OMNI
NICARAGUA ANTHOLOGY #1
Compiled by Dick Bennett
for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
TEXTS
History
of US Domination of Central America: Nicaragua
Daniel Kovalik. Nicaragua, A History of U.S.
Intervention & Resistance. Editor.
Mronline.org (4-10-22).
Originally published: COHA (Council on Hemispheric
Affairs) on April 7, 2022 by
Dan Kovalik (more by COHA (Council on
Hemispheric Affairs)) | (Posted Apr 09,
2022)
Imperialism,
Inequality, State Repression, StrategyNicaragua, United StatesReview
I have written this
book to explore the pernicious nature of U.S. engagement with Nicaragua from
the mid-19th century to the present in pursuit of control
and domination rather than in defense of democracy as Washington has
incessantly claimed. In turn, Nicaraguans have valiantly defended their
homeland, preventing the U.S. from ever maintaining its control for long.
Nicaragua, A
History of US Intervention & Resistance
While there were
intermittent U.S. forays into Nicaragua in the 1850s, sustained intervention in
Nicaragua only began in 1911 when the U.S. invaded Nicaragua to put a
halt to a canal project connecting its Atlantic and Pacific coasts
through a partnership with Japan–a project the U.S. wanted to control for
itself.
The U.S. Marines
subsequently invaded Nicaragua a number of times between 1911 and 1934
to try to maintain control over this Central American nation, only to be
repelled by peasant guerillas led by Augusto Cesar Sandino. The Marines
left for good only after the U.S. had set up the dictatorship of Anastasio
Somoza, who then lured Sandino to Managua on the promise of a peace deal
and murdered him in cold blood.
Successive generations
of Somozas would rule Nicaragua with an iron hand and critical U.S.
support-until finally, in 1979, the latest iteration of the Somoza
dynasty was ousted by the Sandinistas–a movement inspired by Sandino and
motivated by a unique philosophy merging Christianity and Marxism.
Led by Daniel
Ortega, the Sandinistas established democracy in Nicaragua with the
country’s first free and fair elections in 1984. Once again, the U.S.
attempted to subvert democracy by organizing Somoza’s former National Guardsmen
into a terrorist group known as “the Contras.” Directed and funded by
the CIA, the Contras would terrorize Nicaragua for nearly 10 years.
In 1990, the
Sandinistas stood for early election and the war-weary voters selected Violeta
Chamorro. The Sandinistas relinquished office peacefully, ceding the government
to Chamorro.
For 17 long years,
from 1990 to 2007, neo-liberal governments, beginning with Violeta
Chamorro, governed Nicaragua. Backed by the U.S., these governments neglected
the people, leaving almost half of the country without electricity, decent
education or health care, and in poverty.
When Daniel Ortega
and the Sandinistas returned to power in 2007 through elections,
they immediately established free health care and education, built
infrastructure throughout the country, and began to eradicate poverty. Now,
almost 100% of the country is electrified; poverty and extreme poverty have
been greatly diminished; and the UN has ranked Nicaragua fifth in the world for
gender equality three years in a row.1
Paradoxically,
the U.S. government and media now castigate Ortega as somehow “a new Somoza,” a
claim that is swallowed by some in the U.S. left. This book debunks this claim
by putting Nicaragua’s past into historical perspective and documenting the
reality of today’s Nicaragua.
Excerpt from the book click on title above
The Gringo Who Tried
To Rule Central America
By Michael Fox, The Real News
Network. Popular Resistance.org (4-16-24). William Walker was a journalist,
lawyer and physician from Nashville, Tennessee, who in 1855 invaded Nicaragua
with a few dozen troops and conquered the country. At the time, he was one of
thousands of private US citizens who had their sights set on taking over
foreign nations, all in the name of Manifest Destiny. In this episode,
host Michael Fox follows in the footsteps of William Walker as he recounts one
of the most twisted stories of US imperialism in Central America—a story
that still has lasting repercussions for Latin America, the United States and
across the world. -more-
US System of Control Today
Palestine, Nicaragua, ICJ, US Senate, US System of
Imperial Control
Take Action: End
The Economic War On Nicaragua!
By Jill Clark-Gollub, Popular Resistance. Popular Resistance.org
(5-19-24). S.1881, a bill to
place more sanctions on Nicaragua, had not advanced since it was filed
in June of 2023, until it was suddenly passed out of the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations on April 16—one week after Nicaragua argued in the International
Court of Justice in defense of the Palestinian people suffering a genocide.
The bill may now be voted on by the full Senate any day. Nicaragua and
Palestine solidarity activists responded with an emergency protest two days
later and then published a petition that quickly garnered over 2,000
signatures. -more- (Pop Resistance: Be the people's resistance
media! Forward this
email to a friend and share the articles on social media. 
)
Jeremy Kuzmarov. Mronline.org (9-19-23).
When CIA-trained terrorists
tried to overthrow the Sandinista government in the 1980s, the left erupted in
protest. Now the left is cheering for the CIA.
John Perry.
“The United
Nations is Being Used by the U.S. in its Propaganda War Against Nicaragua.” CovertAction
Magazine (CAM) (4-3-23).
Biased new report lends
weight to U.S. regime-change operations targeting left-wing Sandinista
government.
READ MORE →
“Nicaragua
is world’s #1 country where citizens feel at peace, Gallup poll shows.” Editor. Mronline.org (1-12-23).
A
poll by mainstream firm Gallup found that Nicaragua is the No. 1 country in the
world where citizens feel at peace. Nine of the top 14 countries are in Latin
America. But the U.S. constantly attacks the Sandinista government and imposes
sanctions on it.
“Inside
Nicaragua’s free socialized health-care system.”
Editor. Mronline.org (8-15-22).
An
inside look at the free universal health-care system created by Nicaragua’s
Sandinista government, which has saved countless lives.
Susan Lagos. Bogus
Report on Nicaragua by “60 Minutes” Exposed as Propaganda from CIA-linked
National Endowment for Democracy. CovertAction Magazine. Jul 15,
2022.
[Below is an except of an open letter to 60
Minutes written by Susan Lagos, a Spanish and ESL teacher who has lived in
Ciudad Dario, Matagalpa, Nicaragua for 18 years. The full letter can be found
at CovertAction Magazine.—Editors]
“A 60 Minutes team [should] actually come to Nicaragua to interview the
people that live here whose lives have improved amazingly since 2007 with free
universal education and health care.”
Dear 60 Minutes:
I was appalled to see your program on Nicaragua of June 19, 2022.
I have enjoyed many other 60 Minutes programs,
but this one was totally one-sided and false. I have lived in Nicaragua
since 2004, and traveled here many times in the 1980's and 1990's. So I
have lived among people with a totally different reality than those you
interviewed.
The two women you interviewed are the wives of
Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Felix Maradiaga, from among the wealthy,
closely connected with the U.S. government, who studied in U.S. universities
and who speak English. Berta Valle, wife of Maradiaga, happens to be from
the family down the block from me in Ciudad Dario, Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
The Chamorro and Maradiaga non-profits (IEEPP
and FUNIDES respectively) were funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),
founded to do overtly what the CIA has done covertly and also by other U.S. organizations like the
International Republican Institute (IRI) and the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), U.S. foundations, and similar European organizations.
The USAID has given more than half a billion
dollars to Nicaraguan nonprofits like these since the Sandinistas regained the
presidency in 2007. The USAID also organized and funded a destabilization plan
known as RAIN (Responsive Action in Nicaragua) for the pre and post November
2021 election periods which is likely still functioning.
In August 2021 the Public Prosecutor’s office
accused Maradiaga and Chamorro of being part of a major group conspiring with
the U.S. against Nicaragua continually since 2009 and headed by Manuel Orozco
Ramírez. Orozco is an associate of Creative Associates International (CAI), a
global agency funded by USAID to “engineer political transitions” with over
US$2 billion in U.S. government contracts as reported by Mintpress.
According to the Prosecutor's Office,
Orozco was in charge of triangulating resources from international
organizations to Nicaraguan pro-coup foundations, among them IEEPP, Fundación
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, FUNIDES, CINCO and Movimiento Puente por
Nicaragua. In turn, these organizations channeled resources to armed groups,
and to gangs of communication assassins (call centers of people paid to spread
lies that would favor the destabilization of Nicaragua), coordinated to
overthrow the constitutional government of Nicaragua. […]
Nan McCurdy. Open Letter to the BBC: Every Article is a Lie
to Attack Nicaragua. CovertAction Magazine. Jun 30,
2022.
The June 23 BBC article by Bernd
Debusmann, “US Immigration: They’d rather die than return to Nicaragua,” confirms
that the corporate media consistently make every article an attack on its
Sandinista Government.
Of four Nicaraguans interviewed for this
article from the department of Esteli, two are peasants from villages, one is a
housewife from a village and the fourth is a housewife from a small town. They
all consider themselves Sandinistas and say they have benefited from many
government programs including training and small loans for production or small
businesses. One has worked seasonally for more than twenty years in El
Salvador, and two have worked seasonally in Costa Rica at least twice.
They say they decided to attempt the difficult
journey north because family and friends over the last eighteen months have
told them that once they cross into the U.S., just turn themselves into border
agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actually helps them get to
their final destination. This proved true for all four after harrowing
experiences along the way. Two were flown to Minnesota, one was flown to Miami
and one was sent by bus to Houston.
In the
U.S. Nicaraguan migrants are treated now with as much leniency as
Cubans. In other words, the U.S. is clearly promoting migration to the U.S. by
Nicaraguans since 2007. And Nicaragua has been left out of the Title 42
expulsions unlike Mexicans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Hondurans which have
had much higher migration to the U.S. than Nicaragua since 2007, when a better
government began in Nicaragua—a Sandinista government. [...]
[Sandinista achievements] I know of no one going because they dislike
the Sandinista government. You have only to visit Nicaragua to experience
the amazing investment in everything that makes life better:
universal health care and education, housing programs, every aspect of
infrastructure to make the country runs smoothly, best roads in the region by
far, government loans and training for small producers and small enterprisers,
90% food sovereignty, 99.2% of the population now has electricity, more than
90% have running water in their homes, electricity is now primarily generated
by renewable sources, great investment in sports, recreation and parks and so
much more. […] Read in browser »
Stansfield Smith . “Why is the Nicaraguan Government
demonized by both Liberals and Conservatives when Nicaragua has seen great
progress under the Sandinistas?” .
Mronline.org (4-4-22)
Women
Have Made Particularly Significant Gains Under the Second Sandinista Government
Since 2006.
Nicaragua Once Again
Inaugurates the “People as President”
By Nan McCurdy on Jan 23, 2022. CovertAction Magazine.
On January 10, Daniel
Ortega was inaugurated President and Rosario Murillo was inaugurated as Vice
President. The central event in the Plaza of the Revolution was accompanied by
Sandinistas celebrating in almost every town with big-screen displays of the
inauguration.
Once he had been sworn
in, with the presidential sash across his chest, Daniel repeated his action
from 2007, 2012 and 2017: He took off his sash and then symbolically handed it
to the people: El Pueblo Presidente—the People are President. The crowd broke
out in wild cheers. He asked tens of thousands of Sandinistas gathered in the
153 municipalities of the country to swear to fight with all their strength to
eliminate hunger, poverty, and backwardness. […]
“Nicaragua: Chronicle Of A Slandered Election.”
By John Perry and Rick Sterling, Popular Resistance. Popular Resistance.org (12-19-21). On November 7, Nicaragua held elections in
which current president Daniel Ortega received 75% support and, as a result,
begins a new term of office in January. Not surprisingly, the US government
described the election as a “sham.” Of more concern is that many on the left
seem to agree. William Robinson’s NACLA article, Nicaragua: Chronicle of an
Election Foretold, is a scathing critique, repeated in an interview with The
Real News. In this article, we will show that Robinson’s claims are based on
falsehoods and elite bias. -more-
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“Facebook
does the U.S. government’s censorship work in Nicaraguan elections.” Editor. Mronline.org (11-6-21).
A few
days before the Nicaraguan presidential elections on November 7, Facebook and
other social media companies began closing down many of the pages used by
Sandinista supporters in their campaign to re-elect President Daniel Ortega.
“Women’s
struggle in Nicaragua: from liberation fighters to building an alternative
society.”
Editor. Mronline.org (11-7-21).
Erika
Takeo and Rohan Rice reflect on the advancement of women in Nicaragua since the
Sandinista revolution.
Sandinistas Poised to
Win Election in Nicaragua Despite U.S. Sabotage and Smears By Yader Lanuza on Nov
06, 2021.
Media repeats big lie that Nicaraguan migrants
to the U.S. are escaping Ortega’s repression
Nicaraguans go to the polls today, Nov. 7, 2021. The U.S. government, the media
that does its bidding, and even some self-described “leftists,” present a
Nicaragua in “turmoil” and “crisis”—and the elections as a farce.
These attacks against the Sandinista government also emanate from academics,
intellectuals, and journalists with ties to the members of the
now-defunct MRS, an organization with no political relevance or popular support
whose members pretend to be leftist to an international audience but support
the Nicaraguan right-wing and do the bidding of the U.S—betraying both
Sandinismo and Nicaragua.
The people and organizations spewing these anti-Sandinista reports have taken
it upon themselves to speak on behalf of Nicaraguans, whom they claim live in
some sort of authoritarian nightmare that only U.S. intervention and the
“international community” can fix.
Inside Nicaragua something else is afoot. The country is peaceful, getting
ready for year-end activities that begin in November. People are going about
their everyday business with interest but not obsession with the elections, as
usually occurs in the U.S., where every inane and self-serving photo-op and
publicist-generated skirmish is reported ad nauseum.
No doubt there is plenty of news reported about the elections. For example,
poll after poll, in various regions of the country, show majority support
(about 2/3) for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)’s ticket, with
Daniel Ortega at the helm; in the North of the country, the support is
even higher. […]
“US Congress outlines new phase of economic attacks and hybrid
war on Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.” Editor.
Mronline.org (9-30-21).
A House Foreign Affairs
Committee hearing on September 21 set out plans for the next phase of the
United States’ hybrid warfare on Nicaragua, which aims to destabilize and
ultimately overthrow the Central American nation’s leftist Sandinista
government.
“Nicaragua at a
revolutionary crossroads and in imperialist crosshairs.” Editor.
Mronline.org (8-29-21).
U.S.
attack on Nicaragua targets its Black community.
Nicaragua: Pandemic
Recovery, New Elections Follow Defeat of U.S. Coup Attempt
o Fightback News
Why Do The Media Hate
Daniel Ortega?
o Gerry Condon, Popular Resistance
“Document exposes new U.S. plot to
overthrow Nicaragua’s elected socialist gov’t. “ mronline.org
(8-7-20)
A
disturbing new document outlines plans for a U.S. regime-change scheme against
Nicaragua’s elected leftist government, overseen by USAID, to bring about a
“market economy” and a purge of Sandinistas. | more…
By Ben
Norton (Posted Aug 06, 2020)
Originally published: The Grayzone on August 4, 2020 (more by The
Grayzone) |
Empire, Inequality,
State Repression, StrategyNicaragua,
United StatesNewswireU.S.
'regime-change'
A newly released
document exposes a U.S. government operation to overthrow the democratically elected socialist government in Nicaragua.
The plot is
administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
a regime-change vehicle that uses the pretense of “humanitarian aid” to
advance Washington’s aggressive foreign-policy interests.
The document (PDF) details the creation of a new “task order” called
Responsive Assistance in Nicaragua (RAIN) and its plan for “Nicaragua’s
transition to democracy”–a euphemism for removing the leftist Sandinista Front
for National Liberation (known commonly by the Spanish acronym FSLN) from
power.
In the pages, the U.S.
government agency uses hardline neoconservative rhetoric, referring to
Nicaragua’s elected government as the “Ortega regime,” and making it clear that
Washington wants to install a neoliberal administration that will privatize the
economy, impose neoliberal reforms, and purge all institutions of any trace of
the leftist Sandinista movement.
The USAID
regime-change scheme states openly that one of its top “mission goals” is
for Nicaragua to “transition to a rules-based market
economy” based on the “protection of private property rights.”
The document concludes
by calling for the future US-installed regime in Nicaragua to “rebuild
institutions” and “reestablish” the military and police; to “dismantle parallel
institutions” that support the Sandinista Front; and to persecute FSLN leaders
through “transitional justice measures”–in other words, a thorough purge of the
Sandinista movement to prevent it from ever returning to power.
In case it was not
explicit enough that Washington’s goal was regime change, the 14-page USAID
document employed the word “transition” 102 times, including nine times on the
first page alone. . . .
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