Category: Uncategorized

Why We Should Defend Nicaragua Against US Disinformation and Sanctions

Reverend Fred Morris: An Open Letter to President Lula of Brazil I have been living in Nicaragua for a total of eight years now, and during all this time I haven’t heard of a single person who has disappeared or who has been tortured. I live in a middle-class neighborhood, where many of my neighbors are not Sandinistas. Anyone who does not like the government freely expresses their opinion; no one is afraid to speak. My neighbor across from my house works for a TV channel that broadcasts scandalous criticism against the Sandinistas every day—and nothing happens to them. The Nicaraguan government is not a dictatorship, it is a government of the people, for the people.

AFGJ Alert: Contact your Senators! Oppose new and old sanctions on Nicaragua! The new sanctions seek to restrict loans for economic development from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) which funds roads, water and energy projects, and housing in the country. The old sanctions stopped most loans from the IMF, World Bank and the IDB. Now the U.S. wants to stop the CABEI loans as well! All these restrictions should be lifted!

Roger McKenzie: Now is not the time to abandon the Sandinistas Roger McKenzie asks why many progressives in the West feel qualified to denounce the Nicaraguan movement that is in a daily struggle against US imperialism. When the FSLN returned to power in 2006, they decided to be more pragmatic, with part of that decision based on a desire not to poke the US bear. Perhaps some former supporters believed that this meant the FSLN had finally sold out to capitalism. Even when the defeat of the US-backed coup attempt in 2018 led the FSLN to readopt a more aggressively left-wing, anti-imperialist line, some still pointed to what they regarded as deficiencies in particular policy positions.

Natalia Burdyńska-Schuurman: Report-back: Alliance for Global Justice joins Nicaraguans and solidarity movements in celebration of the 44th Anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution A strategic center of geopolitical interests and threat to U.S. hegemony in Latin America and the Caribbean, Nicaragua is constantly demonized by Democrats and Republicans alike, mainstream media and those who accept its mischaracterizations at face value. I invite those of you curious to get to know the true reality of Nicaragua and understand the foundations of popular support for the Sandinista government to see the country with your own eyes by joining one of our upcoming delegations. What you’ll find, I’m convinced, is a level of political participation, community empowerment and life satisfaction at all sectors of society that far transcends anything I have ever witnessed in the United States or elsewhere.

Jacqueline Luqman: The Sandinista Revolution Reveals Our Connections To Nicaragua On July 19, 1979, the Sandinistas took control in Nicaragua during their successful overthrow of the brutal US-backed Anastasio Somoza regime. It should also be a moment to understand that marginalized people in the US are connected to the socialist revolution in that country, and to all people in the Americas, because we were the victims of a war the US government waged upon us all as it sought to undermine Nicaraguan self-determination, as well as our own. US government policy responses to the crack epidemic – which it started with the CIA-cocaine-contra pipeline –  and its victims, and the War on Drugs itself also cast a net of suffering so wide that it blanketed not just working class and poor communities in the US with the misery of addiction, but ensnared Nicaraguans in that same net.

Roger Harris: Nicaragua Celebrates its Revolution While the US Plans New Sanctions Against It “We are fighting against the Yankee enemy of humanity,” explained Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, setting the tone of the 44th anniversary celebration of their revolution. Meanwhile, a bi-partisan bill, co-sponsored by Republican Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine, calls for a new salvo of economic sanctions and psychological warfare to achieve regime-change in Nicaragua. Biden has already banned importing Nicaraguan gold and sugar, their two largest export commodities. The new legislation would further stifle trade by Nicaragua with the US, cutting off beef and coffee exports. Restrictions on access to international financing for development projects, which were already severely limited by the 2021 RENACER Act, would be tightened to try to asphyxiate the economy. The bill also calls for Nicaragua to repeal its own 2020 foreign agents law, which was patterned after similar US legislation and is designed to protect this small nation from outside interference into its internal affairs.

Upcoming Event by Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition ally

September 5: Nicaragua: Truth Versus Lies Organized by the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group. John Perry; Abigail Espinoza Muñoz, active FSLN member, former councillor in Masaya; Roger McKenzie, International Editor, Morning Star.

Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (August 14), 2:30 PM ET email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com to join the meeting or inquire about membership.

Listserve: nicanet@googlegroups.com join at groups.google.com/g/nicanet

Sign up to receive the weekly Nica Notes: https://afgj.org/signup

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Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign

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Nicaragua Celebrates July 19

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s Speech July 19 on 44th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution He spoke on Qaddafi, Thomas Sankara, Puerto Rico independence, the anti-imperialist heroes of Nicaragua, the European Community meeting with CELAC, Ukraine, and the importance of solidarity.

President Daniel Ortega’s government sees 79% approval According to the findings of the most recent survey carried out by M&R Consultores. 78.9% of those surveyed consider the government of President Daniel Ortega to be that of a democratic ruler, attached to the laws of the country. 82.8% of respondents said that the government of President Ortega works for the interests of the general population. 78.6% said that the country is heading in the right direction. 83.3% of respondents believe the Interoceanic Canal would represent benefits for Nicaragua. 84.9% of those interviewed said that the future in general for the country in the next five years is encouraging. What would a similar poll of the US population show?

Lauren Smith: Nicaraguans Celebrate 44th Anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution A good introductory article on the FSLN and Nicaragua. The country is thriving despite a network of illegal sanctions that are premised on lies told to the US public. Nicaragua has free health care for all. The Ortega administration provides land titles to families, has increased transportation routes, provided potable water and sanitation facilities, and expanded low-cost electricity and free internet in public spaces. The FSLN also builds affordable housing, offers free education from preschool to trade and technical schools, and offers scholarships to university students, now numbering 51,879 students with scholarships. Public university is tuition free, through graduate and professional school.

Nicaraguans celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution Tens of thousands gathered in the centre of the Nicaraguan capital Managua on Wednesday evening to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista revolution in 1979. In his speech, President Daniel Ortega, besides what is summarized above, said he believed the main intention of the EU is to get rid of the revolutionary governments of Latin America.

UK Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign June newsletter: The Right to Food; Free Universal Health Care System; The Revolution in the Right to Education; Tackling entrenched poverty using a holistic, well integrated approach; Gender equality; The Human Rights of  the majority; The Resurgence of Trade Union Rights  in Nicaragua; Peasant Feminism: Changing relationships between people & nature, more.

2. Events

July 22-30:  Whistleblower Summit and film festival  Hybrid series (online and in-person), going on now through Sunday, will include some discussion of Nicaragua.

July 31: Blowing the Whistle on Covert Warfare & Coercive Economic Sanctions In-person event in DC, will also include some discussion on Nicaragua with Dan Kovalik, Sara Flounders.

Webinar video: July 23: Why Is Nicaragua Important in Today’s World?

3. Protest Appointment of Elliott Abrams

Progressive Secretary: Take Action: Tell President Biden “NO” to the nomination of Elliott Abrams

AFGJ Alert: Biden Administration’s nomination of Elliott Abrams to the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy must be stopped! Sign on to send a letter to Biden and your Senators.

Code Pink: Elliott Abrams – Tell your Senators to vote NO on his appointment! Send an email to your Senator.