million with financing from CABEI. Meanwhile, the electricity generation matrix continues to set a record in the use of renewable energies, reaching 80% in March with only 20% non-renewable. That 80% was contributed by 0. 49% by solar energy; 11.77% hydroelectric; 14.04% geothermal; 19.05% biomass; 22.60% wind and 12.05% imports from the regional electricity market. Peak demand has been 727 MW with a total generation of 846 GWh. (Informe Pastran, 21 March 2023)

135 New Houses of Culture and Creativity Opened
The Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, the Rubén Darío National Theater and the municipalities have installed Houses of Culture and are working to have several in each municipality. So far more than 135 new cultural centers have been installed. During the course of this week the Mayor’s Office of San Carlos delivered to the families another space to share arts and culture. In the municipalities, progress is being made in the conditioning and improvement of infrastructures, with the purpose of installing these places according to the approved program, complying with the creation of conditions that allow the development of talent, ingenuity, tradition and identity. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/se-han-i ... eatividad/ (Radio La Primerisima, 18 March 2023)

Nicaragua Strengthens Cooperation with IDB
The Minister of Finance and Public Credit Iván Acosta participated in the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank and “IDB Investor” governors’ assembly in Panama City, from March 16 to 19. The governors of the IDB partner countries, after four years, met again in person to address a common agenda on cooperation issues. Iván Acosta also met with authorities from member countries and international financial organizations to discuss international cooperation and achievements in Nicaragua. The representatives of the governments of the Central American countries supported President Ilan Goldfajn and his vision, who pledged to make the IDB the most reliable, agile and important development partner for Latin America and the Caribbean, giving priority attention to the social agenda, climate change and sustainable infrastructure.

Solid IDB support was requested for food security, education, the strengthening of micro, small and medium-scale businesses and technical cooperation, among others, that can make a positive difference in the lives of people in Central America. During the working sessions a dialogue was opened to evaluate the current international context, the challenges to generate a more inclusive and sustainable growth, and identify policy options to address the short and medium term challenges in the region. In his remarks, Ivan Acosta expressed his support for IDB’s new vision and business model and the development of a capital increase proposal. As an example of development effectiveness, he explained to the Board of Governors the impact of the IDB’s development aid in Nicaragua in the energy sector, which through the National Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy Program contributed to poverty reduction by providing the population with access to efficient and sustainable electricity service, which supported the generation of conditions for change in the energy matrix and improved conditions for mitigating and adapting to climate change. (Radio La Primerisima, 20 March 2023)

Growth in Agricultural Exports
The Nicaragua System of Production, Consumption and Commerce reported on March 17 that production of exportable agricultural products during the 2022-2023 agricultural cycle, was 21.7% higher than the same period in the previous cycle. The products that showed the greatest growth in production during the period were white sorghum (29%); cocoa (20.3%); plantain (9.8%); peanuts (8.9%). The President of the Central Bank, Ovidio Reyes stated that US$2.955 billion in products were exported during the current agricultural cycle, 10.7% increase compared to the same period of the 2021-2022 agricultural cycle. (Nicaragua News, 20 March 2023)

Inauguration of High-tech Operating Rooms at Bertha Calderón Hospital
Two operating rooms will be inaugurated March 22 at the Bertha Calderón Hospital in Managua. Surgeries will be performed in the womb and on pregnant women with cancer. The operating room will have a high-tech intelligent audio and video system to watch live fetal surgery inside the mother’s womb. They will have an amphitheater type room for educational purposes for the training and teaching of medical specialties. They will also have high-tech medical equipment such as neonatal incubators, thermal cradles, anesthesia machines, universal ventilators, vital signs monitors, among others. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/construy ... -calderon/ (Radio La Primerisima, 21 March 2023)

Important Bridge in Wiwilí Finished
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has already finished the construction of the Kilambé bridge, 25 meters long, in Wiwilí, Jinotega, which will be inaugurated next Friday. This new bridge facilitates access to the Wiwilí primary hospital, allows land connectivity for 89,039 people in the rainy season and in the dry season, boosts economic development, contributes to poverty reduction and helps to promote stability, peace and prosperity for the families of this productive region. (Radio La Primerisima, 21 March 2023)

Sports Shoes Delivered to School Children
Young community promoters delivered sports shoes in six districts of Managua to children from different schools. During the deliveries made on March 17, the promoters held festivals of traditional games, with piñata breaking, balloons and candy favors. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/entregan ... e-managua/ (Radio La Primerisima, 18 March 2023)

Evangelical Crusade with More than 40,000 People
The Good News Evangelistic Crusade was a success with more than 40,000 people from 13 municipalities attending. The spiritual crusade closed the night of March 18 in Chinandega. See photos: https://www.tn8.tv/departamentos/finali ... hinandega/ (TN8TV, 19 March 2023)

https://afgj.org/nicanotes-03-23-2023

*****

UN Complicity in Terrorism: The Case of Nicaragua
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 27, 2023
Stephen Sefton

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A new, anonymously-produced UN report denouncing Nicaragua’s government whitewashes the brutal US-backed 2018 coup against it while refusing to interview victims of sadistic opposition violence.

Abuse and weaponization of the United Nations system by the United States and its vassal governments to both mislead and intimidate the rest of the world have been a feature of international relations since the very founding of the United Nations during the time of the Korean War. In recent years, that situation has deteriorated to the point where demonization campaigns promoted by the US and its allies have made the UN system complicit in atrocities. Various UN institutions have been abused in this way.

As The Grayzone has methodically detailed, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has produced false reports masking the complicity of the US and its allies in deceptions designed to provoke Western military assaults on Syria’s government and people. Practically the entire UN human rights system is consistently abused to supply pretexts for economic and even military aggression against one country after another.

That system depends substantially on reporting by partisan Western government and corporate funded nongovernmental organizations, abusing their nonprofit status to serve as political opposition to their respective governments, often in support of opposition violence and terrorism. That has been the case in countries from Serbia to Haiti, from Venezuela to Thailand, from Bolivia to Iran, and even of great powers like the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation. This, too, is the context and pattern of the violent 2018 coup attempt aimed at overthrowing Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.

Now, five years on, the UN Council for Human Rights has facilitated what is being designated as an expert group report, whitewashing the terrorist opposition campaign between April 18th and July 17th 2018 to overthrow Nicaragua’s elected government. The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition has produced a systematic rebuttal of the UN report which exposes the bad faith methodology and incompetent research of the expert group and its secretariat.

The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition document explains that the UN report was produced by an anonymous secretariat of nine individuals, raising serious doubts about the integrity of the claim by the report’s ostensible authors to offer an expert account of the events they purport to cover.

The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition rebuttal argues that the expert group failed to comply with its mandate to investigate exhaustively all human rights violations in Nicaragua after April 2018. For example, testimony was excluded from the innumerable victims of opposition terrorism and intimidation, and thus the group failed to gather and analyze essential information to be able to offer a true and fair view of what happened. Thus, the expert group’s claim that their investigation used a victim-centered approach is nonsense.

The US government poured tens of millions of dollars into violent far-right groups and media outlets that published fake news to fuel a brutal 2018 coup attempt against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.

Now they’re facing legal consequences.

Full video: https://t.co/19eH7QeUF9 pic.twitter.com/bPf5RcizOV

— The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) June 16, 2021


Similarly, the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition material notes the expert group’s denial that the opposition protests sought to overthrow the government, despite Nicaragua’s opposition leaders themselves stating this as their aim from the earliest days of the failed coup attempt. The report offers many readily refuted claims and assertions, in particular the plainly false claim that the 2018 protests in Nicaragua were overwhelmingly peaceful. The expert group also exceeds its ostensible mandate by calling in its report’s conclusion for more coercive measures against Nicaragua’s government.

The report shares with other institutions in the UN system, like the OPCW and the IAEA, what in effect amounts to a cancel culture regarding any information that contradicts their prejudices and presuppositions. By excluding sources which contradict them and expose their assumptions as incorrect, they lock their research and investigation into the kind of infinite disinformation loop sometimes referred to as false collateral. This renders the expert group’s report on Nicaragua not just categorically specious, but also irredeemably anti-democratic, denying world opinion readily available as well as highly relevant facts.

For example, as the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition material demonstrates, the UN report completely excludes the following local news sources despite the fact that they all published a large amount of highly relevant material and reports on specific incidents during the period in question: Juventud Presidente, Nueva Radio Ya, Canal TN8 news, Canal 6 news, Canal 2 news, Canal 13 Viva Nicaragua, Informe Pastrán, Radio La Primerísima and Tortilla con Sal.

Likewise, the report makes no mention of the horrifying and very well documented cases of violence and abuse by Nicaragua’s opposition which indicate the scale and intensity of the Nicaraguan opposition’s overall terror offensive against the country’s population and authorities.

In particular, the Coalition rebuttal points out, there is no reporting of the following cases:

*attempted murder of Leonel Morales
*arson attack destroying Nueva Radio Ya
*torture and murder of Bismarck Martinez
*disabling torture of Reynaldo Urbina
*murders of father and son, Roberto and Christopher Castillo
*attacks on the police stations of Masaya, Jinotepe, Nagarote, Morrito, Mulukuku, El Cuapa, El Coral and Puerto Príncipe among others
*illegal detention of 400 truck drivers south of Diriamba for a month
*torture of Sander Bonilla
*numerous other cases of torture and abuse

I visited Leonel Morales today. He is in the hospital in Managua going through a string of surgeries. An armed opposition affiliated gang kidnapped him at his gf’s house, tortured him, slashed and shot him, and left him for dead in a drainage ditch. He miraculously survived. pic.twitter.com/Ols3Vg2FtV

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 22, 2018


The expert group report does acknowledge opposition violence against police officers (22 killed and over 400 wounded by gunfire) but offers the wholly implausible explanation that this scale of violence was in self-defense. The report suppresses documented evidence of the extensive opposition damage to government infrastructure, vehicles, and equipment. The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition also notes that the expert group excludes hundreds of other relevant reports on the events it does cover, as well as documents readily available on-line. These include Nicaragua 2018 – Dismissing the Truth, Nicaragua 2018 – Uncensoring the Truth, and this “Open Letter to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.”

The UN expert group argues it was unable to visit Nicaragua and thus could not engage with the Nicaraguan government authorities. But the experts themselves in their report dismiss as unreliable material from the Nicaraguan authorities, such as police press releases. Furthermore, as the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition explains, since April 2018 the Nicaraguan government has repeatedly submitted material to both the Organization of American States and to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which presumably was available to the UN expert group.

The UN report on Nicaragua is irremediably vitiated by this distinctly anti-government bias and repeats this pattern of bad faith reporting throughout. Its egregious prejudice is self-evident, given the complete exclusion of abundant documental and audiovisual material confirming the systematic opposition terrorist violence in 2018 and exposing the opposition leaders’ clear and stated objective of overthrowing Nicaragua’s elected government.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... nicaragua/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Nicaragua

Post by blindpig » Sun Apr 02, 2023 5:53 pm

The United Nations is Being Used by the U.S. in its Propaganda War Against Nicaragua
By John Perry - April 1, 2023 4

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Masked protesters backed by the CIA who were part of 2018 coup plot against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. [Source: idcommunism.com]

Biased new report lends weight to U.S. regime-change operations targeting left-wing Sandinista government.

While the United States pays little regard to the human rights of many of its own citizens, it manifests intense interest in those of countries that it regards as its enemies.

Nicaragua, designated by both Trump and Biden as a “strategic threat,” is seen as one of those enemies. Of the countries selected for their own annual human rights assessment by the U.S. State Department, Nicaragua merited special attention in 2022, with a 43-page report compared with, for example, only a 36-page analysis of neighboring El Salvador, where 66,000 people have been subjected to mass arrests in the past year. This is part of a highly selective approach in which human rights violations by U.S. allies are downplayed or ignored.

Worse, the U.S. exerts extraordinary influence on international bodies to follow suit, producing their own reports in the same ilk. The Organization of American States (OAS), largely financed by Washington, will readily scrutinize the performance of left-wing governments in Latin America at its bidding, while of course never threatening to monitor human rights in the U.S. itself. Perhaps more alarming, the United Nations human rights apparatus has been similarly instrumentalized to serve Washington’s agenda, as former UN rapporteur Richard Falk has argued.

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Richard Falk [Source: foxnews.com]

This was evident again in March when the UN Human Rights Council released a new report by a “group of human rights experts on Nicaragua.”

The report claimed that President Daniel Ortega’s government had “executed” 40 people, disregarding the context of violent opposition attacks using firearms. The report also claimed that the government ordered hospitals not to treat wounded demonstrators, when the then health minister had made clear that anyone injured should receive treatment. It goes on to detail a range of other alleged government human rights abuses, including torture, where the evidence is contested.

The aim of demonizing Nicaragua was apparent at the press conference to launch the report: One of the “experts,” Jan-Michael Simon, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Germany, likened conditions in Nicaragua to those in Nazi Germany (the Sandinista government’s actions are “exactly what the Nazi regime did”).

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Jan-Michael Simon [Source: csi.mpg.de]

Given that the group had not even visited the country, this was not only absurd but grossly irresponsible. Yet it enabled The New York Times, never slow to criticize the Sandinista government, to come up with the headline “Nicaragua’s ‘Nazis’: Stunned Investigators Cite Hitler’s Germany.”

However it is the damaging content of the report itself that led the Nicaraguan Solidarity Coalition to launch a petition demanding that it be with withdrawn, already co-signed by human rights experts Alfred de Zayas and Professor Falk.

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[Source: amazon.com]

The report’s focus is on the violence in 2018, which Dan Kovalik has characterized in his new book as bringing Nicaragua “to the verge of civil war, with hundreds killed and many more injured.” The group of experts was charged with examining “all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Nicaragua since April 2018” and they claim to have adopted a “victim-centered” approach to their task.

It is extraordinary, then, that the report focuses almost entirely on the human rights of the perpetrators of what became a violent coup attempt, rather than on the rights of the huge numbers of ordinary Nicaraguans who suffered the consequences of their violence.

It is as if the experts had produced a report focusing on, say, the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2020, or the recent attack on Brazil’s presidential palace, and focused on the behavior of those repelling the attacks instead of on the injuries and mayhem caused by the attackers.

Because it took this stance, the experts’ 300-page report found no space for incidents such as the attempted murder of student leader Leonel Morales, who was kidnapped, shot and left for dead in a drainage ditch. Or the burning down of Radio Ya, whose 21 workers only narrowly escaped death.

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Leonel Morales lying in a hospital bed. [Source: photo courtesy of Max Blumenthal]

Or the sacking of the municipal depot in the city of Masaya, in which all the vehicles were destroyed and the workers so badly beaten or tortured that one later had his arm amputated. Or the attack on the police station of Morrito, that left five dead and nine kidnapped and beaten.

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Burning down of Radio Ya. [Source: carlosagaton.blogspot.com]

Or countless other crimes by “protesters” whom the report describes as largely peaceful, despite the gruesome scenes of torture and humiliation they filmed and then posted on social media. It contains not a single reference to any of these victims, let alone quoting from testimony (as it does in the cases of alleged victims of government violence).

The Nicaraguan government refused to take part in this exercise, having participated in similar ones in the past and found that its evidence was largely ignored. It has produced detailed evidence to show the steps it took to facilitate access by one set of international investigators, and how its cooperation was then abused.

As a result of past experiences, it denied permission for the group to visit the country, so the experts were reliant on evidence collected remotely. In these circumstances, the group might have been expected to balance carefully the sources and material it used.

In practice the opposite happened: Its preferred sources were opposition media or NGOs, in most cases ones that had received U.S. “democracy promotion” (meaning “regime-change”) funding in the years prior to the 2018 coup attempt, as Nan McCurdy has previously described.

The experts themselves are opaque about how their work was done. Requests for the names of the other team members assembling the report were refused, a lack of transparency which inevitably leads to the suspicion that its researchers might well have been drawn from opposition-supporting “human rights” groups or think tanks.

The report’s bias is obvious from the fact that it makes no reference at all to independent examinations of previous human rights reports, which have shown them to be unbalanced and to contain key omissions.

For example, I was part of a group who prepared the the 2019 report Dismissing the Truth, which identified dozens of inaccuracies and omissions in a report on Nicaragua by Amnesty International.

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[Source: twoworlds.me]

I also helped compile an open letter from the Alliance for Global Justice to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, about the errors in a previous “expert” report that it published.

I have shown the bias and manipulation in the work of Nicaragua’s so-called independent human rights groups, several of which are now based in Costa Rica. The new UN report uses all of these questioned or discredited sources, while ignoring the various detailed, published criticisms of them.

How does a report focused on events five years ago pretend to justify new sanctions on the Nicaraguan government?—by claiming that the government has been engaged “since April 2018 and up to the time of writing this report…[in] a widespread and systematic attack…against a part of the Nicaraguan population.”

In making this assertion, the experts not only discount evidence of crimes by those arrested since 2018, but also ignore or downplay the many acts of clemency that took place, culminating in a general, conditional amnesty in 2019 that covered even the organizers of fatal attacks on police stations. The strong implication is that abuses such as “extrajudicial killings” which it alleges—on highly questionable grounds—occurred in 2018, still take place now in a country which is entirely at peace.

The fundamental problem is that the expert group pretends that the opposition forces in 2018 were either unarmed or had only homemade weapons. It said that “acts of violence [were] perpetrated by some demonstrators in the context of the protests, including stone throwing, the use of homemade weapons—mainly ‘mortars,’ and some ‘contact bombs’ and Molotov bombs.”

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Nicaraguan protester wielding Molotov cocktails in 2018 riots in Nicaragua that, with U.S. backing, aimed to overthrow the left-wing Sandinista government. [Source: lavenguardia.com]

They also “documented the use of conventional weapons in some cases.” These acts “allegedly” resulted in the deaths of 22 police officers and injuries to more than 400 more from gunfire.

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Anti-Ortega demonstrator brandishing gun. [Source: photo courtesy of Nan McCurdy]

Given that almost all these deaths and injuries were the result of firearm injuries, there is a very obvious disparity between the group’s assessment of the behavior of the opposition groups and what actually happened. If they had also taken into account the widespread kidnappings, torture, arson attacks, robberies and other crimes, they might have come closer to producing a report which reflected the real experience of Nicaraguans in 2018.

Instead, the UN report is clearly intended to be a whitewash of the violence which (as Kovalik says) brought the country “to the verge of civil war,” just as so-called “human rights” bodies were used to whitewash the violence of the “Contras” in the U.S.-directed war of the 1980s. The opposition explicitly aimed to overthrow the Nicaraguan government: At the start of the violence and during the national dialogue that began in May 2018, opposition activists and their leaders openly stated that their objective was the removal of President Daniel Ortega.

There is nothing surprising about the line taken by the new report, as a litany of official reports since 2018 have done the same. The danger of the UN’s latest attack on Nicaragua is that it comes at a time when Washington is clearly deliberating new sanctions.

Indeed, not failing to step up to the task, the group explicitly calls for additional sanctions in one of its recommendations. In doing so, it ignores the UN Human Rights Council’s own assessments of sanctions issued without its authority (known as “unilateral coercive measures”), which conclude that their legality is highly questionable.

Given that the “experts” who wrote this latest report are international lawyers, this is remarkably unprofessional. But it is even more extraordinary that the United Nations would publish such an unbalanced report attacking one of its own member countries, promoted in such a sensational manner. It could be tailor-made to give Washington the go-ahead to continue with the illegal measures against Nicaragua that it has already taken, and which it might now decide to strengthen still further.

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/0 ... nicaragua/

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Human rights experts call for withdrawal of biased UN report on Nicaragua
March 31, 2023Nicaragua, United Nations

The following is a press release from the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition. Para español, lea aqui.

March 30, 2023 (for immediate use)

Alfred de Zayas, former UN Independent Expert on International Order, has joined other human rights specialists in condemning an “expert” report on Nicaragua published on March 2nd as being unprofessional, biased, incomplete and concocted to justify further coercive sanctions that will damage Nicaragua’s economy. Such unilateral coercive measures have been condemned by the General Assembly year after year, most recently in Resolution 77/214 of December 2022 and by the Human Rights Council in Resolution 49/6.

The report, by a “group of experts” selected by the UN Human Rights Council, claims that Nicaragua’s government has committed “crimes against humanity.” The “experts” even go beyond their mandate and recommend further economic sanctions. Most of their unsubstantiated allegations date to 2018, but the report also falsely contends that the abuses have continued since that period. It is due to be considered by the Council in its session on April 3rd and 4th.

A petition organized by the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition (in English and Spanish) demands that the UN withdraw the group’s “spurious, unprofessional report.” It has so far been signed by 54 different organizations and by 307 individuals across the world. Signatories include these prominent individuals:

Professor Alfred de Zayas, Geneva, former UN Independent Expert on International Order, author of Building a Just World Order, Clarity Press 2021
Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University
Daniel Kovalik, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh, and author of numerous books, including Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention and Resistance.
Sara Flounders, International Action Center, editor of Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy, by the SanctionsKill Campaign
Camilo Mejía, former Amnesty International “prisoner of conscience,” Miami, Florida
S. Brian Willson, Viet Nam veteran, author/activist and lawyer, Nicaragua
Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace human rights activist
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel (Ret) and former US Diplomat
The petition says that the report:

is based on material from only one side in what was a serious and prolonged conflict in 2018, despite the UN’s requirement to examine “all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in Nicaragua.”
ignores very substantial documentation submitted to both the UN and the OAS by the Nicaraguan government since 2018.
despite claiming to be “victim-centered”, completely fails to address the enormous abuses against the human rights of thousands of Nicaraguans perpetrated by the opposition during the violent attempted coup.
makes allegations that are demonstrably wrong and do not withstand a simple checking of the facts.
was presented in a sensational and unprofessional manner, making unfounded and damaging slurs against the Nicaraguan people and their government.
Endorsing the call for the report to be withdrawn, Alfred de Zayas said:

“The UN Human Rights Council has a sacred obligation to the Nicaraguan people and the world to be rigorously objective, avoid politicization and hyperbole. This is not the first time that a flawed report has been submitted to the HR Council. It should be withdrawn. The vocation of the HR Council is to make constructive proposals for the overall improvement of all human rights in Nicaragua, e.g. in the context of OHCHR advisory services and technical assistance. The HR Council should abide by its own Resolution 49/6 of 31 March 2022 and demand the immediate lifting of the illegal unilateral coercive measures that have already victimized the most vulnerable.”

Professor Daniel Kovalik of the University of Pittsburgh said:

“It is disturbing to me as a human rights practitioner that ‘human rights’ is being used as a pretext to justify imperial intervention and the economic strangulation of a nation attempting to go its own independent and sovereign path. This runs counter to every basic tenet of international law.”

In addition to the petition, the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition has sent a detailed critique of the report to the UN Human Rights Council and to the “group of experts.” It plans to continue sending evidence which contests the report’s findings.

The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition is an international coalition of organizations and individuals in solidarity with Nicaragua, supporting its sovereignty and affirming its achievements. We are not affiliated with any governmental entity of any nation. Our purpose is explained here.

Contact details: Barbara Larcom – barbara.larcom@gmail.com

https://kawsachunnews.com/human-rights- ... -nicaragua
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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