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dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/13/correcting-the-record-what-is-really-happening-in-nicaragua/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/13/correcting-the-record-what-is-really-happening-in-nicaragua/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Correcting The Record: What Is Really
Happening In Nicaragua?</h1>
<span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/l2l3l4l5l3l1l/"
rel="nofollow">Kevin Zeese - Nils McCune</a> - July 13, 2018</span></div>
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style="display: block;">
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<p dir="ltr">There is a great deal of false and inaccurate
information about Nicaragua in the media. Even on the
left some have simply repeated the dubious claims of CNN
and Nicaragua’s oligarchic media to support removal of
President Ortega.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This article seeks to correct the record,
describe what is happening in Nicaragua and why. As we
write this, the coup seems to be failing, people have
rallied for peace (as this <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjLlWJPEkR0&feature=youtu.be"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DSjLlWJPEkR0%26feature%3Dyoutu.be&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNHH7Wl6UX2CI8qMCSqR8RznFeZZZg">massive
march for peace held Saturday July 7 showed</a>) and
the truth is coming out. It is important to understand
what is occurring because Nicaragua is an example of the
types of violent coups the US and wealthy use to put in
place business dominated, neoliberal governments. If
people understand these tactics, they will become less
effective.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Mixing up the Class Interests</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">In part, US pundits are getting their
information from media outlets, such as Jaime
Chamorro-Cardinal’s La Prensa, and the same oligarchical
family’s Confidencial, that are the most active elements
of the coup media. Repeating and amplifying their
narrative delegitimizes the Sandinista government and
presents unconditional surrender by Daniel Ortega as the
only acceptable option. These pundits provide cover for
nefarious internal and external interests who have set
their sights on controlling Central America’s poorest
and yet resource-rich country.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The coup attempt brought the class divisions
in Nicaragua into the open. Piero Coen, the richest man
in Nicaragua, owner of all national Western Union
operations and an agrochemical company, personally
arrived on the first day of protests at the
Polytechnical University in Managua, to encourage
students to keep protesting, promising his continued
support.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The traditional landed oligarchy of
Nicaragua, politically led by the Chamorro family,
publishes constant ultimatums to the government through
its media outlets and finances the roadblocks that have
paralyzed the country for the last eight weeks.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Catholic Church, long allied with the
oligarchs, has put its full weight behind creating and
sustaining anti-government actions, including its
universities, high schools, churches, bank accounts,
vehicles, tweets, <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623555"><span>Sunday</span></span>
sermons, and a one-sided effort to mediate the <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Resumes-National-Dialogue-with-IHRC-Mediators-20180625-0019.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Resumes-National-Dialogue-with-IHRC-Mediators-20180625-0019.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNEhiPKurJo9R3u4z20dlkC_FSW-Qw">National
Dialogue</a>. Bishops have made <a
href="https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/05/31/politica/2427927-obispo-mata-justicia-caera-sobre-daniel-ortega"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/05/31/politica/2427927-obispo-mata-justicia-caera-sobre-daniel-ortega&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNGTTPf2mV3usjhCYyQlS8_FzCitRw">death
threats</a> against the President and his family, and
a priest has been filmed <a
href="http://www.notitarde.com/sacerdote-y-pastor-torturas/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.notitarde.com/sacerdote-y-pastor-torturas/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNFyFYdzdPWErlkb9FifucBUKNwjuQ">supervising
the torture</a> of Sandinistas. <a
href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-nicaragua-peace-appeal.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-nicaragua-peace-appeal.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNHOG1PovszEVTW5kZdLkqy30AcN1g">Pope
Francis</a> has called for peace dialogue, and even <a
href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-rome-nicaraguan-bishops-will-inform-pope-of-worsening-crisis-61107"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-rome-nicaraguan-bishops-will-inform-pope-of-worsening-crisis-61107&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNGLwAUbhmpp_dhSzcbkCw8uM6OBuA">called
Cardinal Leonaldo Brenes and Bishop Rolando Alvarez to
a private meeting in the Vatican</a>, setting off
rumors that the Nicaraguan monseñores were being scolded
for their obvious involvement in the conflict they are
officially mediating. The church remains one of the few
pillars keeping the coup alive.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A common claim is Ortega has cozied up to the
traditional oligarchy, but the opposite is true. This is
the first government since Nicaraguan independence that
does not include the oligarchy. Since the 1830s through
the 1990s, all Nicaraguan governments– even during the
Sandinista Revolution– included people from the elite
“last names,” of Chamorro, Cardenal, Belli, Pellas,
Lacayo, Montealegre, Gurdián. The government since 2007
does not, which is why these families are supporting the
coup.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ortega detractors claim his three-part
dialogue including labor unions, capitalists and the
State is an alliance with big business. In fact, that
process has yielded the <a
href="http://taskforceamericas.org/statement-in-support-of-nicaragua/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://taskforceamericas.org/statement-in-support-of-nicaragua/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393980000&usg=AFQjCNGm8pjH3WpdYs_egbP12mkcdOnP8g">highest
growth rate in Central America</a> and annual minimum
wage increases 5-7% above inflation, improving workers’
living conditions and lifting people out of poverty. The
anti-poverty <a
href="https://borgenproject.org/economic-growth-in-nicaragua-helped-reduce-poverty/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://borgenproject.org/economic-growth-in-nicaragua-helped-reduce-poverty/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNEzqJ7hce9Zsut14sWpWFh6JmPleg">Borgen
project reports</a> reports poverty fell by 30 percent
between 2005 and 2014.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Ortega economy is the opposite of
neoliberalism, it is based on public investment and
strengthening the safety net for the poor. The
government invests in infrastructure, transit, maintains
water and electricity within the public sector, and
moved privatized services. e.g., health care and primary
education into the public sector. This has ensured a
stable economic structure that favors the real economy
over the speculative economy.</p>
<p dir="ltr">What liberal and even leftists commentators
overlook is that unlike the Lula government in Brazil,
which reduced poverty through cash payouts to poor
families, Nicaragua has redistributed productive capital
in order to develop a self-sufficient popular economy.
The FSLN model is better understood as an emphasis on
the popular economy over the State or capitalist
spheres. </p>
<p dir="ltr">While the private sector employs about 15% of
Nicaraguan workers, the informal sector employs over
60%. The informal sector has benefitted from $400
million in public investments, much of it coming from
the ALBA alliance funds to finance micro loans for small
and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. Policies to
facilitate credit, equipment, training, animals, seeds
and subsidized fuel further support these enterprises.
The small and medium producers of Nicaragua have led the
country to produce 80-90% of its food and end its
dependence on IMF loans.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As such, workers and peasants– many of whom
are self-employed and who accessed productive capital
through the Sandinista Revolution and ensuing struggles–
represent an important political subject of the stable,
postwar social development of the last decade, including
the hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers who have
received land title and the nearly one-quarter of the
national territory that has been given collective title
as territory of indigenous nations. The social movements
of workers, peasants, and indigenous groups were the
base of popular support that brought the FSLN back into
power.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Land titling, and assistance to small
businesses have also emphasized equality for women,
resulting in <a
href="http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2015/economies/#economy=NIC"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2015/economies/%23economy%3DNIC&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNHOoCV4IROvS5N4ARKVLePCiVOaKQ">Nicaragua
having the lowest level of gender inequality</a> in
Latin America and ranked 12 out of 145 countries in the
world, just behind Germany.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Over time, the FSLN government has
incorporated this massive self-employed sector, as well
as maquiladora workers (i.e. textile workers in
foreign-owned plants located in free trade zones created
by previous neoliberal governments), into the health
care and pension system, causing the financial
commitments to grow which required a new formula to
ensure fiscal stability. The proposed reforms to Social
Security <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Solidarity-Groups-Accuse-Right-Wing-Opposition-of-Using-Reforms-as-Excuse-for-Coup-20180703-0001.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Solidarity-Groups-Accuse-Right-Wing-Opposition-of-Using-Reforms-as-Excuse-for-Coup-20180703-0001.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNEyKnPuOXPc1p_Fy15TN4XSBxkQmg">were
the trigger</a> for the private sector and student
protests on <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623556"><span>April 18th</span></span>.
The business lobby called for the protests when Ortega
proposed increasing employer contributions by 3.5% to
pension and health funds, while only slightly increasing
worker contributions by 0.75% and shifting 5% of
pensioners’ cash transfer into their health care fund.
The reform also ended a loophole which allowed
high-income individuals to claim a low income in order
to access health benefits.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This was a <a
href="http://www.coha.org/social-security-protests-in-nicaragua-hold-on-a-second/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.coha.org/social-security-protests-in-nicaragua-hold-on-a-second/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNGV1F1Naog3Ql9VagK53pyDeGumEg">counter-proposal
to the IMF proposal</a> to raise the retirement age
and more than double the number of weeks that workers
would need to pay into the pension fund in order to
access benefits. The fact the government felt strong
enough to deny the IMF and business lobby’s austerity
demands was a sign that the bargaining strength of
private capital has declined, as <a
href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=57&pr.y=5&sy=2006&ey=2017&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=268%2C278%2C238%2C253%2C258&s=NGDPRPC&grp=0&a="
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x%3D57%26pr.y%3D5%26sy%3D2006%26ey%3D2017%26scsm%3D1%26ssd%3D1%26sort%3Dcountry%26ds%3D.%26br%3D1%26c%3D268%252C278%252C238%252C253%252C258%26s%3DNGDPRPC%26grp%3D0%26a%3D&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNHWOaqrP218WTYpnUN8aE7TCPK-6g">Nicaragua’s
impressive economic growth</a>, a 38% increase in GDP
from 2006-2017, has been led by small-scale producers
and public spending. However, the opposition used
manipulative Facebook ads presenting the reform as an
austerity measure, plus fake news of a student death on
<span tabindex="0" data-term="goog_1498623557"><span>April
18th</span></span>, to generate protests across the
country on <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623558"><span>April 19th</span></span>.
Immediately, the <a
href="https://therealnews.com/stories/us-govt-regime-change-machine-fuels-nicaraguas-violent-right-wing-insurgency"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://therealnews.com/stories/us-govt-regime-change-machine-fuels-nicaraguas-violent-right-wing-insurgency&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNHTB3IPbTi0w9sugO7qlzKhBliV_A">regime
change machine</a> lurched into motion. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The National Dialogue shows the class
interests in conflict. The opposition’s Civic Alliance
for Justice and Democracy has as its key figures: José
Adan Aguirre, leader of the private business lobby;
Maria Nelly Tellez, director of Cargill in Nicaragua and
head of the US-Nicaragua Chamber of Commerce; the
private university students of the <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623559"><span>April 19</span></span>th
Movement; Michael Healy, manager of a Colombian sugar
corporation and head of the agribusiness lobby; Juan
Sebastian Chamorro, who represents the oligarchy dressed
as civil society; Carlos Tunnermann, 85-year-old
ex-Sandinista minister and ex-chancellor of the National
University; Azalea Solis, head of a US government-funded
feminist organization; and Medardo Mairena, a “peasant
leader” funded by the US government, who lived 17 years
in Costa Rica before being deported in 2017 for human
trafficking. Tunnermann, Solis and the <span
tabindex="0" data-term="goog_1498623560"><span>April
19</span></span>th students are all associated with
the Movement for Renovation of Sandinismo (MRS), a tiny
Sandinista offshoot party that nonetheless merits
special attention. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In the 1980s, many of the Sandinista Front’s
top level cadre were in fact the children of some of the
famous oligarchic families, such as the Cardenal
brothers and part of the Chamorro family, in charge of
the revolutionary government’s ministries of Culture and
Education and its media, respectively. After FSLN’s
election loss in 1990, the children of the oligarchy
staged an exodus from the party. Along with them, some
of the most notable intellectual, military and
intelligence cadre left and formed, over time, the MRS.
The new party renounced socialism, blamed all of the
mistakes of the Revolution on Daniel Ortega and over
time took over the sphere of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in Nicaragua, including feminist,
environmentalist, youth, media and human rights
organizations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Since 2007, the MRS has become increasingly
close with the extreme right-wing of the US Republican
Party. Since the outbreak of violence in April, many if
not most of the sources cited by Western media
(including, disturbingly, Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now!),
come from this party, which has the support of less than
2% of the Nicaraguan electorate. This allows the
oligarchs to couch their violent attempt to reinstall
neoliberalism in leftist-sounding discourse of former
Sandinistas critical of the Ortega government.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is a farce to claim that workers and
peasants are behind the unrest. <a
href="http://www.cloclaviacampesina.org/2018/05/nicaragua-debe-vivir-en-paz-companerosy.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.cloclaviacampesina.org/2018/05/nicaragua-debe-vivir-en-paz-companerosy.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNHusQX9dr5xAx2eLk2gUMn8DsWaiA">La
Vía Campesina</a>, the National Union of Farmers and
Ranchers, the <a
href="https://friendsatc.org/blog/an-urgent-call-for-solidarity-in-nicaragua/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://friendsatc.org/blog/an-urgent-call-for-solidarity-in-nicaragua/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNGKhhmUVnSl8Rh4a1war60TsLOsdQ">Association
of Rural Workers</a>, the <a
href="https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:78154-fnt-da-a-conocer-medidas-urgentes-para-restablecer-la-paz-y-la-estabilidad-en-nicaragua"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:78154-fnt-da-a-conocer-medidas-urgentes-para-restablecer-la-paz-y-la-estabilidad-en-nicaragua&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNHUsDcI0KOuxez0smXUjN46cRiDdA">National
Workers’ Front</a>, the indigenous <a
href="https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:76385-gobierno-mayangna-apoya-dialogo-para-buscar-la-paz"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:76385-gobierno-mayangna-apoya-dialogo-para-buscar-la-paz&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNFrEk8ji7a0u64HUMfcURmitEXd-A">Mayangna
Nation</a> and other movements and organizations have
been unequivocal in their demands for an end to the
violence and their support for the Ortega government.
This unrest is a full-scale regime change operation
carried out by media oligarchs, a network of NGOs funded
by the US government, armed elements of elite
landholding families and the Catholic Church, and has
opened the window for drug cartels and organized crime
to gain a foothold in Nicaragua.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>The Elephant in the Room</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Which brings us to US government involvement
in the violent coup.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As Tom Ricker <a
href="https://quixote.org/MANUFACTURING-DISSENT-THE-N-E-D-OPPOSITION-MEDIA-AND-THE-POLITICAL-CRISIS-IN-NICARAGUA/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://quixote.org/MANUFACTURING-DISSENT-THE-N-E-D-OPPOSITION-MEDIA-AND-THE-POLITICAL-CRISIS-IN-NICARAGUA/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNH3ZL1e6tIKHY9WRQT2PQUG_uwxCg">reported</a>
early in this political crisis, several years ago the US
government decided that rather than finance opposition
political parties, which have lost enormous legitimacy
in Nicaragua, it would finance the NGO civil society
sector. National Endowment for Democracy (<a
href="https://www.ned.org/region/latin-america-and-caribbean/nicaragua-2017/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.ned.org/region/latin-america-and-caribbean/nicaragua-2017/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393981000&usg=AFQjCNGRnSGUqmu2KXLt39z18LaL-fiboA">NED)
gave more than $700,000 to build the opposition</a> to
the government in 2017, and has granted more than $4.4
million since 2014. The overarching purpose of this
funding was to “provide a coordinated strategy and media
voice for opposition groups in Nicaragua.” Ricker
continues:</p>
<p dir="ltr">“The result of this consistent building and
funding of opposition resources has been to create an
echo chamber that is amplified by commentators in the
international media – most of whom have no presence in
Nicaragua and rely on these secondary sources.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">NED founding father, Allen Weinstein, <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/How-the-US-Funds-Dissent-against-Latin-American-Governments-20150312-0006.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/How-the-US-Funds-Dissent-against-Latin-American-Governments-20150312-0006.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGSj-T1UvtE_86HUWwDTVHKYF_yww">described
NED as the overt CIA</a> saying, “A lot of what we do
today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.” In
Nicaragua, rather than the traditional right-wing, NED
funds the MRS-affiliated organizations which pose
left-sounding critiques of the Sandinista government.
The regime change activists use Sandinista slogans,
songs and symbols even as they burn historic monuments,
paint over the red-and-black markers of fallen martyrs,
and physically attack members of the Sandinista party.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Of the opposition groups in the National
Dialogue, the feminist organization of Azalea Solis and
the peasant organization of Medardo Mairena are financed
through<a
href="https://popularresistance.org/ned-boasts-of-laying-the-groundwork-for-nicaraguan-insurrection/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://popularresistance.org/ned-boasts-of-laying-the-groundwork-for-nicaraguan-insurrection/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNHvAbGXMRuWuVTiUYqa4ZFMJi5WsA">
NED grants</a>, while the <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623561"><span>April 19th</span></span>
students stay in hotels and make trips paid for by <a
href="https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/503-freedom-house/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/503-freedom-house/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGPSJ10gbbvkcal60STwgARSpaN3g">Freedom
House</a>, another regime change organ funded by NED
and USAID. NED also finances Confidencial, the Chamorro
media organization. Grants from NED finance the
Institute of Strategic Studies and Public Policy
(IEEPP), whose Executive Director, Felix Maradiaga, is
another MRS cadre very close to the US Embassy. In June,
Maradiaga was accused of leading a criminal network
called Viper which, from the occupied UPOLI campus,
organized carjackings, arsons and murders in order to
create chaos and panic during the months of April and
May.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Maradiaga grew up in the United States and
became a fellow of the <a
href="https://agln.aspeninstitute.org/profile/3004"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://agln.aspeninstitute.org/profile/3004&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFeDIsfgPxXEBWv8G73qg7c9CNIDw">Aspen
Leadership Institute</a>, before studying public
policy at Harvard. He was a secretary in the Ministry of
Defense for the last liberal president, Enrique Bolaños.
He is a <a
href="https://www.weforum.org/people/felix-maradiaga"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.weforum.org/people/felix-maradiaga&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNEj4CzUllSZBd6UizqrnivTflUYUQ">Young
Global Leader at the World Economic Forum</a> and in
2015, the <a
href="https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/event/speakers-dinner-2015-gus-hart-fellow-felix-maradiaga"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/event/speakers-dinner-2015-gus-hart-fellow-felix-maradiaga&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNHSbshybfy0X9eLqqakeg5uReAlDA">Chicago
Council on Global Affairs</a> gave him the Gus Hart
Fellowship, past recipients of which include Cuban
dissident Yoani Sánchez and Henrique Capriles Radonski,
the Venezuelan opposition leader who attacked the Cuban
embassy during the coup attempt of 2002.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Remarkably, Maradiaga is not the only leader
of the coup attempt who is part of the <a
href="https://cn.weforum.org/people/maria-nelly-rivas/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://cn.weforum.org/people/maria-nelly-rivas/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFMYAFGa-E8hIBKAIcllDeRIrtOtg">Aspen
World Leadership Network</a>. Maria Nelly Rivas, <a
href="https://www.cargill.com/story/committed-to-change"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.cargill.com/story/committed-to-change&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFl2l1MlX1EH3imhgNSR28Pabq4fQ">director
in Nicaragua of US corporate giant Cargill</a>, is one
of the main spokespersons for the opposition Civic
Alliance. Rivas, who currently also heads the <a
href="https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/01/30/economia/2369301-maria-nelly-rivas-electa-presidenta-de-amcham"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/01/30/economia/2369301-maria-nelly-rivas-electa-presidenta-de-amcham&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNHHbULZJ4Q85_EonPcDZ-SKeE0IYA">US-Nicaragua
Chamber of Commerce</a>, is being groomed as a
possible presidential candidate in the next elections.
Beneath these US-groomed leaders, there is a network of
over 2,000 young people who have <a
href="https://www.ndi.org/nicaragua-leadership-program"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.ndi.org/nicaragua-leadership-program&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFlu9nDCwPnffXarKr83iT3usf4sQ">received
trainings with NED funds</a> on topics such as social
media skills for democracy defense. This battalion of
social media warriors was able to immediately shape and
control public opinion in Facebook in the five days from
<span tabindex="0" data-term="goog_1498623562"><span>April
18th to 22nd</span></span>, leading to spontaneous
violent protests across the country.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>On the Violence</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">One of the ways in which reporting on
Nicaragua has ventured farthest from the truth is
calling the opposition “nonviolent.” The violence
script, modeled on the 2014 and 2017 <a
href="https://monthlyreview.org/2018/06/01/the-politics-of-food-in-venezuela/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://monthlyreview.org/2018/06/01/the-politics-of-food-in-venezuela/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNH3tOtaNcTt6oAgHZoMGt5MPSgyJw">guarimba
protests in Venezuela</a>, is to organize armed
attacks on government buildings, entice the police to
send in anti-riot squads, engage in filmed
confrontations and publish edited footage online
claiming that the government is being violent against
nonviolent protesters.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Over 60 government buildings have been burned
down, schools, hospitals, health centers attacked, 55
ambulances damaged, at least <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGkGaGOEGdFxVSggD5dxx2sz9Vygg">$112
million</a> in infrastructure damage, small businesses
have been closed, and 200,000 jobs lost causing <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGkGaGOEGdFxVSggD5dxx2sz9Vygg">devastating
economic impact</a> during the protests. Violence has
included, in addition to thousands of injuries, 15
students and 16 police officers killed, as well as over
200 Sandinistas kidnapped, many of them publicly
tortured. Violent <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3xmHsIieGf_xKCux4x51g"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3xmHsIieGf_xKCux4x51g&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFz3a6aUH2c7eDeubHpRWqubPt6gw">opposition
atrocities</a> were misreported as government
repression. While it is important to defend the right of
the public to protest, regardless of its political
opinions, it is disingenuous to ignore that <a
href="https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGXvKCHn7uXp673Z5IUkSu0OXXpSA">the
opposition’s strategy requires and feeds upon violence
and deaths</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">National and international news claim deaths
and injuries due to “repression” <a
href="https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGXvKCHn7uXp673Z5IUkSu0OXXpSA">without
explaining the context</a>. The Molotov cocktails,
mortar-launchers, pistols, and assault rifles used by
opposition groups are ignored by the media, and when
Sandinista sympathizers, police or passers-by are
killed, they are falsely counted as victims of state
repression. Explosive opposition claims like <a
href="https://blogcontralamanipulacion.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/contradicciones-de-la-lista-de-muertos-dictada-por-el-m19a-en-la-primera-mesa-de-dialogo-primera-mentira/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://blogcontralamanipulacion.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/contradicciones-de-la-lista-de-muertos-dictada-por-el-m19a-en-la-primera-mesa-de-dialogo-primera-mentira/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNHEIEtzCduM7gXdjKvgVHxFR9VcpQ">massacres
of children</a> and <a
href="http://tortillaconsal.com/tortilla/node/3395"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://tortillaconsal.com/tortilla/node/3395&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNHHeCwQXFT-J3W7gFi44Xp1U_0eNQ">murders
of women</a> have been shown to be false, and the
cases of torture, disappearances and extrajudicial
executions by police forces <a
href="http://www.informepastran.com/index.php/2018/07/03/no-hay-torturas-en-el-chipote/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.informepastran.com/index.php/2018/07/03/no-hay-torturas-en-el-chipote/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNHqQ9-dHHq9dW_CYfbknn5q01FH0Q">have
not</a> been corroborated by <a
href="http://www.informepastran.com/index.php/2018/07/03/piden-pruebas-a-organismos-de-derechos-humanos/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.informepastran.com/index.php/2018/07/03/piden-pruebas-a-organismos-de-derechos-humanos/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFj0b1SK3uDByhgTIwdBDwhRTAlfw">evidence
</a>or due process.</p>
<p dir="ltr">While there is evidence to support the
opposition claim of <a
href="https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/05/06/nacionales/2414738-autopsia-a-estudiante-asesinado-en-protestas-en-esteli-confirma-uso-de-francotiradores"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/05/06/nacionales/2414738-autopsia-a-estudiante-asesinado-en-protestas-en-esteli-confirma-uso-de-francotiradores&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNFhASJdfmv9EaelpOmD9LdZ3cUs6g">sniper
fire</a> killing protesters, there is no logical
explanation for the State using snipers to add to the
death toll, and counter-protesters have also been
victims of sniper fire, suggesting a “third party”
provocateur role in the destabilizing violence. When an
entire Sandinista family was burned to death in Managua,
the opposition media all cited a witness who claimed
that the police had set <a
href="https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGXvKCHn7uXp673Z5IUkSu0OXXpSA">fire
to the home</a>, despite the house being in a
neighborhood barricaded off from police access.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The National Police of Nicaragua has been <a
href="https://www.thenation.com/article/why-is-nicaraguas-homicide-rate-so-far-below-that-of-its-central-american-neighbors/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.thenation.com/article/why-is-nicaraguas-homicide-rate-so-far-below-that-of-its-central-american-neighbors/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNH-y73i13X3XEra9yFBTX6mnPp6Kw">long-recognized</a>
for its model of community policing (in contrast to
militarized police in most Central American countries),
its relative lack of corruption, and its mostly female
top brass. The coup strategy has sought to destroy
public trust in the police through egregious use of fake
news, such as the many false claims of assassinations,
beatings, torture, and disappearances in the week from <span
tabindex="0" data-term="goog_1498623563"><span>April
17</span></span>th to 23rd. Several young people
whose photos were carried in opposition rallies as
victims of police violence have <a
href="https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:76613-estan-vivos-ciudadanos-que-fueron-circulados-como-fallecidos-desmienten-noticias-falsas-y-manipulacion-en-redes-sociales"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:76613-estan-vivos-ciudadanos-que-fueron-circulados-como-fallecidos-desmienten-noticias-falsas-y-manipulacion-en-redes-sociales&source=gmail&ust=1531332393982000&usg=AFQjCNGJ4VBAToztLA5ixuNzu1HlVOITXA">turned
out to be alive </a>and well.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The police have been wholly inadequate and
underprepared for armed confrontations. Attacks on
several public buildings on the same night and the first
major arson attacks led government workers to hold
vigils with barrels of water and, often, sticks and
stones, to fend off attackers. The opposition,
frustrated at not achieving more police conflicts, began
to build roadblocks across the country and burning the
homes of Sandinistas, even shooting and burning
Sandinista families in atrocious <a
href="https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNFSknM_zSAb8xwF7yPBOJmLkZDacg">hate
crimes</a>. In contrast to La Prensa’s version of
events, Nicaraguans have felt the distinct lack of
police presence, and the loss of safely in their
neighborhoods, while many were targeted by violence.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Since May, the strategy of the opposition has
been to build armed roadblocks across the country,
closing off transport and trapping people. The
roadblocks, usually built with large paving stones, are
manned by between 5 and 100 armed men with bandannas or
masks. While the media reports on idealistic young
people running roadblocks, the vast majority of
roadblocks are <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNECvUxSoM5M5jRo3TyaONqY0yqhtw">maintained
by paid men</a> who come from a <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/bloggers/Tranques-y-gatilleros-intelectuales-20180628-0004.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/bloggers/Tranques-y-gatilleros-intelectuales-20180628-0004.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNH2ppytItHVVhln8wAUklHezhDxnQ">background
of petty crime</a>. Where large areas of cities and
towns are blocked off from government and police forces,
drug-related activities intensify, and <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/news/detienen-oscar-antonio-rivas-actos-violentos-nicaragua--20180629-0060.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/news/detienen-oscar-antonio-rivas-actos-violentos-nicaragua--20180629-0060.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNHkWzDR2nke19_EtF0BDe1cGVXxIw">drug
gangs</a> now control many of the roadblocks and pay
the salaries.</p>
<p dir="ltr">These roadblocks have been the centers of
violence, workers who need to pass through roadblocks
are often robbed, punched, insulted, and, if suspected
of being Sandinistas, tied up, stripped naked, <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3xmHsIieGf_xKCux4x51g"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3xmHsIieGf_xKCux4x51g&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNEHyZqxx55eUBNLXETVy0eCyoMe6Q">tortured</a>,
painted in blue-and-white, and sometimes killed. There
are three cases of people dying in ambulances unable to
pass roadblocks, and one case of a 10-year-old girl
being kidnapped and raped at the roadblock in Las
Maderas. When organized neighbors or the police clear
roadblocks, the armed groups run away and regroup to
burn buildings, kidnap or injure people in revenge. All
of the victims that this violence produces are counted
by the mainstream media as victims of repression, a
total falsehood.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Nicaraguan government has confronted this
situation by largely keeping police off the streets, to
prevent encounters and accusations of repression. At the
same time, rather than simply arrest violent protestors,
which certainly would have given the opposition the
battle deaths it craves, the government called for a <a
href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/17/c_137184603.htm"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/17/c_137184603.htm&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNH3Iwk2mT-d9S04lYtF2V8qjCpd-g">National
Dialogue</a>, mediated by <a
href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/central-america/catholic-church-to-act-as-mediator-as-nicaragua-protests-continue-20180425-p4zbkc.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.smh.com.au/world/central-america/catholic-church-to-act-as-mediator-as-nicaragua-protests-continue-20180425-p4zbkc.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNGGZ8Fm_1Fsx0wwdLe04YeSRYOslA">the
Catholic Church</a>, in which the opposition can bring
forward any proposal for human rights and political
reform. The government created a parliamentary <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Forms-Truth-And-Security-Commission-To-Halt-Violence-20180616-0020.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Forms-Truth-And-Security-Commission-To-Halt-Violence-20180616-0020.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNHJ-81NuVsCIAwlPjSfXHcJ9CTghQ">Truth
and Peace Commission</a> and launched an independent
Public Ministry query.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As a result, a process of organizing
self-defense developed. Families who have been
displaced, young people who have been beaten, robbed or
tortured, and veterans of the 1979 insurrection and/or
the Contra War, hold vigil round the Sandinista Front
headquarters in each town. In many places they built
barricades against opposition attacks and have been
falsely labeled paramilitary forces in the media. In the
towns that do not have such community-organized
barricades, the human toll from opposition violence is
much greater. The National Union of Nicaraguan Students
has been particularly targeted by opposition violence. A
student delegate of the National Dialogue, Leonel
Morales, was kidnapped, shot in the abdomen and thrown
into a ditch to die in June, to sabotage the dialogue
and punish him for challenging the <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623564"><span>April 19th</span></span>
students’ right to speak on behalf of all Nicaraguan
students.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There have been four major opposition rallies
since April, directed toward mobilizing the upper-middle
class Nicaraguans who live in the suburbs between
Managua and Masaya. These rallies featured a who’s-who
of high society, including beauty queens, business
owners and oligarchs, as well as university students of
the <span tabindex="0" data-term="goog_1498623565"><span>April
19</span></span>th Movement, the moral high-ground
for the opposition.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Three months into the conflict, none of the
mortal victims have been bourgeois. All have come from
the popular classes of Nicaragua. Despite claims of
total repression, the bourgeois feels perfectly safe to
participate in public protests by day — although the
last daytime rally ended in a chaotic attack by
protesters against squatters on a property of, curiously
enough, Piero Coen, Nicaragua’s richest man. The
nighttime armed attacks have generally been carried out
by people who come from poor neighborhoods, many of whom
are paid two to four times the minimum daily wage for
each night of destruction.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Unfortunately, most Nicaraguan human rights
organizations are funded by NED and controlled by the
Movement for Sandinista Renovation. These organizations
have accused the Nicaraguan government of dictatorship
and genocide throughout Ortega’s presidency.
International human rights organizations, including <a
href="https://popularresistance.org/open-letter-to-amnesty-international-by-a-former-amnesty-international-prisoner-of-conscience/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://popularresistance.org/open-letter-to-amnesty-international-by-a-former-amnesty-international-prisoner-of-conscience/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNFQC0kGC1UCjei_glaxjHoQCrvHDg">Amnesty
International</a> have been criticized for their
one-sided reports, which include none of the information
provided by the government or individuals who identify
as Sandinistas.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The government invited the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS, a
Washington-based entity notoriously unfriendly to
leftist governments, to investigate the violent events
of April and determine whether repression had occurred.
The night of a controversial skirmish in the highway
outside the Agrarian University in Managua ended a
negotiated 48-hour truce, IACHR Director Paulo Abrao
visited the site to declare<a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNECvUxSoM5M5jRo3TyaONqY0yqhtw">
his support for the opposition</a>. The IACHR <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Reports-Opposition-Violence-to-IACHR-20180612-0020.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Reports-Opposition-Violence-to-IACHR-20180612-0020.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNEuHgTvXwQmfEU3GBzSLm8vCXxH0w">ignored
the opposition’s widespread violence</a> and only
reported on the defensive violence of the government.
Not only was it categorically <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/news/nicaragua-informe-cidh-sesgado-parcializado-20180622-0031.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/news/nicaragua-informe-cidh-sesgado-parcializado-20180622-0031.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNEHO0GTqvAKUWjBhanN0H3jEGIzNA">rejected
by Nicaraguan chancellor Denis Moncada</a> as an
“insult to the dignity of the Nicaraguan people,” <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Breaking-Out-of-Soft-Coup-Psychosis-20180625-0006.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Breaking-Out-of-Soft-Coup-Psychosis-20180625-0006.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNHJYpRjjy5it7WO2ISn1hQFZbUbtQ">a
resolution approving the IACHR report</a> was
supported by only ten out of 34 countries.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, the <span tabindex="0"
data-term="goog_1498623566"><span>April 19th</span></span>
Movement, made up of current or former university
students in favor of regime change, sent a delegation to
Washington and managed to alienate much of Nicaraguan
society by <a
href="https://www.scoopnest.com/es/user/CANAL15NIC/1004497731669372928-ileana-ros-lehtinen-muy-inspirada-en-reunirme-con-victor-y-zayda-valientes-lideres-universitarios-que-anhelan-una-nicaragua-libre-y-democratica-estos-estudiantes-representan-la-voz-de-tantos-jovenes-en-protestar-y-denunciar-la-violencia-del-regimen-de-ortega"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.scoopnest.com/es/user/CANAL15NIC/1004497731669372928-ileana-ros-lehtinen-muy-inspirada-en-reunirme-con-victor-y-zayda-valientes-lideres-universitarios-que-anhelan-una-nicaragua-libre-y-democratica-estos-estudiantes-representan-la-voz-de-tantos-jovenes-en-protestar-y-denunciar-la-violencia-del-regimen-de-ortega&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNEyPOJ2I1jBKg0GuMiGUCRtRjLgpA">grinning
into the camera with far-right interventionist members</a>
of the US Congress, including Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen,
Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz. M19 leaders also
cheered Vice-President Mike Pence’s bellicose warnings
that Nicaragua is on the short list of countries that
will soon know the Trump Administration’s meaning of
freedom, and met with the ARENA party of El Salvador,
known for its links to the death squads that murdered
liberation theologist Archbishop Oscar Romero. Within
Nicaragua, the critical mass of students stopped
demonstrating weeks ago, the large civic protests of
April and May have dwindled, and the same-old familiar
faces of Nicaraguan right-wing politics are left holding
the bill for massive material damage and loss of life.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Why Nicaragua?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Ortega won his third term in 2016 with 72.4
percent of the vote with 66 percent turnout, very high
compared to US elections. Not only has Nicaragua put in
place an economy that treats the poor as producers, with
remarkable results raising their standard of living <span
tabindex="0" data-term="goog_1498623567"><span>in 10
years</span></span>, but it also has a government
that consistently rejects US imperialism, allying with
Cuba, Venezuela, and Palestine, and <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Decorates-Oscar-Lopez-Rivera-with-Highest-Honor-20170720-0002.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Decorates-Oscar-Lopez-Rivera-with-Highest-Honor-20170720-0002.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNE97ntLwlpZ9cI_b-l1_so0x2ilBg">voices
support</a> for Puerto Rican independence and a
peaceful solution to Korean crisis. Nicaragua is a
member of member of Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas
and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States, a Latin American alternative to the OAS, neither
include the US or Canada. It has also allied with China
for a proposed canal project and Russia for security
cooperation. For all of these reasons the US wants to
install a US-friendly Nicaraguan government.</p>
<p dir="ltr">More important is the example Nicaragua has
set for a successful social and economic model outside
the US sphere of domination. Generating over 75% of its
<a
href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nicaragua-joins-clean-energy-revolution-vows-90-renewables-by-2020-1882145790.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.ecowatch.com/nicaragua-joins-clean-energy-revolution-vows-90-renewables-by-2020-1882145790.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNFXxxfKR28auL8X__l9mQsltG5a6w">energy</a>
from renewable sources, Nicaragua was the only country
with the moral authority to oppose the Paris Climate
Agreement as being <a
href="http://time.com/4799844/nicaragua-paris-climate-agreement-countries/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://time.com/4799844/nicaragua-paris-climate-agreement-countries/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393983000&usg=AFQjCNGRxDpRV30f7WregapZK12-Yn6ZBQ">too
weak </a> (it later joined the treaty one day after
Trump pulled the US out, stating “we opposed the Paris
agreement out of responsibility, the US opposes it out
of irresponsibility”). The FMLN government of El
Salvador, while less politically dominant than the
Sandinista Front, has taken the example of good
governance from Nicaragua, recently <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/world/americas/el-salvador-prizing-water-over-gold-bans-all-metal-mining.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/world/americas/el-salvador-prizing-water-over-gold-bans-all-metal-mining.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNGuqhn7bYHQWkI6jD7_h3MJDqvOaA">prohibiting
mining</a> and the privatization of water. Even
Honduras, the eternal bastion of US power in Central
America, showed signs of a leftward shift until the <a
href="https://popularresistance.org/the-ugly-aftermath-of-the-us-supported-coup-in-honduras/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://popularresistance.org/the-ugly-aftermath-of-the-us-supported-coup-in-honduras/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNGojUM6G7clikTaaeOn4ofkxlmd6Q">US-supported
military coup in 2009</a>. Since then, there has been
massive repression of social activists, a clearly <a
href="https://popularresistance.org/oas-calls-for-new-honduras-election-after-coup-president-declared-winner/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://popularresistance.org/oas-calls-for-new-honduras-election-after-coup-president-declared-winner/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNG6fp51uqrBUcNxO_1IM4rfEVJ17Q">stolen
2017 election</a>, and Honduras has permitted the
expansion of US military bases near the Nicaraguan
border.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2017, the US House of Representatives
unanimously passed <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-House-Passes-NICA-Act-Against-Nicaragua-Imperiling-Social-Programs-and-Development-20171003-0030.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-House-Passes-NICA-Act-Against-Nicaragua-Imperiling-Social-Programs-and-Development-20171003-0030.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNFQli1vnh3B9iOUJrMxESm_8vQDng">the
Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act</a> (NICA
Act), which if passed by the Senate will force the US
government to veto loans from international institutions
to the Nicaraguan government. <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Says-Nica-Act-Reflects-Continuity-of-US-Imperialism-20170728-0003.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Says-Nica-Act-Reflects-Continuity-of-US-Imperialism-20170728-0003.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNELteGbvSG1c6Qafg8aXSM-pjeb2Q">This
US imperialism</a> will cripple Nicaragua’s ability to
build roads, update hospitals, construct renewable
energy plants, and transition from extensive livestock
raising to integrated animal-forestry systems, among
other consequences. It may also signify the end of many
popular social programs, such as subsidized electricity,
stable bus fares, and free medical treatment of chronic
diseases.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The US Executive Branch has used the Global
Magnitsky Act to target the finances of leaders of the
Electoral Supreme Court, the National Police, the city
government of Managua and the ALBA corporation in
Nicaragua. Police officers and public health bureaucrats
have been told their US visas have been revoked. The
point, of course, is not whether these officials have or
have not committed acts that merit their reprimand in
Nicaragua, but whether the US government should have the
jurisdiction to intimidate and corner public officials
of Nicaragua. </p>
<p dir="ltr">While the <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Legitimacy-And-Human-Rights-20180704-0034.html&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNHB3fu-vt9A-L0wXLWd4gPVwvGA1A">sadistic
violence continues</a>, the strategy of the
coup-mongers to force out the government has failed. The
resolution of the political crisis will come through
elections, and the FSLN is likely to win those
elections, barring a dramatic and unlikely new offensive
by the right-wing opposition.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>An Upside Down Class War</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">It is important to understand the nature of
US and oligarch coups in this era and the role of media
and NGO deception because it is repeated in multiple
Latin American and other countries. We can expect a
similar attack on recently elected Andrés Manuel López
Obrador in Mexico, if he seeks the changes he has
promised.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The US has sought to dominate Nicaragua <a
href="https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.investigaction.net/en/nicaragua-terrorism-as-an-art-of-demonstrating/&source=gmail&ust=1531332393984000&usg=AFQjCNEymBZHJlfDKioQzJdWDoXD_eTsow">since
the mid-1800s</a>. The wealthy in Nicaragua have
sought return of US-allied governance since the
Sandinistas rose to power. This failing coup does not
mean the end of their efforts or the end of corporate
media misinformation. Knowing what is really occurring
and sharing that information is the antidote to
defeating them in Nicaragua and around the world.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Nicaragua is a class war turned upside down.
The government has raised the living standards of the
impoverished majority through wealth redistribution.
Oligarchs and the United States, unable to install
neoliberalism through elections, created a political
crisis, highlighted by false media coverage to force
Ortega to resign. The coup is failing, the truth is
coming out, and should not be forgotten.</p>
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