Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition Newsletter

Orinoco Tribune: Nicaragua Formally Applies to Join ICJ Genocide Case Against ‘Israel’ The government of Nicaragua has filed a formal application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to join South Africa in its genocide case against “Israel.” The ICJ announced in a press release on Thursday, February 8, that Nicaragua referred to Article 62 of the Statute of the Court to file in the Registry of the Court an application for permission to “intervene as a party in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).” In its filing, Nicaragua stated that it considers the conduct of Israel is in “violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention” as it carries on its genocidal attack against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Nicaragua asked the ICJ to declare that Israel “must perform the obligations of reparation in the interest of Palestinian victims, including but not limited to allowing the safe and dignified return of forcibly displaced and/or abducted Palestinians to their homes, respect for their full human rights and protection against further discrimination, persecution, and other related acts, and provide for the reconstruction of what it has destroyed in Gaza,” and “offer assurances and guarantees of non-repetition of violations of the Genocide Convention.”

World Beyond War Thanks Nicaragua for Standing Against Genocide on behalf of all the caring people of the world, we want to thank the government of Nicaragua for being the first to formally request to intervene at the International Court of Justice in the case brought by South Africa, and in support of holding the government of Israel to account for its violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza. Since South Africa filed its case, and since the court ruled that Israel needed to cease its genocidal actions while the case proceeds, the government of Israel has only escalated its crimes, while openly defying the court — even while relying on weapons, legal immunity, and propaganda support from the U.S. and other Western governments frequently claiming to support a so-called rules-based order.

We citizens of the world who support the actual rule of law appreciate the risks you take in supporting it. All governments commit crimes, making them reluctant to support the prosecution of governmental crimes. All governments are subject to pressure from the U.S. government and its allies, making them reluctant to support this prosecution. But many know what is right. And many may act now that you have gone first. Thank you. We will remember.

RootsAction.org: Time to End the Monroe Doctrine Form to send an email to your Congressperson. U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez has introduced a resolution, along with Congressmembers Casar, Ramirez, Garcia, and Ocasio-Cortez. H. RES. 943 calls for the annulment of the Monroe Doctrine and the development of a “New Good Neighbor” policy in order to foster improved relations and deeper, more effective cooperation between the United States and our Latin American and Caribbean neighbors.

John Perry: The “Human Rights Industry” and Nicaragua The Human Rights Industry by Alfred de Zayas, brings together the insights of de Zayas and other experts into the ways in which “human rights” have been distorted to serve the interests of Western governments, principally those of the US. Plus, it is written by someone who brings 50 years of experience in the human rights field. 

The base of the “human rights industry” consists of small, local organizations which may in some cases do excellent work. However, he qualifies this: “There are few fields that are as penetrated and corrupted by intelligence services as the human rights NGOs.” De Zayas estimates perhaps 30% are so penetrated. NED’s website shows that, between 2016 and 2020, it spent almost $1.2 million in funding “human rights” bodies in Nicaragua, in addition to funding many other activities. In 2018, Nicaragua had three main “human rights” NGOs, known for their initials in Spanish as the CPDH, ANPDH and CENIDH, as well as several smaller organizations, most receiving foreign funding. Both CPDH and ANPDH were financed by the NED. CPDH also received more than $7 million from an offshoot of the Organization of American States (OAS). CENIDH is not known to have received NED funding but in the build-up to the coup attempt was awarded a staggering $23 million by various European institutions, some with government connections.

These human rights groups often spread the propaganda that the Nicaraguan police in 2018 were the ones doing the killing. According to ANPDH, the figure reached 561. De Zayas concludes that “foreign-funded NGOs built up a completely distorted picture…in which all violence was blamed on the government.” All three “human rights” bodies were closed down for their blatant propaganda activities by the government after 2018. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (associated with the OAS), and UN Human Rights agencies have also been weaponized to attack Nicaragua. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are closely tied to the US government. The Open Society Foundation has just contracted a prominent opponent of the Sandinista government to administer a $25 million fund to promote women’s political leadership. Washington’s regime-change plans failed in 2018, but it has not given up.

Events & Actions:

Sunday, February 25, 3pm ET:  Preliminary title “The Evolution of Education in Nicaragua” Spanish & English Interpretation provided. Confirmed speaker:  Juan Salvador Mendez, member of the Directors’ Council of the Ministry of Education. Invited speakers (awaiting confirmation) from National Technological Institute (INATEC) and the National Council of Universities

Sunday, March 24, 3pm ET:  Preliminary title “Power and Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua“This will be a report-back from January delegation members who explored this topic in depth.

End all Unilateral Measures in the Americas: Endorse the Americas without Sanctions Campaign More information and send a letter to your Congressperson here: https://linktr.ee/americas_without_sanctions

Protest at Republican National Convention, July 15-18, Milwaukee

Protest at Democratic National Coalition August 19-22, Chicago

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

June 8-16: Global Health Intensive

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: March 11), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

The deceptively named Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights Act is advancing through Congress. Designed to do the exact opposite of promoting sovereignty or human rights, it must be stopped.

We must urge legislators not to impose such collective punishment on the Nicaraguan people, which will hurt the most vulnerable and exacerbate migration.

Senate Bill 1881 was filed by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) in June 2023. It will likely be discussed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before mid-February. Its companion, House Bill, H.R.6954, was filed on January 11th and has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The legislation would:

• Work with bank member countries to curtail lending to Nicaragua from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) – the only bank still lending to Nicaragua in amounts that help development.
• Ban some imports into the United States of Nicaraguan beef, coffee, and gold.
• Initiate measures to remove Nicaragua from the regional free trade agreement, DR-CAFTA (Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement).
• Prohibit new US investment in Nicaragua.

Impacts of sanctions

The US government has illegally imposed unilateral coercive measures (a.k.a. sanctions) on some 40 countries around the world, in which one-third of humanity lives. Whole populations are ultimately denied access to the necessities of life, such as adequate food, clean water, medicines, and fuel. The most vulnerable citizens – children, the elderly, the sick and the poor – are most heavily impacted.

Ever increasing sanctions on Nicaragua could lead to situations such as that of Venezuela, with 40,000 excess deaths in just one year due to the US blockade of its oil sector. In Cuba, the people are suffering the worst humanitarian crisis in their history from the ever tightening 60-year blockade.

The NICA Act, imposed in 2018, already caused Nicaragua to lose over $1.4 billion between 2018 and 2021, amounting to 90% of its funding from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the International Monitory Fund (IMF). This has impacted development of the Caribbean coast, school lunch programs for vulnerable children, child development programs, access to safe drinking water in rural areas and much more.

From 2018-2022 Nicaragua saw its IDB loans fall by $131 million annually, money which would have enabled the country to build 265 kilometers of roads and four hospitals, and to improve drinking water systems in two main cities. CABEI has been picking up the slack, so the US Congress is now pressuring this bank to withhold loans to Nicaragua. And the US does not even hold membership in CABEI while Nicaragua holds 10.6% of shares.

What we must do

Now is the time for US-based friends of the Nicaraguan people who care about peace and justice to tell their members of Congress to vote NO on S.1881 and H.R.6954! 

1. Find your representative here and your senators here and call them. When you call, ask to speak with the aide who handles foreign policy.  If the foreign policy aide is not available, ask to leave a message on his or her voice-mail.   Here is a sample script (even better if you put this in your own words):

My name is _______ and I am a constituent from (town/city), in (your state). I want senator or representative _______ to vote NO on Senate bill 1881/ H.R.6954 that would impose further sanctions on the people of Nicaragua. Unilateral coercive measures are illegal under international law and have been extensively proven to cause suffering and death among the most vulnerable people—children, the elderly, the sick, and the poor. The measures do not improve conditions in the targeted countries, they negatively impact human rights, and they exacerbate migration.  For these reasons and more, I urge you to vote NO on S.1881 or H.R.6954. Thank you.

2. Email your representative (here) and your senators (here). You could use the above paragraph and add the following detail:

S.1881/H.R.6954 would ban some gold, coffee, and beef exports from Nicaragua to the United States, which could impact thousands of jobs in Nicaragua, destabilize the economy, and force people to migrate. Measures to expel Nicaragua from the DR-CAFTA trade agreement and exclude it from financing at the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, could not be accomplished without violating the law and interfering in the sovereign decisions of other Central American countries. Those countries would also likely be destabilized by disruption of the Nicaraguan economy. For these reasons and more, I urge you to vote NO on S.1881 or H.R.6954. Thank you.

3. Request a meeting by contacting the office of your Senator or Representative.
4. Sign here to tell Congress to support the House Resolution to Annul the Monroe Doctrine, including its call for the elimination of all unilateral economic sanctions.
5. Write to the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition here to join our efforts to stop further sanctions.
6. Share this message with all your contacts and encourage them to tell Congress to Vote NO on S.1881/H.R.6954!

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Benjamin Cardin (chair)	MD	D	(202) 224-4524
Jean Shaheen	NH	D	(202)224-2841
Christopher Coons	DE	D	(202) 224-5042
Tim Kaine	VA	D	(202)224-4024
Jeff Merkley	OR	D	202-224-3753
Chris Murphy	CT	D	(202) 224-4041
Cory Booker	NJ	D	(202) 224-3224
Brian Schatz	HI	D	(202)224-3934
Chris Van Hollen	MD	D	(202) 224-4654
Tammy Duckworth	IL	D	(202) 224-2854
Senate Banking Committee
Sherrod Brown (Chair)	OH	D	202-224-2315
Jack Reed	RI	D	202-224-4642
Jon Tester	MT	D	(202)224-2644
Mark Warner	VA	D	(202)224-2023
Elizabeth Warren	MA	D	(202)224-2023
Chris Van Hollen	MD	D	(202) 224-4543
Catherine Cortez Masto	NV	D	(202)224-3542
Tina Smith	MN	D	(202)224-5641
Raphael Warnock	GA	D	(202)224-3643
John Fetterman	PA	D	(202)224-4254
Laphonza Butler	CA	D	202-224-3841

Three Sample Letters to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Members

You may use these three attached as resources to write your own letters. They are also good sources of information concerning the issues involved.

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John Perry: The “Human Rights Industry” and Nicaragua The Human Rights Industry by Alfred de Zayas, is a remarkable book for two reasons. One is that it brings together the insights of de Zayas and other experts into the ways in which “human rights” have been distorted to serve the interests of Western governments, principally those of the United States. But it is also remarkable because it is not the view of an outsider, but that of someone who is perhaps more immersed than anyone of his generation in the whole field of human rights, bringing 50 years of experience to his analysis. 

The base of the “human rights industry” consists of small, local organizations which, as Alfred de Zayas points out, may in some cases do excellent work. However, he qualifies this: “There are few fields that are as penetrated and corrupted by intelligence services as the human rights NGOs.” De Zayas estimates that perhaps 30% are so penetrated. NED’s website shows that, between 2016 and 2020, it spent almost $1.2 million in funding “human rights” bodies in Nicaragua, in addition to funding many other activities. In 2018, Nicaragua had three main “human rights” NGOs, known for their initials in Spanish as the CPDH, ANPDH and CENIDH, as well as several smaller organizations, most receiving foreign funding. Both CPDH and ANPDH were financed by the NED. CPDH also received more than $7 million from an offshoot of the Organization of American States (OAS). CENIDH is not known to have received NED funding but in the build-up to the coup attempt was awarded a staggering $23 million by various European institutions, some with government connections.

Events & Actions:

Sunday, February 25, 3pm ET:  Preliminary title “The Evolution of Education in Nicaragua” Spanish & English Interpretation provided. Confirmed speaker:  Juan Salvador Mendez, member of the Directors’ Council of the Ministry of Education. Invited speakers (awaiting confirmation) from National Technological Institute (INATEC) and the National Council of Universities

Sunday, March 24, 3pm ET:  Preliminary title “Power and Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua“This will be a report-back from January delegation members who explored this topic in depth.

End all Unilateral Measures in the Americas: Endorse the Americas without Sanctions Campaign More information and send a letter to your Congressperson here: https://linktr.ee/americas_without_sanctions

UNAC Conference, April 5-7, St. Paul: “Decolonization and the fight against Imperialism”

Protest at Republican National Convention, July 15-18, Milwaukee

Protest at Democratic National Coalition August 19-22, Chicago

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

June 8-16: Global Health Intensive

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: February 12), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Nicaragua strengthens its bi-oceanic position with the expansion of its road infrastructure; Nicaragua consolidates: “Three consecutive years that the economy has been expanding” Oscar Mojica, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, told Sputnik, “The expansion of land roads has contributed to reducing poverty from 48% to 24% and has been the main factor in reducing extreme poverty from 17% to 6% in our country.” Investment in roads for transportation and commerce is not only a factor of economic growth, it also impacts the social development of rural communities located in mountainous areas of the Central American country, he noted. “It means medical care, educational care, the solution to the big problems demanded by different social sectors, education programs in the countryside, school snacks, school backpacks, universities that are expanding throughout Nicaragua. “We are culminating the efforts of Nicaragua’s interoceanic communication with the construction of the future port of Bluefields, it is a wonderful work, dreamed of, but that is becoming a reality.”

Nicaragua’s economy is experiencing a stage of moderate but sustained expansion: with growth in the Gross Domestic Product estimated above 4%. Nicaragua shows financial strength in the accumulation of international reserves, which total around $5.3 billion in 2023, as well as the rising tourism industry. “We closed the year 2022 with $1.8 billion in foreign direct investment, and according to the Central Bank, the projection is that in 2023 we are closing with no less than $2 billion in foreign direct investments…we see a positive 2024, with expansion, with optimism, with a low unemployment rate that is oscillating between 3% and 3.5% and with businesses and entrepreneurs growing.”

January 2024 Webinar Nicaragua: Working to Make Earth Green Again75-minute webinar on Zoom, featuring Ambassador Valdrack Jaentschke, who led the Nicaragua government delegation to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP28.  Learn how Nicaragua is combating climate change, both in Nicaragua through its renewable energy and other programs, and in the international arena through its leadership and concern for the earth. 

Consortium News: ICJ Israel Ruling and the 1984 Judgment Against the US To gauge how South Africa’s genocide case against Israel might play out, Nat Parry looks back 40 years to a case that Nicaragua brought against Washington in the International Court of Justice, which ruled in favor of Nicaragua. In response, the US declared it must “reserve to ourselves the power to determine whether the Court has jurisdiction over us in a particular case” and what lies “essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of the United States.” – as if armed attacks against the sovereign state of Nicaragua was within US “domestic jurisdiction.”

Nicaragua then brought it to the UN Security Council, where Nicaragua argued that recourse at the ICJ was one of the fundamental means of peaceful solution of disputes established by the UN Charter. On Oct. 28, 1986, the U.S. vetoed the resolution calling for full and immediate compliance with the ICJ’s judgment, with France, Thailand and the United Kingdom abstaining. Nicaragua then turned to the General Assembly, which passed a resolution 94-to-3 calling for compliance with the World Court ruling. Only two states, Israel and El Salvador, joined the U.S. in opposition. (see also this issue of the Nicaragua newsletter)

Events & Actions:

End all Unilateral Measures in the Americas: Endorse the Americas without Sanctions Campaign

UNAC Conference, April 5-7, St. Paul: “Decolonization and the fight against Imperialism”

Protest at Republican National Convention, July 15-18, Milwaukee

Protest at Democratic National Coalition August 19-22, Chicago

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

June 8-16: Global Health Intensive

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: February 12), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Government authorities have held meetings with NGOs, church representatives and individuals to present the booklet from the Ministry of Health entitled “The Right to Choose and the Duty to Respect Diversity,” in an effort to promote the acceptance of diversity of sexual identities in the family and community.

Nica Notes: Nicaragua Social Advances in 2023 In 2023 alone, Nicaragua made huge social advances to improve the wellbeing of the population. These include closing the gender gap, citizen safety particularly for women, continuing to guarantee free health care and education, issuing property titles, expanding renewable energy programs, low interest credit programs and infrastructure development. National electricity coverage was universal, with 70% generation from renewable sources. More than two million forest and fruit trees were planted between May 10 and July 30. Free public pre-schools have multiplied and from the 32 in 2006 to 276, all with trained educational personnel. The 2024 national budget earmarks billions of dollars for social programs. Approximately 80% percent of the resources of Nicaragua’s 2024 budget will be destined to guarantee public health, education, infrastructure, electric energy subsidies and potable water.

At International Court of Justice Nicaragua request to join South Africa case against Israel The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity informs the people of Nicaragua and the international community that today it has filed before the International Court of Justice a request for permission to intervene in the case initiated on December 29, 2023 by South Africa against Israel related to the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Nicaragua’s decision to request intervention as a state party on the merits of the matter, and not as a simple participant in the interpretation of the Convention, reflects the commitment of the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity and the people of Nicaragua in the liberation of the Palestinian people and humanity in general from the scourge of genocide, and demonstrates its determination to fulfill its obligation to contribute to preventing and punishing the genocidal acts that are being carried out in the Gaza Strip.

Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition Statement, Letter Sign-on in Support of South Africa’s Genocide Convention Case We are pleased to sign on to the “Letter Calling on States to Support South Africa’s Genocide Convention Case Against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” and invites other organizations to do so here. The Nica Coalition firmly supports this effort to stop the US-Israeli genocide against the people of Gaza, as the international community has been demanding for over three months.

Nicaragua’s statement at the Third Summit of the South of the G77+China Key points: 7. To achieve the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the developed countries, the largest emitters, must urgently transform their unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, committing themselves to Climate Justice, as well as to the indispensable Policy of Reparation for our Losses and Damages, converted into direct and unconditional cooperation to ensure the survival of the Human Species, Life and the Rights of Mother Earth.

8. We denounce the imposition of illegal, terrorist unilateral coercive measures imposed by imperialist and neocolonialist countries on more than 30 countries, and consequently, more than two billion people suffer daily the impacts of these aggressions that are an obstacle to the right to development, and negatively impact on the public national policies of our peoples, thus undermining the ability to respond to the multiple world situations and capitalist crises resulting from their selfish, exclusionary and exceptionalist policies.

10. Our unconditional solidarity with the just cause and struggle of the Palestinian People, reiterating the call for the end of the Israeli occupation, the establishment of conditions for a lasting and permanent solution that respects the 1967 borders, leading to the realization of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State. 

Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group: La Via Campesina Meets in Colombia La Via Campesina which represents small scale farmers and indigenous peoples is one of the largest grass roots movements in the world. Their international conference in Bogota in December 2023 was attended by more than 400 delegates representing 185 organisations from 83 countries. This included the Rural Workers Association (ATC) in Nicaragua and the Landworkers Alliance in the UK. The Conference proclaimed support for Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, which continue to face criminal sanctions, smear campaigns and attempted “regime change” promoted by the United States and the European Union. All these unilateral actions in violation of the framework of international law “mercilessly affect the most vulnerable populations and undermine our food sovereignty,” the group said in a statement. The Conference also recognised Nicaragua’s sustainable development in the last 16 years, saying that “The social policies implemented have consolidated full access to basic rights in health, education and food sovereignty, placing this country as one of the best in social investment in Central American. Nicaragua deserves to live and develop in peace after so much suffering from conflict and natural disasters.”

Events:

UNAC Conference, April 5-7, St. Paul: “Decolonization and the fight against Imperialism”

Protest at Republican National Convention, July 15-18, Milwaukee

Protest at Democratic National Coalition August 19-22, Chicago

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua (Meet with unions and labor activists in all sectors from teachers to motorcycle taxis; Tour new hospitals & maternal wait homes with health care workers unions; Visit unionized street vendors at work; a free trade zone factory & meet with unionized workers; low-income housing projects; a women’s coffee co-op; a women’s police station)

June 8-16: Global Health Intensive

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: February 12), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Nicaragua: The 17th year of Sandinista Government On January 10, 2007 Daniel Ortega became President of Nicaragua again. 17 years have now passed, during which time the greatest process of modernization in Nicaragua has occurred. M&R Consultores just published its latest survey on the satisfaction of Nicaraguans with the government and its leader. The figures are overwhelming and they are understandable everywhere, North and South. After 17 years popular credit towards the government and its president is so high because the people see a government handing over land and houses, returning Nicaragua to the Nicaraguans, they understand that since January 2007 has come to change everything that needed to be changed. The Nicaragua of today is different and distant from that of 17 years ago.

The power of Nicaraguan capitalism has disappeared: now 70% of the country’s wealth is produced thanks to public intervention and a family-type economy, with a small and medium-sized business model. Private companies contribute to 30% of the GDP.

Kathy Hoyt: Race, Class and Sandino’s Politics A short review of the life of Sandino, his political thinking and objectives. In 1933, after his army had driven out the US military, he wrote, “When foreign intervention in Nicaragua has ceased, albeit in appearance alone, the people’s spirit has cooled down. Political and economic intervention is suffered by the people, but they cannot see it — even worse, they do not believe in its existence. This situation placed us in a very difficult position, and in the meantime the government was negotiating a multi-million dollar loan and preparing to blast us to hell and consolidate the political, economic and military intervention in our country… our financial and military resources were exhausted, and our troops could not have sought refuge….

Sandino realized that the US would not stop “its intrigue and manipulation substituting for armed intervention another type of intervention that is too subtle to be fought with weapons.” He decided that the only good course of action was to negotiate the best concessions he could get. 

Sandino was a great admirer of Simon Bolivar, telling a Spanish journalist that reading Bolivar’s life always moved him and “had made him cry.”

Sandino had a revolutionary social agenda which he hoped to put in practice in Nicaragua in which the land would belong to the state and would be farmed in cooperatives by mestizo and Indian peasants. Meanwhile, as he waited for the correlation of forces to be right, he organized cooperatives in the area allotted to him in the peace treaty. While Sandino emphasized that the first part of his struggle was “national and racial,” the class nature of the cause, was visible in the social class of Sandino’s supporters, and in the social class of those he condemned repeatedly for having sold out their country to the invaders.

When Nicaragua won against the United States at the International Court of Justice The ICJ ruled in 1986 that the US government had violated international law in its attacks on Nicaragua and owed reparations. The ruling is here. The International Court of Justice is the judicial arm of the United Nations. (Not to be confused with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is independent of the UN. The ICJ was founded in 1945 to settle disputes between states; whereas the ICC was formed in 2002 to prosecute individuals.)

In 1986, the ICJ determined that the US repeatedly violated international law by: training, arming, equipping, financing, and supplying the Contra paramilitaries in Nicaragua; attacking Nicaraguan infrastructure; putting mines in Nicaragua’s ports; imposing an embargo on Nicaragua; and encouraging the Contras to commit atrocities that violate international humanitarian law.

Nicaragua’s government has called on the US to meet its obligations under international law, which the US has so far ignored. Last June 26, President Daniel Ortega sent a letter to UN Secretary General Guterres demanding that Washington pay reparations. “There exists a historical debt with the Nicaraguan people that 37 years later has not been settled by the United States…It is an obligation clearly established in a final judgment of the highest international judicial authority, the International Court of Justice”.

Events

January 21: 3:00pm ET: Webinar  “Nicaragua: Working to Make Earth Green Again.” features Valdrack Jaentschke, leader of the Nicaragua delegation to COP 28, the 2023 UN Climate Change conference. Learn how Nicaragua is combating climate change, both in Nicaragua through its renewable energy and other programs, and in the international arena through its leadership. Since 2019, Ambassador Jaentschke has served as Minister Advisor for International Relations to Nicaragua’s President, with a focus on the Caribbean Community.  He is the accredited non-resident Ambassador to CARICOM countries.  REGISTER:  bit.ly/NicaJan21

January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London 18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements. Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) will be holding a seminar during the Conference – ‘Nicaragua: The Threat of a Good Example’. Speakers: Roger McKenzie, International Editor, Morning Star; Julie Lamin, Chair, NSCAG Executive Committee and Luis Erick Rodriguez, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UK. Chair: Tony Burke, Member of NSCAG Executive Committee and Member, London Print Branch UNITE

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua (Meet with unions and labor activists in all sectors from teachers to motorcycle taxis; Tour new hospitals & maternal wait homes with health care workers unions; Visit unionized street vendors at work; a free trade zone factory & meet with unionized workers; low-income housing projects; a women’s coffee co-op; a women’s police station)

June 8-16: Global Health Intensive

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: February 12), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Ask your Congressional representative to sign on as co-sponsor of HR943 calling for the end of the Monroe Doctrine https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

The resolution gives a telling summary in a government document of many of the interventionist actions by the US government against the native peoples in what is now the United States, and in Latin America starting with the war on Mexico in 1846. Some interventions not mentioned are the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, the invasion of Panama in 1989, assassinations of different presidents such as Ecuador’s Jaime Roldós or Panama’s Omar Torrijos (both in 1981).

The section on lifting all unilateral coercive measures is excellent, as is the call to declassify US government documents relating to coups in the region. Most of the rest of it could easily be manipulated to favor continued interference or end it, such as this clause: “(v) ensure that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its rapporteurs are financially independent from the Secretary General’s Office.” The IACHR for years has received a majority of its funds from OUTSIDE the main OAS budget; it is primarily funded by the US government and NGOs of dubious intent. This provision is also good: “(I) supporting the creation of a Loss and Damage Trust, under the auspices of the United Nations, to support climate action in developing countries, and working with Congress to secure major, recurrent contributions to this fund”.

H.Res.943 – Calling for the annulment of the Monroe Doctrine and the development of a “New Good Neighbor” policy in order to foster improved relations and deeper, more effective cooperation between the United States and our Latin American and Caribbean neighbors (introduced 12/19/2023)

Sponsor: Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY); co-sponsors: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) Jesus Chuy Garcia (IL), Delia  Ramirez (IL), Greg Casar (TX)

        Excerpts from the Resolution:

 “Monroe Doctrine”, came to be interpreted by many United States policymakers as a mandate for United States interference in the affairs of Latin American and Caribbean countries in order to protect and promote United States economic and political interests, irrespective of tangible threats posed by foreign powers;

Whereas following a period of western expansion of the United States, resulting in the massive forced displacement and genocide of Native peoples who originally inhabited much of North America, United States political and business leaders took an increasingly active interest in the acquisition of raw materials and in investment opportunities in other parts of the Western Hemisphere;

Whereas, after annexing the territory of Texas, the United States invaded Mexico militarily in 1846 and, after defeating the Mexican army and occupying Mexico City, acquired 55 percent of Mexico’s territory through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848;

Whereas, from 1898 to 1934, the United States conducted military interventions in Cuba, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, known as the “Banana Wars”, in order to advance American financial interests that often came at the expense of United States support for dictatorships and flagrant human rights violations;

Whereas, in 1953, following Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz’s actions targeting United States corporation United Fruit Company, President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the CIA to begin Operation PBSuccess, a multimillion-dollar project investing in “psychological warfare and political action” that led to the coup against President Arbenz in 1954;

Whereas, in 1962, the United States imposed a full embargo on Cuba, still in place today, which led to tens of billions of dollars in capital losses for the island country;

Whereas the IMF, whose largest shareholder is the United States, promoted austerity, deregulation, and other structural reforms that resulted in stagnant economic growth in much of Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s, following two decades of strong economic growth;

Whereas, in the 1980s, the Reagan administration supported security forces in Guatemala that perpetrated a genocide against Mayan indigenous peoples, according to the Commission of Historical Clarification; death squads in El Salvador; rightwing paramilitary militias (Contras) in Nicaragua; and participated in efforts to coverup egregious crimes perpetrated by Central American security forces, such as the massacre of 6 Jesuit priests and 2 other unarmed civilians by an elite United States-backed battalion in El Salvador;

Whereas the United States-backed “dirty wars” of Central America triggered a major wave of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua to the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s;

Whereas, following the 2009 coup in Honduras, the United States continued to support the country’s illegitimate government by providing, between 2009 and 2016, an estimated $200,000,000 in military and police aid to Honduran security forces engaged in violent extrajudicial killings and other human rights crimes targeting protesters, activists, land rights advocates, and other civilians opposed to the regime;

Whereas, in 2017, President Donald Trump threatened to invade Venezuela militarily and imposed broad unilateral sanctions against the country;

Whereas the migration of Cubans and Venezuelans to the United States has increased dramatically since the imposition (and reimposition) of broad economic sanctions against these countries;

Whereas, in late 2019, a military coup was staged against the elected Government of Bolivia following unfounded claims of electoral fraud made by an OAS Electoral Observation Mission, while the subsequent coup government received support from the Trump administration and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro;

Resolved, 

(B) terminating all unilateral economic sanctions imposed through Executive orders, and working with Congress to terminate all unilateral sanctions, such as the Cuba embargo, mandated by law;

(D) proceeding with the prompt declassification of all United States Government archives that relate to past coups d’état, dictatorships, and periods in the history of Latin American and Caribbean countries that are characterized by a high rate of human rights crimes perpetrated by security forces;

(E) working with Latin American and Caribbean governments on a far-reaching reform of the Organization of American States to—

(i) ensure accountability surrounding any potentially unethical or criminal activities in which the Secretary General or other senior officials have been involved;

(G) supporting democratic reforms to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and other international financial institutions to ensure that the developing countries of the region are able to play an equitable role in shaping the lending and grantmaking policies of those institutions;

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Nicaragua welcomes South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice Nicaragua joins with Bolivia and Venezuela in supporting South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel. “Nicaragua considers that the legal action against Israel at the ICJ is a concrete step in compliance with the legal obligations that each state party to the Genocide Convention has the right and duty to take, and is also the first step towards accountability before the international community. As a State Party to the Genocide Convention, Nicaragua urges Israel to fulfill its obligations under International Law and to immediately cease its military assault against the Palestinian People. Nicaragua also calls for an end to the occupation and for the establishment of conditions for a lasting and permanent solution that respects the 1967 borders with a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.”

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Jill Clark-Gollub remarks on Role of Israel in Latin America (video) Founded in Howard County in the mid-1980s, Friends of Latin America’s name has evolved, but our mission has remained constant: defense of people-centered human rights, justice, and peace. For this reason, our membership wholeheartedly supports the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, human rights, and peace. We demand a CEASEFIRE NOW and an end to the appalling system of apartheid imposed by the Zionist State.

Zionism has also remained constant all these years—consistently supporting repression of people around the world. Every dark period of mass deaths in Latin America has been facilitated by Zionist weapons and training. The 45-year-long Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua allied with the Zionist guerrillas before 1948, then received weapons from Israel in the late 1970s when the Carter administration cut aid to Somoza because of human rights abuses. Israel then helped the Reagan administration arm the contras, leaving 50,000 more Nicaraguans dead in the 1980s. Similar episodes happened in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and elsewhere, bringing tactics imposed on the Palestinian people to working class neighborhoods of the Americas. Even when progressive governments are elected in the Americas, they are left with the presence of Israeli-trained militaries and Israeli tech companies used to manipulate public opinion and elections, and to target human rights defenders and social movement leaders.

Like many of you, we have been appalled to see manipulation of our defense of Palestinian liberation to imply that we are attacking people of the Jewish faith. We know that equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is a longstanding tactic of US imperialism and politicians who are beholden to the campaign contributions of groups like AIPAC. The attack that Maryland Senators lodged on the immigrant services group—CASA—for engaging in free speech activity in defense of the Palestinian people, is an attack on us all. We will NOT stand for it. We want to tell our local and federal government: LISTEN to Marylanders and the US population—NO MORE guns or money for the oppression of the Palestinian people! END THE GENOCIDE! CEASEFIRE NOW and JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE!  Thank you!

Events

January 21: 3:00pm ET: Webinar  “Nicaragua: Working to Make Earth Green Again.” features Valdrack Jaentschke, leader of the Nicaragua delegation to COP 28, the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference. REGISTER:  bit.ly/NicaJan21

January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements. Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) will be holding a seminar during the Conference – ‘Nicaragua: The Threat of a Good Example’. Speakers: Roger McKenzie, International Editor, Morning Star; Julie Lamin, Chair, NSCAG Executive Committee and Luis Erick Rodriguez, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UK. Chair: Tony Burke, Member of NSCAG Executive Committee and Member, London Print Branch UNITE

Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua (Meet with unions and labor activists in all sectors from teachers to motorcycle taxis; Tour new hospitals & maternal wait homes with health care workers unions; Visit unionized street vendors at work; a free trade zone factory & meet with unionized workers; low-income housing projects; a women’s coffee co-op; a women’s police station)

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: February 12), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Nicaragua’s Statement on Palestine to the International Forum against Imperialism, Fascism and Neocolonialism, Teheran, Iran December 23, 2023

Mensaje de Nicaragua en Conferencia sobre Palestina

Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres:

Brother President, Seyyet Ebrahim Raisi, Honorable Foreign Ministers, Special Guests to this Consultative Conference, High Level Policy on the Situation of Palestine.

1. I begin this message with Nicaragua’s position, expressing our fraternal and militant solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just cause. We thank the People and Government of Iran for inviting Nicaragua to this important Conference, we convey the cordial greetings of the Nicaraguan People, the President, Commander Daniel Ortega Saavedra and the Vice President Compañera Rosario Murillo.

2. Humanity continues to be outraged and stupefied at the inhuman aggressions, genocide and serious war crimes committed by the Zionist State against the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank, endangering Regional and Global Security and Peace.

3. Failure to comply with the limited ceasefire, the Zionist Government of Israel continues its aggressive attacks, violating the entire system and the International Legal Institutionality, trying to exterminate the Palestinian people in their historical and legitimate territories occupied and divided by the Israeli apartheid Government, disrupting vital infrastructure, with massive and forced displacements and actions to destroy and exterminate the people and homeland of Palestine in its atrocious scorched earth war without quarter.

4. With the systematic massive destruction of homes and other civil infrastructure, the Government of Israel tries to force the Palestinian brothers not to return, not to return to their destroyed homes, to occupy the territory of Gaza and the West Bank to prevent the materialization of the State Palestinian.

5. The Palestinian people are victims of unimaginable atrocities that move, dismay, and outrage the people of this Planet. The atrocities committed by the Government of Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, against innocent children and defenseless women are condemnable, the Government and People of Nicaragua denounce and strongly condemn them.

6. The Government of Israel is becoming a State that is incompatible with the community of States that make up the United Nations. Their supremacist criminality is unparalleled in the history of humanity. The International Community rejects and condemns this atrocious and despicable behavior.

7. Even in multi-crisis situations generated by the hegemonic empires of the West, the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter remain in force, specifically that which states that States will refrain from resorting to threats or the use of force against territorial integrity or independence of another State or any other form incompatible with the Charter, however the Government of Israel transgresses them, converting them into its State policy with the support of the Government of the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western powers interested in control of Palestine’s energy resources and its global geostrategic location.

8. The People and Government of Nicaragua reaffirms its solidarity with Palestine and joins the friendly Peoples and Governments in supporting the immediate ceasefire, cessation of actions and genocidal attacks by the Government of Israel against the Palestinian People in the Gaza Strip. The attacks and bombings on the civilian population must stop immediately, the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians is a vital necessity that cannot be postponed, likewise, the forced displacement of the Palestinian population must stop.

9. 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 genocide, a war crime, a crime against humanity and a policy of extermination.

10. Those responsible for so much barbarism must answer to the world and the human family for their crimes.

11. The State and Government of Israel is obliged to recognize and respect the Free, Independent and Sovereign State of Palestine and the Governments and Peoples of the Region and the World that demand to live together with common Security for all, Stability and Peace with the State Palestinian being part of the United Nations.

12. The Palestinian People will be victorious in their struggle to materialize the Free, Sovereign, Independent and Self-Determining State of Palestine, recognizing the borders prior to June 4, 1967 with East Jerusalem as its Capital. The Government and People of Nicaragua solidly and firmly support the Palestinian People and their Just Cause for their State, for their Security and for Peace.

Thank you so much.

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LISTING OF PAST NICARAGUA WEBINARS

Nicaragua Webinars 2020

Sept. 13 The Smoking Gun: Recent Revelations about U.S. Destabilization Efforts in Nicaragua.  A discussion of RAIN, Responsive Assistance in Nicaragua, a USAID contract leaked from the US Embassy in Managua in July 2020, detailing US plans for destabilization of Nicaragua through the 2021 elections.  Speakers:  Brian Willson, Coleen Littlejohn, Nan McCurdy, Magda Lanuza.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu2WftqqGvQ

Oct. 18:  Uncovered Violence by the Nicaraguan Opposition.  Speakers:  John Perry, Stephen Sefton.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bHXMDZ6jXg

Dec. 6:  How US Unconventional Warfare in Nicaragua Utilizes Human Rights Organizations.  Speakers:  Camilo Mejia, John Perry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5_PGe9uZZE

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                                                Nicaragua Webinars 2021

Jan. 24 Nicaragua’s Popular Economy and Creative Development Model in Tourism.  Speakers:  Nils McCune, Daniel McCurdy.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EVOxn5BqR8

Feb. 28 Building Food Sovereignty in Nicaragua.  Speakers:  Erika Takeo, Jill Clark-Gollub  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFEsgcN_wRA

Mar. 14 US Exceptionalism:  Its Story in Nicaragua and Beyond (90 minutes).  Speakers:  Brian Willson (pre-taped), Kathy Hoyt, Sofia Clark.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYztXGAiaIo&t=67s

Apr. 18 Media Disinformation on Nicaragua: A Tool in US Unconventional Warfare.  Speakers:  Louise Richards, John Perry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0pL0qJS6dk

May 23 Amazing Advances on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast: Discrediting US Media Attacks.  Speaker:  Nicaragua Ambassador to the US Francisco Campbell, with Rick Sterling’s slideshow presented by Nan McCurdy.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6mouHTjvWQ.  Rick Sterling’s pre-recording of his presentation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVLrOuCFqnY

June 20 Nicaragua’s Inspiring Economic & Social Advances.  Jorge Capelán, Coleen Littlejohn, Winnie Narváez.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE2UjxBBb_8&t=1648s

July 18 US Intervention in Nicaragua’s Elections Since 1984.  Speakers:  Chuck Kaufman, Nils McCune.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA3MDFoQ_n8&t=708s

Aug. 22 What’s at Stake in Nicaragua’s 2021 Elections.  Speaker:  Sofia Clark.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_PcXrxn_60&t=3s

Sept. 12 Nicaragua Advances, Despite Attacks from Left and Right.  Speakers:  Becca Mohally Renk, John Perry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZhGwteHVQ

Sept. 23, Special Webinar:  Nicaragua and the Defense of its Sovereignty in the Face of Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its Allies.  Speaker:  Nicaragua Minister of Foreign Relations Denis Moncada.  Brief commentary in response:  Jill Clark-Gollub. English:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcqPzIYPdpg  Spanish:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU8ARlDMfBQ 

Oct. 10 Nicaragua’s Amazing Advances in Gender Equality.  Speakers:  Nan McCurdy, Yorlis Gabriela Luna, and Shaira Downs Morgan, President of the Board of Directors, Nicaragua’s Southern Caribbean Coast Regional Autonomous Council.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzxK6QGnaUk

Oct. 31 US Hands Off!  Let the People Decide:  Democratic Elections as a Guarantee of Social Progress and National Sovereignty.  Speakers:  Nan McCurdy, Francisco Dominguez, Netfa Freeman, Sofia Clark.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aMI5vMJ_ys&t=62s

Nov. 1:The Upcoming Nicaragua Elections: US Hands Off! Let the People Decide

Nov. 15:  The Nicaraguan Election and the Ongoing US Campaign to Overthrow the   Sandinista Government

Nov. 20 Nicaragua Elections Report-back from On-the-Ground Observers.  Speakers:  Visitors to Leon Alison Bodine, Jill Clark-Gollub, Becca Mohally Renk; visitor to Chinandega  Abraham Marquez; video by Paul Baker; visitors to Bluefields  Garrett Harris, Netfa Freeman, Camille Landry; visitors to Bilwi  Rick Kohn, Declan McKenna, Craig Pasta Jardula.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbhyCmKNBXo

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Nicaragua webinars 2022 (link)

Nicaragua webinars 2023 (link)

Events

January 21: 3:00pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar on Climate Change, featuring Valdrack Jaentschke, leader of the Nicaragua delegation to COP28 (mark your calendar)

January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements. Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) will be holding a seminar during the Conference – ‘Nicaragua: The Threat of a Good Example’. Speakers: Roger McKenzie, International Editor, Morning Star; Julie Lamin, Chair, NSCAG Executive Committee and Luis Erick Rodriguez, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UK. Chair: Tony Burke, Member of NSCAG Executive Committee and Member, London Print Branch UNITE

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

February 10-19: The Bird Brigade: Birding in Solentiname Arquipelago

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua (Meet with unions and labor activists in all sectors from teachers to motorcycle taxis; Tour new hospitals & maternal wait homes with health care workers unions; Visit unionized street vendors at work; a free trade zone factory & meet with unionized workers; low-income housing projects; a women’s coffee co-op; a women’s police station)

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: January 8), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Nicaragua Webinars 2023

December 3: Nicaragua Migration: Myths and Reality

November 9: Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Coast (Rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast)

November 2: Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Region (Rights of Indigenous and Afrodescendant Communities)

October 22: Church & State in Nicaragua: Probing the Relationship

October 20: Rights of Indigenous and Afrodescendant Peoples Session #1/4: International Solidarity

September 24: The Nicaraguan Community Policing Model

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

June 18: The ALBA-TCP:  First Fair Trade Agreement in the World & How the US Tried to Destroy It

May 28: The View from the Ground: What We Experienced in Nicaragua in 2018

April 23:  U. Maryland Students Study Agroecology in Nicaragua

March 12: Nicaragua:  Standing Tall to the Wrecking Ball

February 15: Women in Nicaragua Power and Protagonism Delegation Report-back

February 5: Journey of a Native Son: Camilo Mejía

Nicaragua Webinars 2022

Oct 30: This is What Democracy Looks Like? A Cross-National Comparison

Sept 16: Roberto Clemente: A History of Solidarity Between Puerto Rico & Nicaragua

Sept 15: A Tale of Two Countries: Honduras & Nicaragua Face the Shock Doctrine

July 22: Reporting Back on the 43rd Anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution

June 27: Nicaragua’s Mastery of International Law: Resisting Domination, Promoting Peaceful Progress

May 22: Light & Legacy, Ben Linder’s Work Continues

April 27: Nicaragua, Bold Leader in the Climate Crisis

March 13: Nicaragua Advances in Labor Relations

March 9: Nicaragua Joins the New Silk Road: What May This Mean for the Nation?

January 20: Nicaragua: What We Saw, What’s Next

Events

January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements. Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) will be holding a seminar during the Conference – ‘Nicaragua: The Threat of a Good Example’. Speakers: Roger McKenzie, International Editor, Morning Star; Julie Lamin, Chair, NSCAG Executive Committee and Luis Erick Rodriguez, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UK. Chair: Tony Burke, Member of NSCAG Executive Committee and Member, London Print Branch UNITE

Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua

Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

February 10-19: The Bird Brigade: Birding in Solentiname Arquipelago

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua (Meet with unions and labor activists in all sectors from teachers to motorcycle taxis; Tour new hospitals & maternal wait homes with health care workers unions; Visit unionized street vendors at work; a free trade zone factory & meet with unionized workers; low-income housing projects; a women’s coffee co-op; a women’s police station)

July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: January 8), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Nicaragua demands Climate Justice and Reparation at COP 28 held in Dubai: Statement at 28th UN conference on Climate Change (COP 28) (Spanish and English)

2. We strongly express our support and solidarity with the Brotherly Palestinian People whose cause is present in the global consciousness. Nicaragua recognizes the historical struggle and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

3. 10 countries with the highest emissions in the world emit more than 83%, while our country emits less than 0.05% of global emissions. Nevertheless, we suffer the impacts affecting up to 8% of our GDP.

5. It is essential that capitalist countries reduce emissions by at least 50% towards 2030.

7. The root of the reasons for Climate Change is the destructive model of production and consumption of the large capitalist economies. What we knew as climate change has become a Climate Crisis, a Planetary Crisis and a Crisis of Values.

8. Capitalist countries must comply with their financial commitments, at least regarding the previously agreed U$100 billion annually.

10. The capitalist countries have failed to comply with the Paris Agreements, because their emissions continue to increase, exceeding the norm established by science up to four times, and because they are irresponsibly promoting false options, such as carbon neutrality, thereby seeking to shift their responsibilities to developing countries, while continuing to refuse to recognize the just concept of reparations for affected countries.

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NicaNotes: Why are Women in Nicaragua More Likely to Survive Childbirth Than Women in the US? In the US, 80% of maternal deaths are entirely preventable.  Nicaragua, over the past 15 years: despite being one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it has managed to reduce maternal mortality by 70% and infant mortality rates by 56%.

With Nicaragua’s universal free healthcare system, all prenatal, childbirth and post-natal offered free of charge – premature births, c-sections, neonatal ICU stays and, incredibly, even fetal surgeries are all free. Home births, previously common especially in rural areas, are now nearly unheard-of – 97% of all births are in hospitals. Lay midwives who once attended home births have now been incorporated into the healthcare system to provide prenatal and in-hospital birth support.

For parents who still live far from hospitals, a network of 181 maternity waiting provide space for nearly 70,000 women per year to stay near a hospital for the last two weeks of their pregnancy. Food, housing and vocational training are provided free of charge; women rest and are checked by medical staff regularly and, when they go into labor, they give birth safely in the hospital next door.

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John Perry: Nicaragua’s Finance Minister Details How U.S. Sanctions Impact Nicaragua’s Poor While the US conducts a sustained campaign denigrating the FSLN government, it no longer has the organization within Nicaragua—an extensive network of NGOs, media outlets and “human rights” bodies funded from US sources—that facilitated the attempted 2018 coup. These have been dislodged by the Sandinista government.

The economic warfare of sanctions on Nicaragua are of three kinds. First are those aimed at restricting Nicaragua’s access to international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Second are trade restrictions, directed at Nicaraguan exports. Third are personal sanctions, now covering dozens of individual Nicaraguan officials.

Nicaragua has had an excellent reputation for implementing successful projects using financing from bodies such as the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. Even before the passage of the NICA Act, Washington began to use its influence within these banks to reject most of the proposals that Nicaragua put forward. This continued even during the pandemic.

Over the five years from 2018, Nicaragua might have expected to receive a total of $2.5-$3 billion in development funding from these bodies. It has only received perhaps 10% of this amount (limited funding related to the pandemic and to the damage caused by two severe hurricanes in November 2020).

Events

January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London 18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements.

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua

Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations:  

February 10-19: The Bird Brigade: Birding in Solentiname Arquipelago

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua

9-21 July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net 

Sign up to receive the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition weekly newsletter; email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com

Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (next: January 8), 2:30 PM ET. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity

Nicaragua’s Message to the International Forum against Imperialism, Fascism and Neocolonialism   Excerpts:

3. The original peoples of Our Continental and Caribbean America, our ancestors, were visible to the Western and Christian world all the time they invaded us and colonized us, destroying our culture and the worldview of our original peoples, thus committing one of the greatest genocides in the history of Mankind, wiping out millions of human beings and extracting their valuable minerals with which the Western powers enriched themselves.

4. Imperialism, fascism and neocolonialism have relentlessly continued their criminal, inhuman policies of blatant theft of natural resources, against all humanity. The brotherly Palestinian People, the inhabitants of Gaza are the latest act of hegemonic imperial savagery. Our militant solidarity with the Palestinian People and our condemnation of the genocide and occupation by global imperialism and the Government of Israel.

10. Simón Bolívar, the Great Liberator of America put himself at the service of the oppressed and swore to break the chains of the dominant empire and generator of misery in our Great Patriotic Nation. Bolivarian thought and action is the antithesis of the Monroe Doctrine designed by the United States Government to dominate and take over our America and the World. Sandino in Nicaragua in the midst of the struggle against the US military aggression in the 20s and 30s of the last century, elaborated the Plan of the Supreme Dream of Bolívar in his vision of struggle for the Sovereignty and National Dignity of Nicaragua, managing to defeat the US invaders.

TeleSur Interview with Nicaragua Foreign Minister Denis Moncada He discusses the Monroe Doctrine, the OAS, the church, the rise of multilateralism, the canal, migration, crime.

“Q: What would you say, in a very simple way, have been the greatest achievements of Sandinismo? Denis Moncada: Freedom, ending a dictatorship that was precisely part of the extension of the Monroe Doctrine by the North American Government; freedom, direct participatory democracy, with the participation of the Nicaraguan People; the programs and economic projects that we are developing; the fight against poverty; equity and equality that advances; the education system; free universal health; the construction of infrastructure; the foreign policy of friendship and cooperation, promoting investments of interest to Nicaragua.”

Nicaragua “immediately” withdraws its ambassador from Argentina “Nicaragua announced the withdrawal of its ambassador from Argentina in the face of “repeated statements and expressions” from representatives of the new administration of that country, which will take office next Sunday the 10th, chaired by Javier Milei.

“In the face of repeated statements and expressions from the new rulers, the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua has proceeded to withdraw its ambassador, fellow writer and communicator, Carlos Midence. The withdrawal is effective immediately,” signed by the country’s Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada Colindres.

Previously, several media outlets reported that the elected president of Argentina decided to exclude several leaders from his inauguration, scheduled for December 10, including the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega. According to several sources, among the leaders who did not receive the invitation are also the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, that of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel and that of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi. However, it is stated that invitations were sent to leaders Xi Jinping of China, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, had spread a message congratulating the Argentine people “for their exemplary and peaceful election day” on November 19, in which Milei triumphed, and stressed that they were “defenders of the principles of non-intervention, “respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.” On November 19, 2023, Javier Milei achieved 55.69% of the votes in the second round of the presidential elections in Argentina.”

Events

January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London 18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements.

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Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua

Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations:

February 10-19: The Bird Brigade: Birding in Solentiname Arquipelago

March 2-10: Sindicatos & Solidaridad: Labor Movements in Nicaragua

9-21 July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua

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Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.net Our monthly zoom meetings: second Monday of the month (December 11), 2:30 PM ET

Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com in advance to request Zoom access for the meeting, or to make other inquiries.

Organizations:  Apply for coalition membership here This is an important way to increase the influence of our coalition work, as our membership list grows.

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

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

Facebook: Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition

Twitter: @SolidarityNica

Instagram: @NicaSolidarity