Nicaragua situation

Nicaragua: anniversary of the Sandinista victory and hostile media campaign, 16.07.2021.

MANAGUA (Sputnik) — Very close to celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the victory of the Nicaraguan Revolution and in the middle of the electoral year, the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN) government is facing a media campaign related to the arrest of some twenty people investigated for alleged crimes of money laundering and injury to sovereignty.

The general elections are calendar marked for November 7. A poll published this week revealed that the ruling party has a voting intention of 60.2%.

But pressure from major power centers does not stop: to those exerted from Washington, in two bands (White House and Washington's OAS - Organisation of American States), was added on Wednesday that of Canada, whose government sanctioned 15 Nicaraguan officials, whom it accuses of "not guaranteeing free and fair elections."

The international campaign to delegitimize the Sandinista government intensified on June 2, when opposition activist Cristiana Chamorro, who had expressed her intention to run for president, was placed under house arrest.

The daughter of former presidential candidate Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997) was not a member of any political party and opinion polls related to the opposition gave her 21% of possible support at the polls.

In order to understand the political climate prevailing in Nicaragua in the vicinity of the main Sandinista celebration of the year and 16 weeks before the ballot box, Sputnik spoke with Carlos Fonseca Terán, the FSLN's deputy Secretary of International Relations.

Political Cost?

The Sandinista leader argued that the detentions are protected by Law 1055 for the Defense of the People's Rights to Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination for Peace, which entered into force on December 30, 2020, legislation applied to counteract the action of persons serving the interests of a foreign and hostile power, in reference to the United States.

"It is a law that is being transgressed by these people (right opposition) this year when it is already in force. So, they were not arrested for being opponents, as propagated by a matrix of opinion disseminated in international and local media related to that political current," he clarified.

Fonseca Terán understands that the judicial processes in progress could imply a political cost for the governing party in the middle of the electoral year.

"We are aware that the application of the law for us is politically costly, it is something that the enemy uses to delegitimize our electoral process before international public opinion," he admitted.

Fonseca Terán said that if the authorities were guided by an electoral-political conjunctural calculation, then they would not apply the law, which would affect Nicaragua's strategic interests as a nation.

"That is a superior criterion and we are also obliged to enforce the rule of law in the country," he emphasized.

Among those arrested, subject to investigations for alleged conspiracy, are former guerrilla commanders Dora María Téllez, Víctor Hugo Tinoco and Hugo Torres.

Café leftists

"Unfortunately, some people who consider themselves leftists also lend themselves (to the campaign). They are usually left-wing groups in the café. They think they know how Revolution is made and they are dedicated to telling those who make it what we should do. We would like them to make the Revolution so we know how it is done. They dare to say who is revolutionary in the world and who is not, " he said.

In this way, Fonseca Terán explained a matrix of opinion generated in these circles, mainly from American continent's Southern Cone, as a result of the latest events in Nicaragua.

About those who fought in the ranks of the Sandinista guerrilla and in the 1980s were part of the political process that created a watershed in Nicaragua's history, but split from the FSLN, he considered the need to recapitulate that part of history.

"These people who were Sandinistas and had historical merits that they themselves erased later, left the Front in the mid-90s when they lost the debate in the extraordinary session of the Second Congress of the organization (1994), in which they proposed the renunciation of socialism, anti-imperialism and the vanguard character of the party," he recalled.

The Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) emerged from that situation, which ran only in the 1996 general elections, in which it won 0.44% of popular support, while the FSLN was the second most voted force (37.83%).

In the following presidential elections (2001) and the municipal elections of 2004, the MRS was in alliance with the Sandinista Front, the so-called Convergence, then distanced themselves again in the 2006 general elections, and two more years the Supreme Electoral Council withdrew its legal status.

"Then they dedicated themselves to supporting the most reluctant and recalcitrant candidates on the right," Fonseca Teran summed up.

He added that the MRS members have always closed ranks with the right, including leading the military during the failed coup d'état in 2018 against the government of President Daniel Ortega.

"They put the cherry on top of the cake in January of this year when they changed the name of MRS to Unamos (Renovating Democratic Union), and Dora María Téllez said that the Sandinista name caused "repelo", which in good Nicaraguans means aversion, but for the café leftist movement of the American Southern Cone it is still the great guerrilla, the great revolutionary."

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Nicaragua denounces US and EU campaign to destabilize Latin America, 20.07.2021.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States and European Union countries are carrying out a campaign to destabilize the situation in Latin America, Nicaraguan foreign minister Denis Moncada said in a conversation with Sputnik.

"We are seeing that there is a lot of activity from some countries, especially the United States and some countries of the European Union, aimed at destabilizing countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and also in other continents," he said.

The minister noted that in this campaign "communication and information technologies are being used a lot to destabilize the States of countries and Governments".

Moncada stressed the need for bilateral and multilateral measures to address these policies, in order to "prevent the actions of some States, which are interventionists and interventionists, from affecting this field to destabilize, create a world of false, distorted information, and aimed at discrediting States, Governments, and create conditions for regime change."

Countering such activities, he said, is one of the objectives of the agreement between the Governments of Nicaragua and Russia "on collaboration in guaranteeing international information security," which the foreign minister signed on July 19 in Moscow along with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

March of Nicaraguans against Ortega in Costa Rica, another US conspiracy

The Nicaraguan exiles in Costa Rica who took to the streets on July 18 to protest the government of Daniel Ortega are people deceived as a result of a conspiracy designed by the US, the Nicaraguan foreign minister declared.

Commenting on the news that some 1,300 Nicaraguan exiles in Costa Rica participated in a demonstration against the Ortega government, Foreign Minister Moncada said that "there is a kind of conspiracy of the great Western powers, led by the United States, for regime changes or color revolutions, and aimed at consolidating their international hegemonism, control of States based on the geopolitical and strategic interests of the United States and countries of the European Union."

The countries that are part of this plot, he said, " use a propaganda design of a lot of financial investment, of many millions, and can attract people who lend themselves to fake information."

Asked directly if he considers that the Nicaraguan exiles in Costa Rica went out to protest because they are deceived by this conspiracy, Moncada replied: "yes, there is definitely a job, multimillion-dollar funding from developed countries that invest in how to create groups and make them look like demonstrations."

The minister reiterated that those involved in this international plot seek " to deceive the populations of each country, to make a negative propaganda against the governments that are developing good internal policies that are of interest to the population."

"The truth is that the United States and some European countries can not stand that other countries in America or the world can develop their domestic policies with autonomy, independence and the sovereign exercise of those countries and with programs in domestic policies that are aimed at "The truth is that the United States and some European countries can not stand that other countries in America or the world can develop their domestic policies with autonomy, independence and the sovereign exercise of those countries and with programs in domestic policies that are aimed at benefiting the population," he said.

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Nicaragua: pre-election campaign of harassment and overthrow against Sandinismo, by Pascual Serrano for Spanish Sputniknews. 22.07.2021.

Nicaragua is approaching its presidential and legislative elections on November 7 in a situation of maximum tension and with foreign interference that has poured money into politicians, activists and opposition NGOs. Meanwhile, the current president, Sandinista Daniel Ortega, is accused of repressing and imprisoning the other candidates.

On November 7, Nicaraguans are called to the polls. They will elect the new president of the country, 90 deputies of the National Assembly of Nicaragua and 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament. The elections will take place at a time of great international tension against the current Sandinista government led by Daniel Ortega.

Today, there seems to be a curious consensus among Western political leaders and the media to accuse the Nicaraguan government of persecuting and imprisoning the opposition, and to prepare the conditions for massive election fraud.

However, the two new electoral reforms on which the denunciations revolve do not seem to contain anything inappropriate, specifically establishing that no political party can receive external funding from foreign governments or NGOs, and on the other hand that the candidacies must be equal, that is to say 50% men and 50% women.

We need to get closer to Nicaragua to see what is hidden behind this campaign, who are the opponents, what is really in the accusations of persecution against them, what are the methods of foreign intervention in the country and what is the balance of the government of Daniel Ortega during these years. But let's start with some history.

The Somoza family

Nicaragua lived the military dictatorship of the Somoza family from 1937 to 1979, first with the father and then with the son. During that period, poverty, inequality, corruption and repression were constant. The Somozas, who came to power through a coup d'état, had the unconditional support of the United States and managed to amass one of the greatest fortunes on the continent. It is estimated that when they left power the family's assets were around $ 500 million at the time.

The Nicaraguan people rallied around the armed uprising of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and the guerrilla columns entered Managua on July 19, 1979 in the midst of a popular outcry, overthrowing the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
A Government Junta for National Reconstruction (1979-1985) was established on a transitional basis with representatives of different social, political, community and religious sectors, who ideologically moved in a spectrum ranging from social democracy to Marxism, through the Liberation Theology.

In 1984, the first elections were held under the new electoral law, and the transitional junta dissolved and handed over power to the new president, the Sandinista Daniel Ortega Saavedra, who had won the elections.

From the moment the dictatorship is overthrown and the FSLN comes to power, the US government sets in motion an armed opposition that drags the country into a civil war. Honduras will be the base of the right-wing armed groups financed by the United States, the so-called Contra. This aggression was even recognized by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which condemned the United States to compensate Nicaragua for the interference and damage caused.

Blackmailed elections

In February 1990, Nicaraguans face elections in which they know that if the Sandinistas win, the war will continue and mortgage the country's economic development.The young people will have to join the army to face the US-funded Contras and many of them will die. The US economic blockades and sanctions will continue to the maximum. Even the president of the United States House of Representatives himself denounces the financing and manipulation of his country in favor of the right-wing candidate Violeta Chamorro to overthrow the Sandinistas.

Exhausted by the civil war against the armed groups of the right, Nicaraguans give the victory to Violeta Chamorro, knowing that the next day the civil war will end, the crops will no longer be destroyed and her children will be able to leave the war front and return home. The FSLN abides by the results and cedes the presidency to Chamorro.

A new neoliberal era begins in Nicaragua that aims to reverse all the social achievements of Sandinismo: the banks, transport, mines, health and education are privatized, which is no longer universal and free. The new president forgives the United States for the compensation that the Hague Tribunal imposed on her for her terrorist acts against Nicaragua. A favor for the services rendered.

Right-wing governments continue to succeed each other with their privatizing policies and suffocating the many popular protests. Nicaraguan society arrives at the 2006 elections fed up with neoliberal policies and although the United States is again blackmailing them by saying that it would block the sending of remittances by Nicaraguan emigrants to their country if Sandinismo won, the FSLN wins the elections and Daniel Ortega regains the presidency of Nicaragua.

2018 destabilization attempt

Plans and campaigns to overthrow Sandinismo are back again. The most notable was in 2018 on the occasion of the Social Security reform that affected pensioners and contributions. The Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS) was on the verge of collapse and its reserves could run out in 2019 if no action was taken.

The IMF proposed to delay the retirement age, something the Sandinista government rejected and opted to increase contributions. This increase had a clear social profile because it would be an increase of 0.75% by employees and 2% by employers, which would increase another 1.5% until 2020. A 5 per cent pension deduction would be added to this. The unions supported the Government's proposal as the best option to ensure the viability of the system.

However, the bosses rejected this increase in the percentage of their contributions and announced mobilizations and protests. The Western media presented these protests as a reaction to a Sandinista government pension reform that was unpopular and harmful to the poorest classes.

But the reality was different. It was a few days of violence with which the opposition tried to overthrow the legitimate government of Nicaragua. They demanded the resignation of Daniel Ortega because they disagreed with a Social Security bill and continued to demand his resignation even after the government withdrew the bill. The death toll was at least 250, including 22 police officers and 48 Sandinistas, according to the Government's Truth Commission.

The indisputable fact is that all the institutions remained faithful to legitimate power, proof of the strength of the Nicaraguan democratic system.
The French journalist of Le Monde Diplomatique Maurice Lemoine explains his first-hand experience during those events:

"There was an extra-constitutional attempt to overthrow the elected president. What has generally been described as peaceful demonstrations had all the characteristics of an undemocratic rebellion carried out through insurrectional violence. The government and its Sandinista social base, an organized mass movement hardened by a long history of aggression and widely underestimated by both the opposition and the cartel of observers who are close to it, opposed it in an equally harsh manner."

Once again, the western press presented events such as the violence and repression of Daniel Ortega and his dictatorial government, ignoring not only that he is the legitimate president, but also the massive support of the citizenry for the Sandinista government and the financing and manipulation behind the protests piloted by the right.

Sandinismo endured the onslaught but managed to coined the image of a despotic and repressive government in a large part of international public opinion, including in some sectors of the left.

Trump's sanctions

Donald Trump took advantage of this situation to impose harsh economic and political sanctions on the Sandinista administration through the Nicaraguan Investment and Conditionality Act, known as the NICA Act. A law that not only penalizes Sandinista government officials, but also conditions loans to multilateral organizations for Nicaragua, something that is a serious blow to the country's public investment plan.

Previously, and almost as if it were a warning for the future, security adviser John Bolton described the governments of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela as the "troika of the tyranny of Latin America."

One of the promoters of the law against Nicaragua was Cuban-born congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, well known for her belligerence and support for all kinds of measures, including violent measures against Cuba.

The United States has gone even further and, in early 2021, presented another sanctions bill, called "Strengthening Nicaragua's adherence to the conditions for electoral reform" (REBORN Law). The bill aims to double current sanctions to guarantee, it says, "free, fair and transparent elections in Nicaragua and reaffirm the commitment of the United States to protect the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the people of Nicaragua."
In reality, it is to continue that policy of blackmail that gave Violeta Chamorro the victory in her day but that, on the other hand, did not serve in 2006.

At the same time, US money is skyrocketing to finance destabilization and opposition in Nicaragua. The main actors in this unconventional war made in the USA are: the united States Agency for International Development (USAID); the Foundation for New Democracy (NED), created in 1983 by ronald Reagan to replace the CIA in the organization of actions are not armed; the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI), dependent of the u.s. Congress; Freedom House, the Open Society of George Soros; and some lesser-known troupes.

The objective is to infiltrate (if necessary), create, finance, train, control and instrumentalize the institutions of the mythical "civil society": unions, political parties, academic or professional institutions and, especially, the press and NGOs.

Millions to the opposition

Maurice Lemoine has accurately counted it in the French portal Mémoire de luttes. Between 2010 and 2020, USAID planned to transfer $ 68.4 million to the Nicaraguan right to help discredit the government (internally and abroad) while training new leaders and creating a critical mass of opponents. Two years before the spontaneous uprising in 2018, it added another $ 8 million to its contribution, bringing its total financial aid to $ 76.4 million.

At the center of the plot, the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation for Reconciliation and Democracy, which served as a center for the redistribution of a substantial part of the river of American money. The Foundation has been feeding the television channels 10, 11 and 12, Vos TV, Radio Corporación, Radio Show Café con Voz, as well as the digital platforms 100% Noticias, Artículo 66, Nicaragua Investiga, Nicaragua Actual, BacanalNica and Despacho 505... together with a group of independent journalists.

Since 2009, USAID has specifically allocated $ 10 million to nurture opposition media-of which more than $ 7 million has passed through the Chamorro Foundation from 2014 to 2021.

But it's not just the US. Radio La Primerísima denounced that from the cooperation agencies of Spain and Belgium different NGOs led by opponents, including the Chamorro Foundation, had received important subsidies from these countries.
Lemoine notes that " the number and diversity of connections made to wage this unconventional war are impressive. In addition to the media, the opposition has an army of NGOs of all kinds that, since the end of the armed conflicts of the 1980s, have fallen on Central America."

Sandinista laws for sovereignty

Logically, neither the FSLN nor Daniel Ortega were going to remain impassive before this offensive of intervention, attack on sovereignty and attempt to direct the electoral result.

On October 15, 2020, Parliament passed Law 1040, known as the"Foreign Agents Regulation Act". Although not prohibited, the law requires NGOs to report all foreign funding, specifying the identity of their donors, the amount of funds received, the purpose of the donations and a description of how the money has been spent, information that must match their financial and financial statements.

The 27 of October of the same year approved the Special Law on Cybercrime (no. 1042)that allows them to pursue and punish defamation, threats, attacks against the physical integrity of children, or women, identity theft, hacking or computer espionage, as well as those who spread "fake information".

Finally, on December 21, the National Assembly approved Law 1055 on "Defense of the rights of the people to independence, sovereignty and self-determination for peace". This law establishes that "any person who demands, supports and welcomes the imposition of sanctions on the State of Nicaragua" may not stand in the general elections. Anyone who encourages or finances a coup d & apos; état, undermines constitutional order, incites foreign interference or participates, with external financing, in acts of terrorism and destabilization is also excluded.

The opposition to freak out against this legislation, but, in reality, is inspired by Law of Partial Reform to the Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua, Law No. 192, adopted on February 1, 1995, signed by the then president of the government of the right, Chamorro: "it will Not be a candidate for the presidency or vice-presidency of the Republic (...) lead, or to finance a coup d'état, the altering the constitutional order and, as a consequence of such facts, to assume the Leadership of the Government and Ministries, or Vice, or Magistrates in other Branches of Government."

The arrests arrive

These laws explain why the judicial authorities have ordered summonses, house arrests or detentions of several opposition activists, some of whom were quick to register as political candidates in order to present themselves to international public opinion as persecuted by the Nicaraguan Government for their political ideas.

The most prominent case is that of Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of the president who Nicaraguans voted for when they had to choose between her or the war financed by the United States, and currently heads the aforementioned Chamorro Foundation.

According to the Nicaraguan prosecutor's office, the analysis of the Foundation's financial statements for the period 2015-2019 reveals clear indications of "money laundering." Among others, $ 7 million was in the Foundation's credit balance when it was closed and later appeared in three of Cristiana Chamorro's personal bank accounts.

When quoted to clarify this ball of figures, she refuses to answer investigators ' questions about the use of funds received from a foreign power and suspicious financial movements.

Seeing the development of events, Chamorro, a few days later, announced his intention to run for president of the Republic and there we have a candidate competing with Daniel Ortega "persecuted and harassed by the Nicaraguan government." And she wasn't the only one who declared herself a candidate when she discovered the prosecution behind her accounts.

And this is where the indignation of Western media and politicians is aroused. Nicaragua, the Central American gulag, titled El País on June 21. But, as journalists Jorge Capelán and Stephen Sefton point out, "these people are being investigated because they were publicly calling for coercive measures against Nicaragua's economy, for having conspired to commit terrorist acts, and for establishing a fraudulent NGO structure for the multi-million dollar money laundering with funds sent from abroad, which constituted a political intervention in the country to provoke a catastrophic destabilization."

The Sao Paulo Forum issued a statement endorsing Daniel Ortega's government in Nicaragua. This grouping of Latin america, composed by political groups of the left, said, in reference to the arrests of opponents, that "the people involved are investigated for crimes against the motherland" and that legal measures are based "on a law of October 2020 approved by a Legislative Power legitimately elected, seeking to defend the country's sovereignty against the advances of external forces and imperialist".

Before the demands of liberation from the United States Government, Daniel Ortega mocked in a public act saying:

"There are more than 400 Americans prosecuted among those who went to Congress because they said the elections were fraudulent. Here's 20. There are more than 400 processed. We are going to tell them: you release all the political prisoners you have in the United States for having gone to protest in Congress."

Sandinista achievements

But this analysis would not be useful if we did not investigate how Nicaragua has evolved in recent years under the Sandinista government. According to the 2020 Human Development Report prepared by the United Nations, in the last nine years of the Sandinista Government, from 2010 to 2019, Nicaragua's Human Development Index increased from 0.622 to 0.660 and life expectancy has gone from 72.4 years to 74.5.

The average years of schooling in the same period increased from 6 to 6.9. Gross National Income per capita rises from $ 4,487 to $ 5,284.
The Government has approved 57.1% of the 2021 budget for social spending, i.e. for the education, health, housing and community services sectors, among others. An unthinkable percentage with previous neoliberal governments.

Also according to the UNDP, in Nicaragua, 44.6% of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 48.5% of adult women have reached at least one year of secondary education, compared to 46.8% of adult men. One of the electoral reforms that will come into force in the next elections establishes that each sex must have 50% representation in each candidacy.

Nicaragua has gone from producing and consuming only 25% of renewable energy to 77.3% in March 2021. This" Green Revolution " has even been praised by the Inter-American Development Bank.
According to the Nicaraguan ambassador to Spain, Carlos Midence, during an event on the occasion of the Nicaraguan national holiday in Barcelona on July 20, Nicaragua produces 92% of the food it consumes. He also noted that, in 2007, the government of Daniel Ortega decreed free health care, has built hospitals at a rate of two each year (of the 228 hospitals in Central America, 77 are in Nicaragua) and has gone from having 21,000 health workers to 36,000.
In 2007 the country lived with an average of ten or twelve hours of daily blackouts and today 99.2% of the population has access to energy.
Nicaragua's National Assembly deputy, Wálmaro Gutiérrez, who is also president of the Parliament's Production, Economy and Budget Commission, recalled in statements to Sputnik on July 15 that Sandinismo received an education budget of approximately 3 billion córdobas and also a similar amount of 3 billion córdobas for health and has shot it to 19.8 billion córdobas.
Gutiérrez showed his conviction that they will be able to close 2021 with an economic growth of "between 2.5 and 3.5%"," extremely encouraging figures "taking into account the consequences of the coup attempt, as well as"a pandemic, and, on the other hand, the devastating effects that hurricanes Eta and Iota had".

Electoral opinion polls

Regarding the next plebiscite, the electoral polls have always given the FSLN and Daniel Ortega as preferred candidates for the presidency. The last pre-election poll, this July, by the only Nicaraguan firm of opinion studies, M & R Consultores, showed a 60.2% vote forecast for the FSLN, 13.7% for the opposition and 26.2% for undecided voters. When consulting for the approval of the national Government compared to all the other governments of the last 50 years, Daniel Ortega's administration appears in first place with 28.2% of the preferences.

That is why, in the face of this probable Sandinista victory, the United States has already foreseen its scenario of subversion that happens, as it could not be otherwise, because it does not recognize the electoral result. A pattern already used in Venezuela and Bolivia.
Journalist Maurice Lemoine reveals that the US post-election plan is called Responsive Assistance in Nicaragua (RAIN). This program provides, from August 11, 2020 to February 10, 2022, the allocation of $ 2 million to achieve "an orderly transition" of the Ortega government to "a government committed to the rule of law, civil liberties and a free civil society." Without even trying to hide its strategy, the document uses the term "transitional regime" a hundred times and foresees a purge within the Sandinista army and police. That is, the overthrow of the Sandinista government even if it legitimately wins the November elections. Nor is it surprising, it is what the United States has been doing, or trying to do for decades, in Latin America.

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History tells us the United States’ supposed ‘concern for democracy’ in Nicaragua is nothing of the sort, by Daniel Kovalik, who teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and is author of the recently-released No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using “Humanitarian” Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interests, for RTNEWS op.ed. 30.07.2021.

A century and a half has shown us that American meddling in Nicaragua is never about improving the lot of the people of that nation, and only ever about furthering Washington’s imperialist agenda.

The US government is back at it. It is again expressing concern about the state of democracy in Nicaragua, and conjuring up a new round of punitive sanctions against that tiny country to allegedly prevent dictatorship from taking hold there.

The newest sanctions bill against the country is titled “Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform (RENACER) Act.” As the Senate version explains, “This bill requires the Executive branch to align US diplomacy and existing targeted sanctions to advance democratic elections in Nicaragua, and includes new initiatives to address corruption, human rights abuses, and the curtailment of press freedom.” Sadly, many US non-governmental organizations and ‘intellectuals’ who should know better have sided with the government in its attack on Nicaragua.

However, a brief history of US involvement in Nicaragua is worth recounting here to fairly assess the government’s bona fides regarding its interest in democracy in that country. The first instance of US intervention in Nicaragua came in the form of William Walker in the mid-19th century, at around the time the Monroe Doctrine, by which the US proclaimed its sole prerogative to dominance over the Western Hemisphere, was announced. William Walker declared himself president of Nicaragua, reinstituted slavery there, and burned down the historic city of Granada for good measure, yet his foray into country was supported by many Americans as an exercise in progressive advancement.

John J. Mangipano explains this phenomenon well in his peer-reviewed dissertation titled ‘William Walker and the Seeds of Progressive Imperialism: The War in Nicaragua and the Message of Regeneration, 1855-1860’. As he explains: “For a brief period of time, between 1855 and 1857, William Walker successfully portrayed himself to American audiences as the regenerator of Nicaragua. Though he arrived in Nicaragua in June 1855 with only fifty-eight men, his image as a regenerator attracted several thousand men and women to join him in his mission to stabilize the region. Walker relied on both his medical studies as well as his experience in journalism to craft a message of regeneration that placated the anxieties that many Americans felt about the instability of the Caribbean. People supported Walker because he provided a strategy of regeneration that placed Anglo-Americans as the medical and racial stewards of a war-torn region. American faith in his ability to regenerate the region propelled him to the presidency of Nicaragua in July 1856. ... Though William Walker did not ultimately succeed as a regenerator, American progressives such as Theodore Roosevelt revived his focus on medical and racial stabilization through their own policies in the Caribbean, starting in the 1890s.”

As Mangipano concludes, “The continuity existing between these groups of imperialists suggested that the regenerators, despite their temporary failures, succeeded in nurturing ideas about why Americans needed to intervene in the Greater Caribbean.” This impulse to “progressive imperialism” – now called by the kinder and gentler-sounding “humanitarian interventionism” – continues to motivate even many US leftists in their attitudes towards Nicaragua and other countries of the Global South, and with the same terrible results.

Meanwhile, in the name of progressivism and democracy promotion, the US would go on to send the US Marines to occupy Nicaragua in the early part of the 20th century and set up the Somoza dictatorship that ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist for over four decades from 1936. The Marines were routed by Augusto César Sandino and his gang of merry men and women, Sandino was later assassinated, and the Somozas held control. America would then organize, finance, and direct the murderous ex-Somoza National Guardsmen in the form of the Contras to try to destroy the Sandinista Revolution, which finally overthrew the US’s beloved dictatorship in 1979. Washington tried to coerce the Nicaraguan people into voting against the Sandinistas in 1990 with the threat of continued war and brutal economic sanctions. Then, in 2018, they supported violent insurrectionists who terrorized Nicaragua for months in an effort to topple the very popular Sandinista government that was re-elected in 2006.

In short, there is a grave threat to democracy in Nicaragua. But it is not from Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas, who have built the first democratic state in that country in years. Rather, it is from the United States and the “useful idiots” who continue to believe the US is somehow attempting to bring democracy, despite all evidence to the contrary.

One way the US is threatening democracy is by funding destabilizing and anti-government efforts to the tune of millions of dollars. Nicaragua has responded, as any self-respecting nation would, by punishing those facilitating such foreign interference pursuant to its Law 1055, titled ‘Law for the Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination for Peace’. As Stephen Sefton, an educator and decades-long resident of Estelí, Nicaragua, explains,

“Under the law, it is a crime to seek foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs’ request military intervention; organize acts of terrorism and destabilization; promote coercive economic, commercial and financial measures against the country and its institutions; or request and welcome sanctions against the State of Nicaragua and its citizens.

“In addition, Cristiana Chamorro of the Violeta Chamorro Foundation, Juan Sebastián Chamorro of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNIDES), Félix Maradiaga of the Institute for Strategic and Public Policy Studies (IEEPP) and Violeta Granera of the Centre for Communications Research (CINCO) may also face charges for money laundering and breaking the ‘Foreign Agents’ law which requires all organizations receiving finance from overseas [in this case, the US] to register with the authorities, report the amount of money received and how it is used.”

However, as Sefton emphasizes, “Despite numerous reports in international media to the contrary, none of the people arrested had been selected by any of Nicaragua’s political alliances or parties as possible candidates for the upcoming general election on November 7th this year. Cristiana Chamorro, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, Arturo Cruz and Félix Maradiaga had earlier stated they aspired to the candidacy of one of the political parties, most likely the Citizens for Liberty political alliance. But none of them was formally under consideration. In any case, as many observers have noted, the figure of their possible candidacy in the elections has served as a smokescreen to distract from the criminal charges against them, for which they would face prosecution in practically any country in the world.” Note that last, important phrase.

To put it bluntly, it is the US which, as it has now done for about a century and a half, is trying to dictate to the Nicaraguan people the type of government and economic model they should choose. As an independent, sovereign nation, Nicaragua has every right to push back against this incessant meddling.

I’ve just returned from Nicaragua, where, along with other members of an international delegation, I witnessed first-hand the Nicaraguan people’s enthusiasm for the Sandinista Revolution on its anniversary, July 19. I saw the crowd of thousands assemble in Pope Paul II Plaza, in Managua, to celebrate this extraordinary event, in which the Sandinista Front, led by Daniel Ortega, overthrew a dictator heavily armed by the US government. Our delegation visited Masaya, which was bombed from the air by Somoza in the final days of his brutal rule. It is continuing to rebuild after the destruction wrought by the neo-Contras of 2018, who, with US backing, laid siege to the city and terrorized it for months, until the historic combatants who defeated Somoza routed them with the assistance of the police.

During our trip, we saw for ourselves the incredible advancements of the Sandinista government, which is providing free healthcare and education to all Nicaraguans. We witnessed the children, who had suffered such poverty and deprivation during the Somoza years and the Contra War that followed, attend school and play in the beautiful parks erected across the country by the Sandinistas. We traveled throughout Nicaragua on beautifully paved roads that once were dirt and stone, if they existed at all.

I myself travelled on those dirt roads in 1987 and 1988, when I visited Nicaragua for the first time. Back then, I saw children dressed in rags and without shoes, barely able to get enough to eat because of the US sanctions and the brutal war. One does not see that type of destitution in Nicaragua now, and that’s thanks to the Sandinista Revolution, which, contrary to mainstream claims, has stayed true to its values of defending the poor and the most vulnerable.

Nonetheless, the US is intent on destroying it, and the progress it has brought for the Nicaraguan people. And the people are fully aware of this, and that is why 85% of those polled oppose foreign interference in their country, just as any self-respecting nation would. I stand with them in denouncing US interference, sanctions, and aggression toward that little country which has mightily stood up to the Goliath of the North. In this Biblical struggle, all my support is with David.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/530700-us-sanctions-nicaragua-democracy/

Nicaragua grants nationality to former Salvadoran president Sánchez Cerén, 30.07.2021.

SAN SALVADOR (Sputnik) - Former Salvadoran president Salvador Sánchez Cerén, claimed by the justice of his country for the alleged collection of half a million dollars in bonuses, received Nicaraguan nationality, which would shield him against an extradition request.

"It is agreed to grant Nicaraguan nationality as a naturalized citizen to Salvador Sánchez Cerén, originally from the Republic of El Salvador," reports a resolution of the Ministry of the Interior of Nicaragua, published in its Official Gazette.

According to the official text, in addition to the former president, his wife, Margarita Villalta, and his daughter Claudia Lissette Sánchez Villalta received Nicaraguan nationality.

Deputies of the ruling party Nuevas Ideas alerted earlier this week about the possibility that Sánchez Cerén would be eligible for Nicaraguan nationality, as former President Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) did in 2019, who had been claimed by his country's justice system for various corruption crimes.

A Salvadoran court ordered on July 28 the issuance of a red alert by Interpol for the capture of Sánchez Cerén, for alleged irregular charges during his tenure as vice president in the Funes administration.

The current president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, said since last week that Sánchez Cerén was "officially a fugitive from justice", who left the country by land in December 2020"and never returned".

The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, the party with which former guerrilla commander Sánchez Cerén ruled from 2014 to 2019, claims that the process is a political persecution against representative figures of the Salvadoran left, which was denied by the attorney general, Rodolfo Delgado.

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https://mundo.sputniknews.com/20210730/nicaragua-concede-la-nacionalidad-al-expresidente-salvadoreno-sanchez-ceren-1114651252.html

EU sanctions Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, 02.08.2021.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The Council of the European Union (EU) announced the imposition of sanctions on the first lady and vice president of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, and seven others allegedly implicated in human rights violations.

"The Council has imposed restrictive measures on eight more people, including Vice President Rosario Murillo, as responsible for serious human rights violations or actions that undermine democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua," the official statement said.

According to the Community bloc, the restrictions are designed so as not to harm the Nicaraguan population or economy.

This decision brings to 14 the number of people who are subject to a freezing of assets in the territory of the EU and to whom citizens and companies of the Twenty-seven will be prohibited from providing financial resources. Persons subject to sanctions will also not be allowed to enter or transit through EU territory.

Arguing its decision, the Council of the EU points out that "the political situation in Nicaragua has deteriorated further in recent months," and that "the political use of the judicial system, the exclusion of candidates of the elections and the prohibition of arbitrary opposition parties are contrary to basic democratic principles and constitute a serious violation of the rights of the Nicaraguan people".

"Today's additional measures demonstrate that the EU remains determined to use all its instruments to support a democratic, peaceful and negotiated solution to Nicaragua's political crisis," the statement highlights.

The arrest at the end of July of Noel Vidaurre, the seventh presidential candidate who was deprived of liberty in the Central American country, "illustrates the magnitude of the repression in Nicaragua and projects a disturbing image for the next elections" in the EU's view.

The Twenty-seven once again demand " the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners, as well as full respect for the human rights and civil and political rights of all Nicaraguan citizens."

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https://mundo.sputniknews.com/20210802/la-ue-sanciona-a-la-vicepresidenta-de-nicaragua-rosario-murillo-1114691075.html

Ruling party confirms Ortega and Murillo as presidential formula in Nicaragua, 02.08.2021.

SAN SALVADOR (Sputnik) - The ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN, left) ratified President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo as its candidates for the November 7 elections at its national convention.

"The Congress of the Sandinista National Liberation Front unanimously ratified President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo as its presidential formula for the
November 7 elections," radio station La Primerísima reported.

Meeting virtually and in person, the congressmen also approved the government program for the period 2022-2026, as well as 20 candidates for deputies to the National Assembly (Parliament) and 20 to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen).

Ortega and Murillo contended as FSLN binomial in the 2016 elections, following the candidacy of ally Jaime Morales Carazo in 2006 and retired General Omar Halleslevens in 2011.

The candidate registration process began on Wednesday last week and will run through August 2.

Some 4.7 million Nicaraguans are called to the polls on the first Sunday of November, as mandated by the Constitution every five years.

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https://mundo.sputniknews.com/20210802/oficialismo-confirma-a-ortega-y-murillo-como-formula-presidencial-en-nicaragua-1114714570.html

US warns that it will not recognize the elections in Nicaragua, 07.08.2021.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned on Saturday night that the elections in Nicaragua will not be recognized by the "international community" because of the incapacity of the opposition candidacy.

The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) of Nicaragua incapacitated on Friday (6) the right-wing party Ciudadanos por la Libertad, Citizens for freedom (CXL), which leads an opposition alliance against the re-election of Daniel Ortega, who has been in power since 2007 and seeks the fourth consecutive term.

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https://www.brasil247.com/mundo/estados-unidos-avisam-que-nao-irao-reconhecer-as-eleicoes-na-nicaragua?amp

Nicaragua sends message to Spain on obligation to 'respect' Managua's internal affairs, 11.08.2021.

Daniel Ortega's government addressed a press release in which it makes several attacks against Spain, after the Iberian country questioned the legitimacy of its elections.

The Nicaraguan press release addressed to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released on Tuesday (10), begins by denouncing the"inadmissible interference of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain in internal affairs that only correspond to our country and our people".

"We remind the government of Spain of the obligation it has to respect, as we have respected, and to assume, without delay, the ways to respond to the just demands of the inhabitants of that said Iberian peninsula", states the text.

The government of reconciliation and National Unity regrets and condemns the inadmissible interference of the government of the Kingdom of Spain in the internal affairs of our country and our people.

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through a note released on Monday (9), questioned the legitimacy of the elections in the Latin American country and reminded Nicaragua of the obligation to comply with "the international commitments acquired in the field of human rights", as well as its "own constitutional precepts" and asked Managua to release politicians detained in the country.

The Nicaraguan government's response was not short-lived and reminded the Spanish government of its "serious shortcomings", which, as they point out, date back to the 1980s, "when its then 'Socialist' President, Felipe González, created the so-called Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups (lag) that have always stained Spain with responsibility for crimes against humanity, never investigated or tried".

They assure in the letter that the lag's links with the underworld and paramilitary groups "became evident" and that almost 40 terrorist actions were carried out in which more than 60 people were murdered and injured with impunity.

For Nicaragua, "all these hate crimes and crimes against humanity, classified as state terrorism, show the immoral character of Spanish institutions, which brazenly dare to put crowns on their discredited heads, pretending to ignore the criminal charge of historical manipulation of the state that persecutes, imprisons, tortures and kills, without any self-criticism, repentance, justice or rectification".

"In the face of so much hypocrisy and recklessness, we reject each and every one of the words contained in the unspeakable, false and farcical appeals of the Spanish Chancellery," the letter said.

And they continued, challenging and accusing Spain of " taking all its true responsibility in its fierce and brutal Colonial and Neocolonial history, as well as in its fascism disguised as socialism."

Nicaragua holds general elections on November 7. In them, the current President Daniel Ortega seeks re-election.

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https://br.sputniknews.com/americas/2021081117885183--nicaragua-manda-recado-a-espanha-sobre-obrigacao-de-respeitar-assuntos-internos-de-managua/

Honduras, new Constitution and democratic socialism in the project of Xiomara Castro, 07/09/2021.

MANAGUA (Sputnik) - If the voters of the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) Party make her the first woman president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro intends to give a rudder to the national political life by launching the consultation with a view to a National Constituent Assembly and begin to build a system of democratic socialism.

These were among the main news items left on September 5 by Xiomara Castro, wife of former President Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009), who presented the so-called Government Plan for the Refoundation of the Homeland and Construction of the Socialist and Democratic State.

But in their potential first 100 days in the Presidential House, the former first lady has also envisaged that the application of an International Commission Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (CICIH) and the repeal of a series of laws adopted during 12 years of administration of the National Party (right), as the Law of Areas of Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE), the Listeners and the Congress.

Before an audience that supported her, Castro defended his project of democratic socialism as the solution to reduce poverty in Honduras, the improvement of social services such as education and health, and guarantee access to land and credit for peasants.

And at the international level he said he will establish trade relations with China.

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https://mundo.sputniknews.com/20210907/honduras-nueva-constitucion-y-socialismo-democratico-en-el-proyecto-de-xiomara-castro-1115821807.html

Well it is funny really.... the best way to stimulate growth in an economy would be to give lots of money to old age pensioners... and triple the unemployment benefit for a year... they are more likely to spend it on things they need.... but what they end up doing is start pumping money into big business which funnels the money to the super rich owners of those companies who put it in offshore banks and save it...

It's not an international campaign anymore, it's direct aggression.

US to 'Maintain Presence in Nicaragua After Election', Support for Anti-FSLN Groups, Official Says, by Morgan Artyukhina for Sputniknews. 05/11/2021.

The US intends to continue supporting anti-Sandinista groups inside of Nicaragua after Sunday's presidential election, saying on Friday that it has already determined President Daniel Ortega will not have a democratic mandate.

A senior US State Department official told reporters on Friday that the US would maintain its presence in Nicaragua after the Sunday election and would seek to support those working to restore democracy.

According to the official, the US will regard Nicaragua as a dictatorship if Ortega wins, saying he will not have a democratic mandate.

The US will also use its leverage in international financial institutions against Nicaragua and will avoid certain trade "interactions" seen as benefiting the Nicaraguan government, the official added.

https://sputniknews.com/20211105/us-to-maintain-presence-in-nicaragua-after-election-support-for-anti-fsln-groups-official-says-1090509863.html

There's a new target on the US regime-change list. It's been there before, 06/11/2021, by Dakotah Lilly, an independent political scientist and analyst. His work has featured in publications such as MintPress, OrinocoTribune, and Popular Resistance. His areas of specialty include political economics, left populism, Venezuela, and socialism of the 21st century. For RT News.

The US has a long history of meddling in Latin America. This week, US lawmakers have approved legislation calling for more sanctions to increase pressure on President Daniel Ortega ahead of Nicaragua’s election on Sunday.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the bill known as the Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform (RENACER) Act. The move – a response to an alleged crackdown there on the opposition – came just days ahead of the November 7 presidential election, where Ortega is set to win a fourth straight term. Washington has already denounced the vote as a “sham.”

But given the US’ past interfering in the region and its bloody regime-change operations, does anyone still believe it cares about the Nicaraguan people?

Nicaragua, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, and almost every other sovereign nation in Latin America has thousands of victims to add to the grand total of those that have fallen victim to US foreign policy.

In 1978-79, Nicaraguans had the audacity to lead a revolution against a US backed dictator, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, and did so carrying the flags of socialism, sovereignty, and christianity. This was obviously unforgivable so the CIA decided to supply arms and funds to a drug-smuggling terrorist organization known as the Contras. This led to the infamous Iran-Contra affair which roiled Washington and exposed some of the CIA’s more nefarious dealings in Central America.

It is quite telling that this same government now dares call the upcoming November 7 elections in Nicaragua, with the State Department saying that they “condemn President Ortega and Vice President Murillo’s undemocratic electoral process and ongoing repression.”

What nerve must a government have to fund death squads and drug cartels in your country and then think they have any moral authority to speak on your elections.

The Biden Administration and its supporters constantly talk about how love triumphed and hate was vanquished with his election, but Latin America is just another example on a long list of examples where Biden and Trump represent two cheeks of the same backside. Donald Trump ramped up sanctions against Venezuela and Nicaragua and Joe Biden is continuing in this absurd tradition.

Meanwhile, the EU, not to be outdone in absurdity, recently called democratically elected President Daniel Ortega a “dictator” while describing the situation in Nicaragua as “one of the most serious in the Americas.” Colombia is a narco-state, Honduras has abysmal social statistics, Brazil is riddled with Covid and an incompetent racist as president, Puerto Rico has still not recovered from the 2017 hurricane Maria, and what is troubling to the western elites about Nicaragua is that they have gone their own way of sovereignty and Christian socialism.

Establishment media details the government of Nicaragua the same way it does any government that it is attempting to sow regime change in. To them, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and others have no support. They are even willing to censor and erase hundreds of pro-government accounts on social media without any sort of process or explanation. This is on the heels of a failed US-backed coup attempt against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government in 2018 that killed hundreds of people. Comparatively speaking, economic war and media disinformation might be the lesser of two evils considering the violence that the US provoked in 2018.

Nicaragua is a small Central American nation that many people might write off as inconsequential in global geopolitics; so what does it do that upsets the global oligarchy so much? It’s simple: like countless other governments, movements, and revolutions, Nicaragua poses the threat of a good example. Nicaragua has a very low GDP per capita, with the highest figures of PPP being in the 5,000s. Yet, Nicaragua has a 98% electrification rate with 75% of energy being produced by renewable means. Haiti, for instance, has a comparable GDP per capita, but only a 45% electrification rate.

Nicaraguan socialism has led to a huge decrease in malnutrition, infant mortality, and maternal mortality. Poverty has more than halved, cooperatives, small businesses, and the popular economy continue to thrive and to challenge neoliberal capitalist logic by putting human beings over the never-ending quest for heftier profits.

Since the mid 2000s, Nicaragua has put forward a new model of development that prioritizes the harnessing of human potential and the improvement in the lives of the workers. Much of the rest of the world has something to learn from Nicaragua.

Nicaragua, a small, sanctioned, vilified, country under constant siege has managed to provide healthcare, employment, education, and a better life for its people. The reason the elites and the establishment are hell-bent on discontinuing Nicaragua’s revolution is because it shows the potential of a system different from capitalism. If this country can provide a better life for its people, why is it that the US, the wealthiest country on earth, condemns millions of its own citizens to misery, poverty, and despair? These are the questions the elites don’t want you to ask.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/539491-nicaragua-elections-us-ortega/

Half of americans never accepted the win of Biden. And the other half that of Trump before. Who cares?