OMNI NICARAGUA ANTHOLOGY #1

OMNI

NICARAGUA ANTHOLOGY #1

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology

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TEXTS

History of US Domination of Central America: Nicaragua

Daniel Kovalik.  Nicaragua, A History of U.S. Intervention & Resistance.   Editor.  Mronline.org (4-10-22).

Originally published: COHA (Council on Hemispheric Affairs)  on April 7, 2022 by Dan Kovalik (more by COHA (Council on Hemispheric Affairs))  |  (Posted Apr 09, 2022)

Imperialism, Inequality, State Repression, StrategyNicaragua, United StatesReview

I have written this book to explore the pernicious nature of U.S. engagement with Nicaragua from the mid-19^th century to the present in pursuit of control and domination rather than in defense of democracy as Washington has incessantly claimed. In turn, Nicaraguans have valiantly defended their homeland, preventing the U.S. from ever maintaining its control for long.

Nicaragua, A History of US Intervention & Resistance

While there were intermittent U.S. forays into Nicaragua in the 1850s, sustained intervention in Nicaragua only began in 1911 when the U.S. invaded Nicaragua to put a halt to a canal project connecting its Atlantic and Pacific coasts through a partnership with Japan–a project the U.S. wanted to control for itself.

The U.S. Marines subsequently invaded Nicaragua a number of times between 1911 and 1934 to try to maintain control over this Central American nation, only to be repelled by peasant guerillas led by Augusto Cesar Sandino. The Marines left for good only after the U.S. had set up the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza, who then lured Sandino to Managua on the promise of a peace deal and murdered him in cold blood.

Successive generations of Somozas would rule Nicaragua with an iron hand and critical U.S. support-until finally, in 1979, the latest iteration of the Somoza dynasty was ousted by the Sandinistas–a movement inspired by Sandino and motivated by a unique philosophy merging Christianity and Marxism.

Led by Daniel Ortega, the Sandinistas established democracy in Nicaragua with the country’s first free and fair elections in 1984. Once again, the U.S. attempted to subvert democracy by organizing Somoza’s former National Guardsmen into a terrorist group known as “the Contras.” Directed and funded by the CIA, the Contras would terrorize Nicaragua for nearly 10 years.

In 1990, the Sandinistas stood for early election and the war-weary voters selected Violeta Chamorro. The Sandinistas relinquished office peacefully, ceding the government to Chamorro.

For 17 long years, from 1990 to 2007, neo-liberal governments, beginning with Violeta Chamorro, governed Nicaragua. Backed by the U.S., these governments neglected the people, leaving almost half of the country without electricity, decent education or health care, and in poverty.

When Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas returned to power in2007 through elections, they immediately established free health care and education, built infrastructure throughout the country, and began to eradicate poverty. Now, almost 100% of the country is electrified; poverty and extreme poverty have been greatly diminished; and the UN has ranked Nicaragua fifth in the world for gender equality three years in a row.¹

Paradoxically, the U.S. government and media now castigate Ortega as somehow “a new Somoza,” a claim that is swallowed by some in the U.S. left. This book debunks this claim by putting Nicaragua’s past into historical perspective and documenting the reality of today’s Nicaragua.

Excerpt from the book click on title above

The Gringo Who Tried To Rule Central America

By Michael Fox, The Real News Network. Popular Resistance.org (4-16-24).  William Walker was a journalist, lawyer and physician from Nashville, Tennessee, who in 1855 invaded Nicaragua with a few dozen troops and conquered the country. At the time, he was one of thousands of private US citizens who had their sights set on taking over foreign nations, all in the name of Manifest Destiny. In this episode, host Michael Fox follows in the footsteps of William Walker as he recounts one of the most twisted stories of US imperialism in Central America—a story that still has lasting repercussions for Latin America, the United States and across the world. -more-

US System of Control Today

Palestine, Nicaragua, ICJ, US Senate, US System of Imperial Control 

Take Action: End The Economic War On Nicaragua!

By Jill Clark-Gollub, Popular Resistance. Popular Resistance.org (5-19-24).   S.1881, a bill to place more sanctions on Nicaragua, had not advanced since it was filed in June of 2023, until it was suddenly passed out of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on April 16—one week after Nicaragua argued in the International Court of Justice in defense of the Palestinian people suffering a genocide. The bill may now be voted on by the full Senate any day. Nicaragua and Palestine solidarity activists responded with an emergency protest two days later and then published a petition that quickly garnered over 2,000 signatures.  -more-   (Pop Resistance: Be the people's resistance media!  Forward this email to a friend and share the articles on social media.  )

“Biden has relaunched Reagan’s murderous war against Nicaraguan Democracy–how many is he willing to kill to win?”

Jeremy Kuzmarov.  Mronline.org (9-19-23). 

When CIA-trained terrorists tried to overthrow the Sandinista government in the 1980s, the left erupted in protest. Now the left is cheering for the CIA.

John Perry.   “The United Nations is Being Used by the U.S. in its Propaganda War Against Nicaragua.”  CovertAction Magazine (CAM) (4-3-23).   

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

“Nicaragua is world’s #1 country where citizens feel at peace, Gallup poll shows.”  Editor.  Mronline.org (1-12-23). 

A poll by mainstream firm Gallup found that Nicaragua is the No. 1 country in the world where citizens feel at peace. Nine of the top 14 countries are in Latin America. But the U.S. constantly attacks the Sandinista government and imposes sanctions on it.

“Inside Nicaragua’s free socialized health-care system.”

Editor.  Mronline.org (8-15-22).

An inside look at the free universal health-care system created by Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, which has saved countless lives.

                                                                                                                            Susan Lagos.  Bogus Report on Nicaragua by “60 Minutes” Exposed as Propaganda from CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy.  CovertAction Magazine. Jul 15, 2022.

[Below is an except of an open letter to 60 Minutes written by Susan Lagos, a Spanish and ESL teacher who has lived in Ciudad Dario, Matagalpa, Nicaragua for 18 years. The full letter can be found at CovertAction Magazine.—Editors]

“A 60 Minutes team [should] actually come to Nicaragua to interview the people that live here whose lives have improved amazingly since 2007 with free universal education and health care.”

Dear 60 Minutes:

I was appalled to see your program on Nicaragua of June 19, 2022.

I have enjoyed many other 60 Minutes programs, but this one was totally one-sided and false. I have lived in Nicaragua since 2004, and traveled here many times in the 1980's and 1990's. So I have lived among people with a totally different reality than those you interviewed.

The two women you interviewed are the wives of Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Felix Maradiaga, from among the wealthy, closely connected with the U.S. government, who studied in U.S. universities and who speak English. Berta Valle, wife of Maradiaga, happens to be from the family down the block from me in Ciudad Dario, Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

The Chamorro and Maradiaga non-profits (IEEPP and FUNIDES respectively) were funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), founded to do overtly what the CIA has done covertly and also by other U.S. organizations like the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. foundations, and similar European organizations.

The USAID has given more than half a billion dollars to Nicaraguan nonprofits like these since the Sandinistas regained the presidency in 2007. The USAID also organized and funded a destabilization plan known as RAIN (Responsive Action in Nicaragua) for the pre and post November 2021 election periods which is likely still functioning.

In August 2021 the Public Prosecutor’s office accused Maradiaga and Chamorro of being part of a major group conspiring with the U.S. against Nicaragua continually since 2009 and headed by Manuel Orozco Ramírez. Orozco is an associate of Creative Associates International (CAI), a global agency funded by USAID to “engineer political transitions” with over US$2 billion in U.S. government contracts as reported by Mintpress.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Orozco was in charge of triangulating resources from international organizations to Nicaraguan pro-coup foundations, among them IEEPP, Fundación Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, FUNIDES, CINCO and Movimiento Puente por Nicaragua. In turn, these organizations channeled resources to armed groups, and to gangs of communication assassins (call centers of people paid to spread lies that would favor the destabilization of Nicaragua), coordinated to overthrow the constitutional government of Nicaragua. […]

Nan McCurdy.  Open Letter to the BBC: Every Article is a Lie to Attack Nicaragua.    CovertAction Magazine. Jun 30, 2022.

The June 23 BBC article by Bernd Debusmann, “US Immigration: They’d rather die than return to Nicaragua,” confirms that the corporate media consistently make every article an attack on its Sandinista Government.

Of four Nicaraguans interviewed for this article from the department of Esteli, two are peasants from villages, one is a housewife from a village and the fourth is a housewife from a small town. They all consider themselves Sandinistas and say they have benefited from many government programs including training and small loans for production or small businesses. One has worked seasonally for more than twenty years in El Salvador, and two have worked seasonally in Costa Rica at least twice.

They say they decided to attempt the difficult journey north because family and friends over the last eighteen months have told them that once they cross into the U.S., just turn themselves into border agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actually helps them get to their final destination. This proved true for all four after harrowing experiences along the way. Two were flown to Minnesota, one was flown to Miami and one was sent by bus to Houston.

In the U.S. Nicaraguan migrants are treated now with as much leniency as Cubans. In other words, the U.S. is clearly promoting migration to the U.S. by Nicaraguans since 2007. And Nicaragua has been left out of the Title 42 expulsions unlike Mexicans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Hondurans which have had much higher migration to the U.S. than Nicaragua since 2007, when a better government began in Nicaragua—a Sandinista government. [...]

[Sandinista achievements]  I know of no one going because they dislike the Sandinista government. You have only to visit Nicaragua to experience the amazing investment in everything that makes life better: universal health care and education, housing programs, every aspect of infrastructure to make the country runs smoothly, best roads in the region by far, government loans and training for small producers and small enterprisers, 90% food sovereignty, 99.2% of the population now has electricity, more than 90% have running water in their homes, electricity is now primarily generated by renewable sources, great investment in sports, recreation and parks and so much more. […]   Read in browser »

Stansfield Smith .  “Why is the Nicaraguan Government demonized by both Liberals and Conservatives when Nicaragua has seen great progress under the Sandinistas?”  .  Mronline.org (4-4-22)

Women Have Made Particularly Significant Gains Under the Second Sandinista Government Since 2006.

Nicaragua Once Again Inaugurates the “People as President”

By Nan McCurdy on Jan 23, 2022.  CovertAction Magazine.

On January 10, Daniel Ortega was inaugurated President and Rosario Murillo was inaugurated as Vice President. The central event in the Plaza of the Revolution was accompanied by Sandinistas celebrating in almost every town with big-screen displays of the inauguration.

Once he had been sworn in, with the presidential sash across his chest, Daniel repeated his action from 2007, 2012 and 2017: He took off his sash and then symbolically handed it to the people: El Pueblo Presidente—the People are President. The crowd broke out in wild cheers. He asked tens of thousands of Sandinistas gathered in the 153 municipalities of the country to swear to fight with all their strength to eliminate hunger, poverty, and backwardness. […]

“Nicaragua: Chronicle Of A Slandered Election.”

By John Perry and Rick Sterling, Popular Resistance. Popular Resistance.org (12-19-21).   On November 7, Nicaragua held elections in which current president Daniel Ortega received 75% support and, as a result, begins a new term of office in January. Not surprisingly, the US government described the election as a “sham.” Of more concern is that many on the left seem to agree. William Robinson’s NACLA article, Nicaragua: Chronicle of an Election Foretold, is a scathing critique, repeated in an interview with The Real News. In this article, we will show that Robinson’s claims are based on falsehoods and elite bias. -more-

“Facebook does the U.S. government’s censorship work in Nicaraguan elections.”  Editor.  Mronline.org (11-6-21).

A few days before the Nicaraguan presidential elections on November 7, Facebook and other social media companies began closing down many of the pages used by Sandinista supporters in their campaign to re-elect President Daniel Ortega.  

“Women’s struggle in Nicaragua: from liberation fighters to building an alternative society.”   Editor. Mronline.org (11-7-21).

Erika Takeo and Rohan Rice reflect on the advancement of women in Nicaragua since the Sandinista revolution.  

Sandinistas Poised to Win Election in Nicaragua Despite U.S. Sabotage and SmearsBy Yader Lanuza on Nov 06, 2021.

Media repeats big lie that Nicaraguan migrants to the U.S. are escaping Ortega’s repression

Nicaraguans go to the polls today, Nov. 7, 2021. The U.S. government, the media that does its bidding, and even some self-described “leftists,” present a Nicaragua in “turmoil” and “crisis”—and the elections as a farce.

These attacks against the Sandinista government also emanate from academics, intellectuals, and journalists with ties to the members of the now-defunct MRS, an organization with no political relevance or popular support whose members pretend to be leftist to an international audience but support the Nicaraguan right-wing and do the bidding of the U.S—betraying both Sandinismo and Nicaragua. 

The people and organizations spewing these anti-Sandinista reports have taken it upon themselves to speak on behalf of Nicaraguans, whom they claim live in some sort of authoritarian nightmare that only U.S. intervention and the “international community” can fix.

Inside Nicaragua something else is afoot. The country is peaceful, getting ready for year-end activities that begin in November. People are going about their everyday business with interest but not obsession with the elections, as usually occurs in the U.S., where every inane and self-serving photo-op and publicist-generated skirmish is reported ad nauseum.

No doubt there is plenty of news reported about the elections. For example, poll after poll, in various regions of the country, show majority support (about 2/3) for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)’s ticket, with Daniel Ortega at the helm; in the North of the country, the support is even higher. […]

“US Congress outlines new phase of economic attacks and hybrid war on Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.”  Editor.  Mronline.org (9-30-21).

A House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on September 21 set out plans for the next phase of the United States’ hybrid warfare on Nicaragua, which aims to destabilize and ultimately overthrow the Central American nation’s leftist Sandinista government.

“Nicaragua at a revolutionary crossroads and in imperialist crosshairs.”  Editor.  Mronline.org (8-29-21).

U.S. attack on Nicaragua targets its Black community.

Nicaragua: Pandemic Recovery, New Elections Follow Defeat of U.S. Coup Attempt

oFightback News

Why Do The Media Hate Daniel Ortega?

oGerry Condon, Popular Resistance

“Document exposes new U.S. plot to overthrow Nicaragua’s elected socialist gov’t. “mronline.org (8-7-20)

A disturbing new document outlines plans for a U.S. regime-change scheme against Nicaragua’s elected leftist government, overseen by USAID, to bring about a “market economy” and a purge of Sandinistas.  | more…

By Ben Norton (Posted Aug 06, 2020)

Originally published: The Grayzone  on August 4, 2020 (more by The Grayzone)  | 

Empire, Inequality, State Repression, StrategyNicaragua, United StatesNewswireU.S. 'regime-change'

A newly released document exposes a U.S. government operation to overthrow the democratically elected socialist government in Nicaragua.

The plot is administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a regime-change vehicle that uses the pretense of “humanitarian aid” to advance Washington’s aggressive foreign-policy interests.

The document (PDF) details the creation of a new “task order” called Responsive Assistance in Nicaragua (RAIN) and its plan for “Nicaragua’s transition to democracy”–a euphemism for removing the leftist Sandinista Front for National Liberation (known commonly by the Spanish acronym FSLN) from power.

In the pages, the U.S. government agency uses hardline neoconservative rhetoric, referring to Nicaragua’s elected government as the “Ortega regime,” and making it clear that Washington wants to install a neoliberal administration that will privatize the economy, impose neoliberal reforms, and purge all institutions of any trace of the leftist Sandinista movement.

The USAID regime-change scheme states openly that one of its top “mission goals” is for Nicaragua to “transition to a rules-based market economy” based on the “protection of private property rights.”

The document concludes by calling for the future US-installed regime in Nicaragua to “rebuild institutions” and “reestablish” the military and police; to “dismantle parallel institutions” that support the Sandinista Front; and to persecute FSLN leaders through “transitional justice measures”–in other words, a thorough purge of the Sandinista movement to prevent it from ever returning to power.

In case it was not explicit enough that Washington’s goal was regime change, the 14-page USAID document employed the word “transition” 102 times, including nine times on the first page alone. . . .