Nicaragua confirms its definitive withdrawal from the OASThe Government of Nicaragua reiterated that the Organization of American States continues to be a ministry of colonies, designed and organized by the US to cover up and justify its aggressive actions against progressive nations. Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, two years after Nicaragua’s decision to leave the OAS, described that organization as interfering and an instrument of intervention. It materializes the extension of the power and interference of the US Government against the independence, sovereignty, well-being, peace and security of the peoples of the hemisphere. Moncada reiterated the interventionist actions of the OAS, transgressing the principles of non-intervention in internal affairs with respect to the sovereignty of the States and the right of the people to choose their own destiny, actions demonstrated in Nicaragua during the failed coup attempt of 2018.
Nicaragua allocates 2024 budget to social investment Iván Acosta, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, reported that the largest resources in Nicaragua’s 2024 budget, focused on social investments and productive infrastructure. National Assembly, Acosta expressed that healthcare, education, the fight against poverty and public investment are priorities.
He stated that 37.5% of social spending is directed to health and education and 61% of the budget is directed to the fight against poverty. Over 51 billion córdobas ($139.5 million) will be conveyed to the public investment program next year, a historic number for the country. “This budget also allocates resources to protect employment and also a five percent salary increase in the public sector.”
The IMF recognizes the resilience of the Nicaraguan economy and predicts growthThe views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Nicaragua’s economy has remained resilient in the face of multiple shocks, supported by appropriate economic policies, substantial buffers, and multilateral support. After a very strong rebound in 2021, the economy grew at a steady pace since 2022 on the back of private consumption and exports. Real GDP is expected to grow by 4% in 2023. Remittances are projected to reach about 28% of GDP at end-2023, double their end-2021 level, driven by the rapid increase of Nicaraguan emigrants. In 2024 and over the medium term, real GDP is projected to grow by about 3.5%, supported primarily by private consumption. These projected growth rates remain below historical averages (2000-17) of 3.9%. On the upside, real GDP growth might be higher than projected due to a more sustained recovery in domestic demand, including investment, and stronger remittances than projected, especially in the near term. The mission supports the authorities’ efforts to sustain medium-term growth through investing in infrastructure.
Vice President Rosario Murillo On the Day of Condemnation of Violence Against WomenThis November 25th, our deepest Fraternal Sentiments of Solidarity go above all to the Women of that Great, Heroic Land of Palestine, where they continue to suffer brutal aggression and unspeakable genocide. [In Gaza, two women are killed every hour, and 67% of the more than 14,000 Palestinians killed are women and children]. To women all over the world, our impassioned Heart… To the Brave and Heroic Women in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, North America, to the Women in all the Continents and Territories of this World, we unite in a Militant, Combative Spirit, repudiating once again all the forms of violence and aggression that afflict us, but do not defeat us. We are writing a New Story. As United, Lucid, Intelligent and Valiant Women, we are the Force of Love, in all the Battles and all the Victories Ahead.
Nicaragua’ message at the meeting of Forum Against Neocolonialism “2. Modern day neocolonial practices as implemented by the United States and Europe represent the continuity of the colonial barbarism imposed through systematic extermination of native communities, the kidnapping of African peoples to convert them into commodities, the destruction of age old cultures and the indiscriminate plundering of our material and cultural riches in Asia and Africa, as well as in our Latin America and Caribbean.
3. Since the beginnings of colonial imposition, our Peoples have heroically fought against occupation, under the banners of National Liberation, Independence, National Sovereignty and Self-determination, and have achieved significant progress in the processes of decolonization.
5. Today, we continue to face the same ideology of domination embraced by Western elites, one characterized by the control and manipulation of the international financial world, by ideological and cultural perversion, and by imperialist, exclusionary, unipolar and racist thinking, accompanied by the irrational deployment of military force to try to enforce their neocolonial will.
8. A particular expression of the attempt to enforce the neocolonialist unipolar vision has been the progressive politicization of the United Nations system, by means of imposing agendas and double standards in Human Rights matters, which have turned UN institutions into extensions of the meddlesome, interventionist foreign policy of the imperial powers.”
Granma: Nicaragua registers important advances in electricity coverageNicaragua today recorded significant progress in electricity coverage with 99.37% electrification nationwide. This year’s goal is to close with 99.4% electricity coverage, reaching more than 1,280,000 homes, which would benefit more than 3,686,000 inhabitants. Renewable energy makes up 60.43% of the total: solar energy (0.41%); hydroelectric (7.55%); geothermal (13.40%); biomass (11.60%); wind (12.58%); thermal (39.57%), and imported energy represents 14.88%.Before the return to power of the FSLN government in 2006, electricity coverage covered only 54% of the population.
Events
December 3: Nicaraguan Migration: Myths and Reality Join us for a webinar where we’ll address misinformation about Nicaraguan migration and shed light on the reality of the life of a migrant to the United States. John Perry, author/ journalist, will discuss Nicaraguan migration to Costa Rica and the US, analyzing trends over time and examining the factors that may be contributing to the current increase in Nicaraguan migration to the US. Lenin Munguía will share his firsthand experience of migrating three months ago from Managua, Nicaragua, to the state of Maryland and his life in the United States. Spanish-English interpretation provided.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
We have followed the principles of these development banks [International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Central American Bank for Economic Integration] to mobilize resources to fight poverty and extreme poverty, and to mobilize and invest resources in economic infrastructure, in productive infrastructure and for social investment.
During the years of President Ortega’s government, Nicaragua has been recognized as one of the countries with the best performance in the use of international funds. As a result, we had probably gone from mobilizing $70-$80 million in funds annually to $300-$400 million. That is why you can see the great changes in infrastructure that have taken place.
This has fundamentally been a result of our high technical ability in the formulation of projects, in the design of programs and policies, so that we have been able to present high-quality projects to the boards of these institutions.
We emphasized that there can be no financial adjustment, there can be no reforms that do not consider the impact on citizens, the impact on the population.
It is clear after the attempted coup in 2018 that the United States and some European and other governments were blocking measures to guarantee the stability of Nicaragua’s economy, the stability of its public finances, which were measures available via the IMF. They were fully committed to the coup. Therefore, they had no wish to support the people of Nicaragua, let alone its government.
The World Bank said in a meeting that already-approved projects would continue, but any new ones could not go ahead. It is very embarrassing for its administration to handle a situation where the US representatives are ignoring their responsibility to the Bank’s charter, which is to mobilize resources for projects that directly impact the poorest people, that is, education, health, drinking water and sanitation.
The US, which is a big player in [IMF and World Bank], they say that they will never vote against projects that are for basic needs. This is a very important promise, but they seek to avoid this responsibility and instead, in the legislation they passed long before 2018, probably starting originally in 2015, such as the Nica Act and other initiatives such as the Renacer Act [Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021], they have always striven to make the maximum effort to prevent resources from reaching Nicaragua.
In 2020, with Covid, we were facing the risk of death among a population and they [US and EU] did their utmost not to deliver the resources, failing to comply with the promises of the global leaders to support all countries in the face of the global pandemic that was approaching.
The European countries act with the US to prevent the approval of new projects. Between the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, back in 2016 to 2017 we had projects that could add up, between the two entities, to about $500 million per year. Over the five years from 2018 to 2023 we should have been promised resources of between $2,500 and $3,000 million.
Yet Nicaragua received only $300-$320 million versus a possible total of $3 billion. The resources have been just 10% of what they should have been over this period. We have made great efforts, but we could have done much more if the banks had remained loyal to their charters. That is to say, the banks’ charters have been violated.
The absence of these resources delays programs of high value in the fight against poverty and in creating food security. These financial organizations have these projects, we formulate them jointly. They are convinced of the quality of the projects, but they do not finance them.
Nevertheless, we have managed to overcome the impact of the unilateral coercive measures [sanctions] in terms of the country’s management and in terms of growth. I believe that we are the country with the highest growth [in Latin America] since the pandemic, 15.8%.
The United States does not have shares in the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI, or BCIE in Spanish (Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica) The majority owners of BCIE are the Central American countries. We own 52% of the bank, that is, the majority of the bank. It is a much smaller bank, but it is fundamentally under the administration of the Central American states, accompanied by Asian countries, by other countries in the region, and this gives it strength because there is no impact of the aggressive policy of unilateral coercive measures. Of course, they get visits from the State Department, from the US embassy, they do so constantly, but this does not have any effect. Therefore, the Bank for Central American Economic Integration has played a key role and has fulfilled it.
With all the financial institutions we are regarded as the best in Central America. The country is undoubtedly one of the best globally in terms of accountability. The government of President Daniel Ortega has tripled electricity generation in eight years, with the support of the national community and these international organizations.
In 16-17 years, the neoliberal governments built only two hospitals and started one more. In contrast we have built 17 hospitals, among them three much more advanced ones, and we are finishing the construction of four more. So that is a huge difference [between the neo-liberal and Sandinista governments] in the same period of 17 years.
When we look at the quality of the highways in 2006, only 30% were in good condition. Out of 2,000 km, there were only 600 kilometers in good condition. Today we are already close to 4,500 kilometers of highways with 85% in good or excellent condition. We are talking about 4,300 kilometers of highways in good condition versus 600.
We are now the safest country in Central America, one of the safest in Latin America, despite people saying that this is a small, poor country. In homicides, we are falling below seven per 100,000 people, when the Central American average is about 30 per 100,000. And kidnappings have been practically zero since 2007 [apart from the period of the attempted coup].
All this is only possible because of the success that President Daniel Ortega has had in public policies: achieving greater social cohesion, achieving income redistribution for the population through health, education, rural programs, financing programs, and definitely putting the citizen, the ordinary person, at the center of public policy.
There are the constant efforts of Nicaraguan workers, peasants, for example the efforts of the 150,000 meat and milk producers, those of the 50,000 coffee producers, of the more than 350,000 agricultural producers, producing coffee, meat and milk. We are in the hands of these entrepreneurs, the vitality of the economy depends on them.
NicaNotes: Good Infrastructure Makes People’s Lives Better On Dec. 7, 2022, the President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mossi, stated that “Nicaragua is the country [in Central America] with the best execution rate for projects. It is the country with the best highway infrastructure. The Nicaragua Government and CABEI are currently carrying out 28-projects totaling more than US$1.89 billion for infrastructure, environmental protection, and the fight against poverty.
From 2007 to date, the Sandinista government has built more than 130,000 homes. National electricity coverage was 99.34% at the end of July 2023, with 70% generation based on renewable sources. Nicaragua Water and Sewage Company (ENACAL) announced that 92% of the population has drinking water service, while in 2006 only 65% of homes had potable water.
December 3: Nicaraguan Migration: Myths and Reality Join us for a webinar where we’ll address misinformation about Nicaraguan migration and shed light on the reality of the life of a migrant to the United States. John Perry, author/ journalist, will discuss Nicaraguan migration to Costa Rica and the US, analyzing trends over time and examining the factors that may be contributing to the current increase in Nicaraguan migration to the US. Lenin Munguía will share his firsthand experience of migrating three months ago from Managua, Nicaragua, to the state of Maryland and his life in the United States. Spanish-English interpretation provided.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
And the one responsible for this macabre plan, the one who is at the forefront of this criminal plan, is US imperialism, it is the US ruling class, it is the major US corporations, the arms manufacturers in the United States who are doing huge business, and they care little about the blood that is being spilled.
We share the pain of the families who have suffered losses in Israel, but one ends up wondering whether it might not be the imperialist plan given the weakness they have in the war in Ukraine, given their involvement in that war in Ukraine.
The fact that the countries that call themselves civilized and democratic continue to fuel this brutal, bestial war of the State of Israel, of the government of Israel, which is no more than the government of the United States, is simply part of a strategy: because it was in theirs interest to open another front where they could join in, where all the forces that are also involved in Ukraine could work together.
John Perry: US sanctions hit Nicaragua’s social investment programsFollowing an interview with Finance Minister Ivan Acosta, Perry reports that Nicaragua’s government will spend about 24% more in 2024 than in the current year, which includes a huge increase (43%) in public-sector investment. Nicaragua’s per capita income is one of the lowest in Latin America, so poverty alleviation is a high priority. It might be expected that the World Bank and other international institutions would be helping the country to achieve this goal. And yes, they were, but now they aren’t. The country’s “development is being held back by politically motivated withholding of loans.”
When the revolutionary Sandinista government regained power in 2007, only $70-80 million was arriving from institutions like the World Bank: a decade later, it had reached $300-400 million, because the banks knew the money would be wisely spent. The country has been denied funding worth between $2.5 and $3 billion in total since 2018, all of which would have been earmarked for social programs.
John Perry: The Journey North Until two years ago, few Nicaraguans migrated north. But then numbers making the journey suddenly increased. According to the White House, they were ‘fleeing political persecution and communism’, but none of the migrants or their families I have spoken to have ever mentioned this as a motive. The real reasons are the dream of supposedly well-paid jobs and, until recently, the promise of favorable treatment at the border. This year numbers have fallen sharply because border practices have changed and deportations have begun. Instead, Nicaraguans (along with would-be migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela) can apply for what’s called ‘humanitarian parole’.
So far, some 21,000 Nicaraguans have flown north under this system with permits to work for two years. The debilitating effect this has on Nicaragua adds to that of the US sanctions which apply to all the ‘parole’ countries. Migration replenishes an aging US workforce while damaging the economies of countries whose governments Washington dislikes. It’s a pernicious brain-drain.
Events
Sunday, December 3, Nicaragua Webinar: “Nicaraguan Migration: Myths and Reality.” Speakers: John Perry, author and journalist; and Lenin Munguia, Nicaraguan migrant currently in the US. Spanish-English interpretation provided. To register: https://bit.ly/NicaDec3
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
Nicaragua Statement on Palestine and Condemnation of UN Security Council “It is reprehensible that this body did not adopt a simple humanitarian resolution urgently demanding a cease-fire, with access to and provision of humanitarian assistance. Nicaragua… always supported the just cause of the Palestinian people, it is a matter of principle, of solidarity between brothers and sisters in struggle, and together with the rest of the international community we consider it necessary to intensify international efforts in the search for a definitive and peaceful solution that culminates in the realization of the Palestinian State.”
NicaNotes: Nicaragua, the UCA, and the Society of Jesus In April 2018 UCA [the Jesuit Central American University] were key players in the attempted right-wing terrorist coup d’état. The UCA campus had been outfitted as the barracks and command post of the anti-Sandinista organizations. From his base at the Jesuit Seattle University in Washington State, the UCA president created a system to channel funds from the US and Europe to promote anti-government activities, called the Central American Initiative (CAI).
It took time to investigate how aid funds had been channeled to promote violence, because in 2018 and 2019 Nicaragua did not have laws to track foreign government financing of non-profit organizations. But in 2020, laws were passed to regulate foreign funding of NGOs, requiring them to report on the funds received and their purpose. Since the enactment of these laws, which exist in dozens of countries around the world, including the imperialist powers, the UCA and the Society of Jesus have refused to comply.
For three years the Ministry of the Interior waited for the UCA and the Society of Jesus to submit financial statements for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Finally, the courts ordered the seizure of all its assets, which are now owned by the State of Nicaragua. The National Council of Universities, governing body of the system of higher education, canceled the UCA’s operating license, created the Casimiro Sotelo National University, and appointed its officers. This University will be funded by the Nicaraguan government.
NicaNotes: Profound Advances in Education and Culture Since 2007, when the Sandinistas returned to power, until 2023, Nicaragua’s education budget has increased by a staggering 457%. The number of teachers has increased two-fold. The education curriculum and teaching in multiple languages in the autonomous Caribbean regions of Nicaragua are a government priority. Education from primary through university education has been free since President Daniel Ortega returned to the presidency. A school meal is guaranteed for more than 1.2 million children including preschool and primary students and secondary distance learning students and ensures a plate of food in the classroom. Over the past 16 years, 244 government child development centers have been created, now a total of 276. All are subsidized by the state, all with trained personnel, all with specific programs to instill values and knowledge in the children. These centers serve 16,500 children under age six who receive comprehensive care, food, weight and height monitoring, early stimulation and education and more.
Nicaragua receives a fleet of 250 buses from ChinaVice-President Rosario Murillo announced that China has agreed to send 1,500 buses for Nicaragua’s public transport system in the coming months, confirming that 250 arrived in October and another 250 will arrive in November. Nicaragua received a food donation from Russia that will support the school snack program. The donation, via the World Food Program, consists of 172 tons of wheat flour and more than 300 tons of sunflower oil.
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition statement on Palestine The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing, and acts of terrorism being committed by Zionist Israel, which is a key element in US objectives in maintaining world dominance… We support the right of Palestinians and their organizations to resist and fight against the occupation “by all necessary means, including armed struggle” (UN Resolution 37/43 of the 90th plenary session of 1982). We are resolute in our unconditional support for the Palestinian people and their cause of national liberation.
Events
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
November 9: Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Region Fourth and final episode of a Virtual Course and Film Festival: The Rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast 7:00pm Eastern/ 6:00pm Central America & Mexico/ 4:00pm Pacific. Please join us to learn about the Creole and Garífuna Afro-descendant Peoples around Bluefields, Orinoco, and surrounding communities.
November 11 Solidarity on the path to Nuestra América – Panel of Nicaragua Solidarity GroupsSponsored by Friends of the ATC. Confirmed panel includes: Nicaragua SolidarityCampaign, Black Alliance for Peace / Zone of Peace Campaign, Casa Benjamin Linder, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, Friends of the ATC.Groups will share their work and how to get involved in anti-imperialist and internationalist solidarity organizing, including campaigns against sanctions, and delegations to Nicaragua.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
On October 21 and 22, the Sandinista Solidarity Meeting with Nicaragua was held, under the motto United for Independence and Sovereignty at the headquarters, Casa de las Asociaciones de Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Madrid.
A meeting that ended with great success in terms of attendance and participation and the presence of representatives of the Embassies of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, as well as participation and debate, via video, with two senior government officials of Nicaragua: Orlando Tardencilla, advisor to the President of the Republic of Nicaragua for Policies and International Relations, and Brenda Rocha, President of the Supreme Electoral Council of Nicaragua.
With more than 60 participants from 25 organizations related to solidarity and internationalism, some with explicit support for the Sandinista Revolution, internationalist organizations, trade union organizations and political organizations, it was a very plural and dynamic meeting.
Work has been carried out in four workshops that collected the different realities of the political-social situation of Nicaragua framed in the current world situation: 1-Crisis of imperialism and decline of the West, 2-Anti-imperialist history of Nicaragua (see article below) 3-The hybrid war of the USA against Nicaragua
4-Achievements of the Sandinista Revolution (see article below) whose conclusions have been presented to the Plenary of the Meeting.
Organizations that Support the Encuentro:
Organizations that explicitly support the Sandinista Revolution
Comité Europeo de Solidaridad con la Revolución Popular Sandinista
Plataforma de Madrid de Solidaridad con Nicaragua
Sandinistak
Other Internationalist Organizations
ALBA Granada North África
Análisis Cultura y Transformación Social
Brigada Rubén Darío
Comite Antiimperialista de Catalunya
Comité de Solidaridad Internacionalista de Zaragoza
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
November 2: Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Region Join us for Session 3 of the virtual course and film festival: The Rights of Indigenous and Afrodescendant Peoples on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
Nicaragua – The Education GenerationThe author of this article, Becca Renk, is originally from the U.S. but has lived and worked in Nicaragua since 2001 with the Jubilee House Community and its project the Center for Development in Central America. She and her husband Paul have two daughters who have studied in Nicaraguan public schools for 15 years. She describes her firsthand observations here of Nicaragua’s educational system.
Nicaragua Webinar recordings and related materials are available
October 22 Nicaragua Webinar, “Church and State in Nicaragua: Probing the Relationship.”
ONGOING: Please contact your Senators and members of Congress to tell them to vote NO on S.1881, which would impose more sanctions on Nicaragua! To learn more, get the lobbying toolkit here: America Without Sanctions.
Advocacy Day Thursday, October 26: Activists are speaking out in the halls of the US Congress, advocating for #AmericasWithoutSanctions – those coercive measures that are harshly affecting Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Nicaragua activists are holding meetings with Senators and Representatives, especially focusing on members of committees that will consider S.1881 before it goes to a floor vote.
Advocacy Day will start with a Congressional briefing on the impacts of sanctions on countries in the Americas. Join the livestream, 9:00 – 10:15am Eastern time:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88146071100
Panel of Experts:
Steve Ellner, Ph.D., Latin American Perspectives, Historian
Professor Richard Kohn, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland
Ann Faust, M.D., an expert in maternal and child health who has worked in a variety of countries
Impacts of sanctions on real people’s lives:
Scott Hagaman, Friends of Latin America, the case of Cuba
Marilyn Carlisle, Casa Baltimore-Limay, the case of Nicaragua
Leonardo Flores, Venezuela Solidarity Network, the case of Venezuela
Selected News Briefs
Ivan Acosta speaks about Nicaragua’s 2024 Budget, from John Perry
In an interview with Alberto Mora on Nicaragua’s Channel 4, housing minister Ivan Acosta set out the country’s budget for 2024, approved this past week by the National Assembly. Acosta said that Nicaragua could take advantage of the fast economic growth in Central America since the pandemic – 15.9% over the three years compared with the regional average of 12.1%.
In cash terms, the 2024 budget will be about 24% higher than that for 2023, and of this, there will be a big increase (43%) in public sector investment. Overall, the proportion of the budget directed to anti-poverty measures totals 61%, and the proportion going specifically to health and education sectors will be 37.5%. Less than 3% goes on defence.
Acosta said that the increased budget would enable the country to continue the advances in health, education, transport, energy, water supply, housing and municipal services that it has been making since 2007.
Projects with China that will Change Nicaragua
Nicaraguan development projects with Chinese companies will radically change the country in a few years. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated last week in the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Agreements were reached with Chinese companies. 1. Contract for the Reconstruction, Expansion and Improvement of the Punta Huete International Airport. 2. Memorandum of Understanding for the Studies, Designs and Construction of the Managua-Masaya-Granada Railroad and the formulation of the Managua-Corinto-Bluefields Railroad Master Plan. 3. Cooperation Agreement for the road projects “Expansion of the Guanacaste-Nandaime-Rivas highway and the Rivas-Sapoá highway.” 4. Framework Agreement for the Coastal Highway Project Phase II. 5. Memorandum of Understanding for the Mojolka and Tumarín Hydroelectric Projects. 6. The Chinese company YUTONG will continue supplying buses. La Primerisima, 23 October 2023
Tropical Storm Moves through Southern Caribbean
Tropical depression 21 is already in Nicaraguan territory. It entered Monday night through Pearl Lagoon, in the Southern Caribbean. Thunderstorms and moderate winds are beginning in the Caribbean areas. Nicaraguan coastal media reported no major incidents: only light rains and an acceleration of wind speed thus far. La Primerisima, 24 October 2023
UN Debate on Human Rights, from Sofia Clark
Last week, Nicaragua participated in the General Debate on Human Rights within the framework of the meetings of the Third Committee of the United Nations Commission on Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Affairs. Our ambassador to the UN, Jaime Hermida Castillo, highlighted the progress made in the restitution of rights to Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants with the completion of the titling process of these Peoples, as well as our Government’s social commitment to people with disabilities.
Twelve Priests go to Rome by Agreement with the Vatican
“The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of the Republic of Nicaragua, after holding fruitful conversations with the Holy See, informs our people that an agreement was reached for the displacement to the Vatican of the 12 priests who, for different causes were prosecuted, and who have traveled to Rome, Italy, this afternoon.”
Managua, October 18, 2023, Government of Reconciliation and National Unity
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
The Rights of Indigenous and Afrodescendant Peoples on Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast
October 19 – November 9, 2023
Session 1: International Solidarity
Thursday, October 19 / 7pm Eastern / 5pm Central America / 4pm Pacific
Erica Caines, Black Alliance for Peace, Baltimore Organizer/Haiti Americas Team
Soledad Ortiz, Comité de Defensa de la Mujer, México
Johnny Hodgson, Representative to the National Assembly for the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua
Carlos Alemán, President of Regional Autonomous Council of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua
Sunday, October 22 Nicaragua Webinar, register here: bit.ly/NicaOct22
Speakers:
Becca Renk, community development worker in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, for over 20 years, who has written several articles on the church in Nicaragua;
Dr. James J. Phillips, former Jesuit, author of books and articles on Honduras and Nicaragua, who lived in Nicaragua for several years and maintains ties there.
Take Action Against Sanctions on Nicaragua
ONGOING: Please contact your Senators and members of Congress to tell them to vote NO on S.1881, which would impose more sanctions on Nicaragua!
We, the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, the families and the Nicaraguan people, strongly condemn, with deep pain and heartfelt solidarity, the attack against the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, which caused more deaths than those already generated in this cruel and bloody war, this time taking the valuable lives of more than 700 people, most of them children.
This crime against humanity not only deserves to be repudiated, but denounced and condemned as another example of the results of hatred, exclusion and denial of all rights and the most basic sense of humanity.
May those responsible for such barbarism answer to the world and the human family for their crimes.
The international community is called to act, as soon as possible; to demand solutions in law and justice, to stop this senseless spiral of violence that is already genocide. The causes are clear. The peoples of the world demand an end to savagery, brutality and the denial of all intelligence and sensitivity.
Inconceivable crimes such as these cannot be forgiven by God!
Our prayers with the innocent people and families who suffer so much. Our love and respect to each one. This war tears us all apart. No more war. No more pain. Yes to justice and peace!
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: Condemnation of the “Multinational Security Support mission” to Haiti The process to devise a new mission, using the pretext of gang violence and insecurity, has been led by the United States which once again utilizes the UN system for its own narrow objectives. The United Nations must pay restitution to the Haitian people for the harms of past interventions, including the 2010 cholera outbreak. We stand with the Haitian people in rejecting foreign intervention and with our sister organizations throughout the Americas in the Zone of Peace Campaign that justly demand an end to foreign interference in Haiti.
Statement of Nicaragua Government on Conflict in Palestine “Enough of Victims and Pain!”The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, and the People of Nicaragua, Always in Solidarity with the Palestinian Cause, Always Fraternal and Always Close; in condemning the barbarism unleashed yet again between two Brotherly Peoples and from our own experiences of imposed wars, calls the World to reflection and respectful action, based on the Values, Culture and forms of Family and Community Life, which have been ignored, altered and squandered by imperial voracity, by selfishness, folly, insensitivity, and contempt in not recognizing the Palestinian State, that is regard thy Neighbor, as thy equal.
FAIR (Camila Escalante): NPR Falsely Claims Its Reporter Is the Only One to Visit NicaraguaAyesha Rascoe, host of NPR’s Sunday Story, said the Sandinista government of Nicaragua “has basically banned foreign journalists.” Yet, in 2023 alone, numerous foreign journalists from press outlets from all parts of the world have reported from Nicaragua. Broadcast outlets based in the US, China, Russia, Iran and around Latin America have regularly filed reports in both English and Spanish. NPR called Nicaragua “a country steeped in fear,” falsely stating, “Fear runs so deep that even the president and vice president don’t trust their countrymen enough to hold a real public rally” etc.
Stephen Sefton: Haiti – neocolonial intervention, grass roots resistanceIn the same way that the United States invaded and occupied Nicaragua in the last century, Haiti also suffered from US military occupation from 1915 to 1934. And in the same way that they left behind the National Guard in Nicaragua, they left behind the Haitian Gendarmerie in Haiti. And also, in the same way that the United States ordered the murder of Benjamin Zeledón and Augusto C. Sandino, they murdered in the most cowardly way Charlemagne Péralte, the national hero of the resistance to the Yankee occupation of Haiti….Cuba has insisted in a statement issued after the recent decision of the United Nations Security Council on Haiti that “We defend the legitimate rights of its people to find a peaceful and sustainable way out of the enormous challenges they face, based on full respect for their sovereignty. The main pending task of the international community with Haiti is not to send a military contingent. That sister Caribbean nation, to which the international community owes an enormous moral debt, needs more financial resources for its development. It urgently requires more and better international assistance and cooperation, not only for its reconstruction, but also to advance the sustainable development of the country.”
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Events
ONGOING: Please contact your Senators and members of Congress to tell them to vote NO on S.1881, which would impose more sanctions on Nicaragua! Contact Cindy Farquhar If you are interested and willing to join a lobbying group or to coordinate a group lobby meeting later in October, please send your email right away to Cindy Farquhar at farquhar.cindy7@gmail.com
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
October 19-November 9:Virtual Course and Film Festival on Indigenous and Afro-descendant People’s Rights This four-part course will take place over zoom from October 19-November 9, and is free of charge. We will hear from Indigenous and Black activists in Nicaragua and the Americas, learn about Nicaragua’s two Autonomous Regions, and see beautiful films about the culture and landscape of these Regions. Watch for notices with details about how to register, or check the websites https://www.casabenjaminlinder.org/tours and https://afgj.org/ for details about how to join!
Nicaragua Webinar October 22, 3 pm ET: “Church & State in Nicaragua: Probing the Relationship”This webinar will confront allegations that the Nicaraguan government is conducting “a cutthroat campaign to silence its opponents, targeting religious orders, Catholic institutions, and media in addition to ordinary people of faith….” (Newsweek, Oct. 3) The speakers will also provide troubling evidence about some church leaders’ anti-government activities. Join us for other viewpoints and in-depth discussion, with ample time for your questions during Q&A. Featured speakers: Becca Renk, community development worker in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, for over 20 years, who has written several articles on the church in Nicaragua; Dr. James J. Phillips, former Jesuit, author of books and articles on Honduras and Nicaragua, who lived in Nicaragua for several years and maintains ties there.
Video of Nicaragua Webinar: The Nicaraguan Community Policing Model. How do the Nicaraguan police sustain one of the lowest crime rates, and highest levels of citizen trust, in all of Latin America? What special programs and approaches are used to protect women from violence? What were the experiences and activities of the police during the 2018 coup attempt?Commissioner General Jaime Vanegas Vega, Inspector General of the National Police;Commissioner General Martha Ligia Solórzano, Chief of the Boaco Police Delegation, Department of Boaco
Documentaries and Films on Nicaragua
1. Before 1979
Walker (1987) hybrid/weird western film based on William Walker, the American filibuster who invaded and made himself president of Nicaragua.
Last Plane Out 1983 film about the last days of Somoza’s rule.
Carla’s Song A film about the Sandinistas–Contras conflict. (Fictional, but highly political) Ken Loach Director. On Fandor
Kill the Messenger (2014) by Michael Cuesta about Gary Webb and his expose of the CIA-Contra-Cocaine connection, which led to his death
Events
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
October 22 at 3pm Eastern: Next Nicaragua Webinar will focus on the church in Nicaragua. Confirmed speakers are Becca Renk and Jim Phillips. Mark your calendars now! More information coming soon with Zoom link.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
Donate to Help Build the work of the Nicaragua Solidarity CoalitionAny donation helps, but monthly contributions can expand our work to combat the constant disinformation against Nicaragua. Make sure to write “Nica Coalition” in the online donation space, or on the memo line of a check mailed to our fiscal sponsor, Casa Baltimore/Limay, PO Box 66053, Baltimore, MD 21239
Minister for Foreign Affairs Denis Moncada Speech by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to the UN General Assembly September 26We are living moments of the extinction of the imperialist, colonialist model, of looting and genocide whose greed has impacted Nature and our World. we demand that the United Nations enforce the mandate of the International Court of Justice of The Hague, which in 1986 sentenced the United States of America to indemnify Nicaragua, at least in part, the costs of the destruction, the permanent aggression, the pain and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of families, during the insane and vengeful war imposed on our Country and our People, in what was called the counterrevolution.
Sandino lives in each of these victories against nefarious and diabolical imperialism. Entire countries have been destroyed in this brutal scorched earth policy, which seeks to satisfy the beastly appetites of the Earth’s imperialists… Entire countries have been occupied, and their peoples sacrificed and massacred.
The aggressions that they arrogantly and haughtily call “sanctions” do not define us, nor do they intimidate us, nor do they disable us, nor do they bend us, nor do they lead us to sell out or surrender. We don’t know the word, surrender.
What is the US track record in Nicaragua and how has the country been impacted by sanctions imposed by the United States? Professor Rick Kohn, Erik Mar and Camila Escalante recently addressed these questions and discussed a current piece of legislation which is being considered by the US Congress and which, if passed, will impose new sanctions on Nicaragua.
Rick Kohn: The US has already imposed sanctions on Nicaragua, but they haven’t yet brought about the kind of hunger and poverty and suffering that some US policymakers think is necessary to overthrow the popular Nicaraguan government. So there is a new sanctions bill co-sponsored by Marco Rubio and Tim Kaine that will try to further depress the Nicaraguan economy, increase unemployment, decrease revenue for the government’s popular programs so the government will be less popular.
The stated goal is the overthrow of the Nicaraguan government and a “free and fair election” to replace Daniel Ortega. Another target is the repeal of the foreign agents law, a law in Nicaragua that prohibits foreign governments from funding its elections and requires the registration of lobbying activities on behalf of foreign governments. It’s very similar to US laws, but the bill’s authors demand that foreign governments be allowed to underwrite political parties in Nicaragua’s elections.
That’s why they call it the ‘sovereignty bill’, because all of the sanctions bills are ironically named. The foreign government they’re referring to, of course, that should be allowed to meddle in Nicaragua’s elections is the US government.
Even with these sanctions, the US is Nicaragua’s biggest trading partner currently followed by Mexico and Honduras. The new sanctions would be devastating to US trade with Nicaragua.
The new bill calls for suspension of Nicaragua’s participation in the Dominican Republic Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The US government will be ordered to review any benefits that Nicaragua might receive from the agreement.
Now, the task isn’t to evaluate whether Nicaragua has violated the agreement or not, but simply to indicate that they have. DR-CAFTA was signed before the Sandinistas returned to power in 2007.
Under Nicaragua’s previous neoliberal governments (1990-2006), poverty and hunger were not tackled and DR-CAFTA was simply exploitative. The intent was for US companies to sell government-subsidized food to Central America, increasing their dependence on the United States, while Central American countries would be permitted to export non-essential things back to the US. However, this has changed: today Nicaragua produces 90% of its own food, and it exports food to its neighbors, including Honduras, as well as exporting goods to the US more goods than it even imports.
Contrary to expectations, DR-CAFTA has become important to building Nicaragua’s economy, and it makes it possible to provide health care and education and other infrastructure for development. The US is targeting and pressuring other countries that are parties to the agreement in an effort to block trade with Nicaragua across the region. This would have severe consequences for all Central America. The US government would block US companies from importing two more leading export commodities from Nicaragua, coffee and beef. These fill a particular niche in the US market for sustainably produced commodities. Nicaragua is a leader in agroecology. Both large scale commercial and co-operative-based fairtrade coffee are produced using low impact, organic methods. Most of the beef for export is sustainably produced using grass fed systems with trees that capture more carbon than is admitted to the atmosphere.
And these sanctions on Nicaragua will shift US consumption to less sustainable sources with less favorable greenhouse gas impacts. More acutely, more important to Nicaraguans, it will cost them jobs and funding to provide for people’s needs. Moreover, the last round of sanctions aims to further restrict loans for economic development by also including the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), and force an end to contributions from Mexico, Taiwan, Argentina, Colombia, Spain and the Republic of Korea, which are all named in the bill. The US economic influence can devastatingly destroy a country by bullying its allies. Most other loans have been stopped already, so the CABEI has become vitally important for programs like reforestation and maintaining forests that help Nicaragua fight climate change.
The bill would also block the property rights of US citizens and permanent residents by outlawing them from investing in Nicaragua. If a US citizen or resident attempts to invest in a business or improve a residence in Nicaragua that they may own, they can be faced with a combination of civil and criminal penalties, including twice the value of the investment for a civil penalty and $1,000,000 in fines and 20 years in prison. Many US residents currently own property or businesses in Nicaragua and maintaining those assets might require further investment.
In addition, a proposed US sanction calls for greater propagandistic warfare against Nicaragua. For example, it requires the US government to find and disseminate examples of violations of religious freedom and examples of corruption. In fact, because of the link between the propaganda war and the economic or sanctions reinforce each other, the sanctions and propaganda are justified by propaganda, and the increased propaganda only confirms the need for more sanctions.
Although living conditions have been improving for most Nicaraguans over the past ten years, the sanctions aim to end that. What we see in the US sanctions – amounting to a blockade – imposed on against Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran could be the future for Nicaragua. What we saw in Nicaragua in the 1980s with the destabilization of the entire region could happen again.
In the 1980s there were severe US sanctions and a proxy war which resulted in immense suffering. Eventually, the Nicaraguan people did vote for a US backed neoliberal government, which did not improve conditions for most people in Nicaragua, which is why the Sandinistas were reelected.
The important thing to understand about these sanctions is that they are simply another escalation of war against the Nicaraguan people. And it is the intent for the US government to continue escalating sanctions and war until the Nicaraguan people give in and elect the government which the US government and corporations want.
Camila Escalante, on behalf of the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: Since 2018, the NICA Act has been preventing the Nicaraguan government from accessing loans and financial and technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank.
At the World Bank, the United States vetoed a study of Nicaragua’s Dry Corridor which would have resulted in approximately $80 million in funding, directly impacting 800,000 people who live in that area. This is among the poorest regions of the country, with a populace highly dependent on subsistence agriculture in an area prone to drought. So much for the Bank’s slogan of reducing poverty and increasing shared prosperity.
At least 26 projects (of the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, Export–Import Bank of the United States [EXIMBANK], Korean Development Bank, and the European Investment Bank) have been impacted by the coercive measures, amounting to an overall loss of over $1.4 billion for Nicaragua in the 2018-2021 period compared to the previous period. The sectors impacted by these measures include: Development of Production on the Caribbean Coast; school lunch programs for vulnerable children; comprehensive child development programs; access to drinking water in rural areas; supply chains and programs to restructure production.
The US can allege, with little or no evidence that Nicaraguan government officials are human rights offenders with no recourse for Nicaragua or its supporters to appeal or contest the charges. It can then impose the Global Magnitsky Act, which since 2018 has been used to impose arbitrary sanctions on more than 60 government officials, State institutions, and the national government, hindering their ability to procure supplies internationally.
The United States, together with the Lima Group, paralyzed important projects at the IDB that were in Nicaragua’s portfolio to be funded, such as the La Esperanza-Wapí Road and the Bilwi Wharf (a wooden wharf that was destroyed by the hurricanes of 2020 and is an important public good for communities in the Caribbean Coast). This maneuver by the United States at the IDB was supposedly because the Country Strategy had expired in 2017 – but that was only because the United States had vetoed the updated Strategy! As a result, more than $1 billion did not reach the Nicaraguan people, despite the fact that it has been one of the Bank’s best clients. Between 2010 and 2017, Nicaragua took out $1.124 billion in IDB loans. In contrast, from 2018-2022, only $43 million in loans were approved – in other words, an average annual loss of over $131 million, or a decrease of over 93% for those 5 years.
Those lost resources would have allowed Nicaragua to build 265 kilometers of roads and four hospitals (approximately $62 million each), and to improve drinking water systems in two Department capitals.
Since 2021 the RENACER Act has been used to try to reduce Nicaragua’s benefits from the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), with an ultimate goal of removing Nicaraguan products from the Agreement.
In 2021, Nicaragua exported almost half a million metric tons of sugar, half of it to the US under DR-CAFTA. Then the US began to block part of Nicaragua’s exports, despite its legal commitment to buy from Nicaragua under the WTO’s Uruguay Round (1995). By July 2022, Nicaragua was excluded from the list of countries qualified for low-duty sugar exports to the US.
The United States and its allies have restricted the entry of foreign investment in Nicaragua through intimidation and disinformation to limit investments by foreign companies and/or investors, primarily from the United States.
The State Department’s website dissuades tourists from visiting Nicaragua by spreading deliberate misinformation, such as that the country is unsafe and unstable, when in fact it has one of the lowest crime rates in all of the Americas, with only 7.19 homicides per 100,000 population, compared to 11.26 in Costa Rica and over three times that rate in other neighboring countries. That website also says that the healthcare system fell apart due to COVID, when in fact the country had one of the lowest excess death rates in the Americas due to the pandemic, and thanks to robust investment in public health, its hospitals were not overwhelmed.
In 2020, instead of receiving donations of ventilators, vaccines, supplies, and medications from the US as did other Central American countries, the Nicaraguan people faced illegal coercive measures and price gouging.
Minimal financial support came from multilateral organizations only at the end of 2020 after two major hurricanes hit Nicaragua, but conditions were imposed such as requiring “predetermined” agencies to serve as fund administrators, which caused delays in the procurement processes and high overhead costs. And in 2021 Nicaragua was one of the few countries in the Americas that could not benefit from US vaccine supplies. Instead, US-funded media outlets spread disinformation exaggerating the number of COVID deaths in the country, seeking to undermine citizens’ confidence in the government’s response to the pandemic.
Finally, we must be aware of the impact of the escalated US campaign to turn Nicaragua’s neighbors against her. The United States is not a member of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), but it is pressuring the other Central American countries and other regional member countries to shut Nicaragua out of CABEI funding. And the US cannot unilaterally kick Nicaragua out of the CAFTA agreement, so it is pressuring the Central American countries and the Dominican Republic to exclude Nicaragua. Nicaragua has had cordial relations with all of these countries, regardless of ideology. In fact, the solidarity now between the Nicaraguan government and Xiomara Castro’s administration in Honduras, as well as between the people of the two countries, is quite strong. The US is trying to undermine this.
Erik Mar: One of the most common forms of sanctions are individual ones which freeze any assets that those individuals might have abroad and restrict their travel. The sanctions also extend to the immediate nuclear family of those individuals. Take the case of Sadrach Zelodón Rocha, who was sanctioned along with his wife. He is the mayor of Matagalpa, and in December 2022, was sanctioned along with his vice mayor, Yohaira Hernández Chirino.
We [Erik and John Perry] submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the British government which imposed the sanctions, and which followed US sanctions imposed in November of 2021. We submitted a number of questions, the most important one being: What was the evidence? They delayed and hemmed and hawed, and when they released their answers, they were evasive and vague. Essentially, they said the sanctions were based on human rights violations committed by those two individuals in 2018. They didn’t say specifically which reports formed the evidentiary basis for that. They didn’t say specifically what the human rights violations were.
Since they didn’t provide any specific report and since they said the evidence was restricted to what had happened in 2018, I decided to take the best known report, which was by the Grupo Interdisciplinario de Expertos Independientes, a 500-page report released by the Organization of American States in December of 2019. Outside Nicaragua, it is considered to be the most exhaustive and complete documentation of the human rights violations charges against individuals in 2018. Of the 500 pages, about 12 were dedicated to what had happened in Matagalpa in May 2018.
I went through those, and I contacted people I know to ask about what had happened. I decided not to question any of what the report had presented, even though much is disputed. I wanted to kind of take the worst-case scenario and just see the evidence.
As it turned out, one of the two people sanctioned, Yohaira Hernández, isn’t even mentioned at all in the report. I did a Google search and I couldn’t find any reports in which she was mentioned. So there was literally zero evidence against her to justify the sanctions imposed on her and her family.
In the case of Sadrach, the evidence was just astoundingly weak. It was circumstantial at best. The photographic evidence which they produced allegedly showed him leading what they called “shock groups”. But, for example, one photo of the “shock groups” included a woman in shorts and sandals, which isn’t exactly what you would expect for somebody who was about to engage in violence against protesters.
All of the cases they cited of individuals who were wounded or killed, none of them could have been attributed to Sadrach. Those who were caught didn’t even attempt to make that connection. Consequently, the evidence against him was simply one of assertion and backed up with virtually zero hard evidence. So that was pretty illuminating, I thought.
And it is my guess that if somebody were to do the same for many of the other individuals who had been sanctioned, they would find much the same kind of results.
The obvious place to go with this is to open up a legal case against the UK (and possibly US) government. It would be pretty much a slam dunk in the case of Yohaira, because there’s no evidence against her to justify the sanctions. But even in the case of Sadrach, it seems legally that it would be a very easy case to win.
Events
September 23 – November 18: virtual course, Ben Linder Solidarity School, 9 week class (two hours a week) Topics include: Nicaragua and the Sandinista Revolution; History and current context of Latin America and US imperialism; ATC and peasant organizations / social movements; Food Sovereignty and Agroecology; Solidarity and Internationalism.
Organizations: Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.
Donate to Help Build the work of the Nicaragua Solidarity CoalitionAny donation helps, but monthly contributions can expand our work to combat the constant disinformation against Nicaragua. Make sure to write “Nica Coalition” in the online donation space, or on the memo line of a check mailed to our fiscal sponsor, Casa Baltimore/Limay, PO Box 66053, Baltimore, MD 21239
