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dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/24/violent-coup-fail-in-nicaragua/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/24/violent-coup-fail-in-nicaragua/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Violent Coup Fail in Nicaragua</h1>
<span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/bp8jhal111/"
rel="nofollow">Kevin Zeese</a> - July 24, 2018</span></div>
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<p>On <a
href="https://popularresistance.org/whats-really-happening-in-nicaragua-an-interview-with-stephen-sefton/">Clearing
The FOG radio and podcast</a>, Margaret Flowers and I
interviewed Stephen Sefton, who lives in Nicaragua and
is a founder of Tortilla con Sal. He names the names
behind the violence and describes what is happening in
Nicaragua.<br>
<strong><br>
Lessons Learned From The Failed Violent Coup In
Nicaragua And Next Steps</strong></p>
<p>The violent <a
href="https://popularresistance.org/nicaragua-defeats-the-not-so-soft-coup/">coup
in Nicaragua has failed</a>. This does not mean the
United States and oligarchs are giving up, but this
phase of their effort to remove the government did not
succeed. The coup exposed the alliances who are working
with the United States to put in place a neoliberal
government that is controlled by the United States and
serves the interests of the wealthy. People celebrated
the failure of the coup but realize work needs to be
done to protect the gains of the Sandinista revolution.</p>
<p><strong>People Celebrate Revolution, Call For Peace,
Show Support for Government</strong></p>
<p>The people of Nicaragua showed their support for the
democratically-elected government of Daniel Ortega with
a <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-The-39th-Anniversary-Of-A-Triumphant-Revolution-20180719-0012.html">massive
outpouring in Managua</a> in a celebration of the 39th
anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. In addition to
the mass protest in Managua, various cities had their
own, in some cases very sizeable ones.</p>
<p>People have wanted peace to return to Nicaragua. They
have also wanted the roadblocks removed, which have
resulted in closed businesses, job loss and loss of
mobility. Roadblocks have been removed, even in the
opposition stronghold of Masaya. There were two
opposition deaths and one police officer killed in the
removal. There was also an earlier death of a policeman
in Masaya, captured when he was off-duty, tortured and
burnt to death. This brings the total of police killed
since April up to at least 21 with hundreds
injured. With the opening of the main road on the east
side of Masaya, all Nicaragua’s main routes are open to
traffic and buses etc are operating normally.</p>
<p>At the rally, <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-President-Ortega-Calls-For-Unity-Condemns-Bishops-20180719-0023.html">President
Ortega called on the people</a> of Nicaragua to defend
peace and reinstate the unity that existed in the nation
before the violent opposition protests. He described how
the violent coup attempted to destabilize the country
and ended the peace that has existed through the eleven
years of his time in office. He said, “Peace must be
defended every day to avoid situations like these being
repeated.”</p>
<p>He also criticized the Catholic Bishops for their role
in the failed violent coup. Ortega described the
Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua as “coup leaders” for
collaborating with the opposition during the protests.
Not only did the Catholic leadership side with the
opposition during the national dialogue, but priests
were involved in kidnapping and torture. Pope Francis
has a lot of work to do to rein in the Catholic Church
in Nicaragua. If their role in these violent protests
and opposition to an economy for the people is not
stopped, this will become a scandal for the Catholic
Church.</p>
<p>Other Latin American leaders spoke out against
involvement in the coup. <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Bolivias-Evo-Morales-Condemns-US-Criminal-Plan-in-Nicaragua-20180720-0011.html">Bolivian
President Evo Morales</a> condemned US “interference”
in Nicaragua, denouncing the “criminal strategies” used
against the government of Daniel Ortega. Morales accused
the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
of “openly supporting violence” in Nicaragua. Also at
the celebration were the foreign ministers of Cuba and
Venezuela, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, and Jorge Arreza,
all supporting Nicaragua over the violent coup of the
United States and oligarchs.</p>
<p><strong>The United States is Escalating Economic War
and Support for Opposition</strong></p>
<p>The United States is not giving up. Also on
the anniversary of the revolution, <a
href="https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=43BEB9C2-AF4C-44D0-925A-66EF0EAC9512">the
NICA Act, designed to escalate the economic war
against Nicaragua, was introduced in the Senate</a>.
It has already been passed by the US House of
Representatives. The Senate bill, called the <a
href="https://www.foreign.senate.gov/download/nicaragua-sanctions-bill">Nicaragua
Human Rights and Anti-corruption Act of 2018,</a> imposes
sanctions, calls for early elections and escalates US
intelligence involvement in Nicaragua. It is a law that
ensures continued US efforts to remove the
democratically-elected government.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a
href="https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/07/20/politica/2451033-usaid-anuncia-1-5-millones-de-dolares-para-apoyar-la-democracia-y-derechos-humanos-en-nicaragua">USAID
announced an additional $1.5 million for Nicaragua to
build opposition</a> to the government. This will fund
the NGOs that participated in the protests, human rights
groups that falsely reported the situation, media to
produce the regime change narrative and other support
for the opposition.</p>
<p>The coordination between Nicaraguan opposition and the
United States was shown by Max Blumenthal’s attempted
visit to an organization that funnels USAID and NED
money to the opposition. He visited the Managua offices
of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Public
Policies (IEEPP in Spanish), but it was closed because
its director, Felix Maradiaga, who was at the heart of
the violent unrest, was in Washington, DC seeking more
funding from USAID.</p>
<p>On July 18, the <a
href="http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=S-042/18">US-dominated
OAS passed a resolution</a> concerning “The Situation
in Nicaragua.” An earlier effort to endorse a report of
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
was so biased that it failed. The report <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nicaragua-Reports-Opposition-Violence-to-IACHR-20180612-0020.html">ignored
the opposition’s widespread violence</a> or
inaccurately attributed it to the government. It also
failed to recognize government actions in self-defense.
The <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Nicaragua-Breaking-Out-of-Soft-Coup-Psychosis-20180625-0006.html">resolution
approving the IACHR report </a>was supported by only
ten out of 34 countries.</p>
<p>The resolution, which was finally passed by the OAS,
condemned violence on all sides and urged Nicaragua to
pursue all options including the national dialogue to
seek peace begun by Ortega. On the issue of elections,
the resolution urged Nicaragua “to support an electoral
calendar jointly agreed to in the context of the
National Dialogue process.” Only this mainly symbolic
resolution could pass muster in the OAS, despite US
domination.</p>
<p><strong>What Happened and What Was Learned</strong></p>
<p>In our article “<a
href="https://popularresistance.org/correcting-the-record-what-is-really-happening-in-nicaragua/">Correcting
the Record: What Is Really Happening In Nicaragua</a>,”
Nils McCune and I describe what was behind the violent
coup attempt. We reported that there was a lot of
misinformation on what was occurring in Nicaragua,
indeed the false narrative of regime change was part of
the tactics of the failed coup. Perhaps most importantly
we described the alignment of forces behind the coup.</p>
<p>The coup was a class war turned upside down. The Ortega
government includes none of the oligarchic families, a
first in the history of Nicaragua. He has put in place a
bottom-up economy that has lifted people out of poverty,
provided access to health care and education, given
micro-loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses and
created an economy energized by public spending. Ortega
expanded coverage of the social security system; as a
result, a new formula was required to ensure fiscal
stability.</p>
<p>Ortega made a counter-proposal to the IMF/business
proposal, which would cut social security and raise the
retirement age. He proposed no cuts to social security
and 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 healthcare fund. These
reforms <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">were
the trigger</a> as it was the business lobby who
called for the protests.</p>
<p>The forces aligned with the violent coup included the
oligarchs, big business interests, foreign investors
(e.g. Colombian financiers), the US-funded NGO’s and the
Catholic Church, a long-term ally of the wealthy. Also
involved was the Movement for Renovation of Sandinismo
(MRS), a tiny Sandinista offshoot party, of former
Sandanistas who left the party when Ortega lost an
election in 1990 who are aligned with the US State
Department.</p>
<p>Regarding students, there were already student protests
around university elections, and these were redirected
by the violent coup effort and supported by a small
minority of students from private universities, the
April 19th Movement. Some of these students had been
brought to the US by the <a
href="https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/503-freedom-house/">Freedom
House</a>, which has long ties to the CIA and <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">met
with far-right interventionist members</a> of the US
Congress, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Sen. Marco
Rubio, and Sen. Ted Cruz.</p>
<p>These groups acted in opposition to the bulk of
Nicaraguan society and showed their true colors. This
includes:</p>
<p><img
src="https://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/dropzone/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-22-at-5.49.22-PM.png"
alt="" height="130" width="510"></p>
<p>No doubt more will come out about this in the future as
the coup is researched and analyzed. As the facts become
clear, the opposition will lose more political power and
be even less likely to win elections. The blockades of
roads with violence undermined the economy and had a
negative impact on the poor and working class. If it
becomes evident that this was a strategy of the
opposition, they will lose power. NGO’s that are funded
by the US and run by members of the MRS will be noted
for their dishonest narrative and will be seen as an arm
of the United States and not trusted by the people of
Nicaragua. Media outside of Nicaragua will come to
understand that human rights groups and NGOs are not
reliable sources of information but need to be
questioned. They need to be pushed to break their ties
with the United States.</p>
<p>This does not mean all is well on the Sandinista side
of the alliance of forces. The coup is an opportunity
for self-reflection and self-criticism that is already
happening, as seen in <a
href="http://www.redvolucion.net/2018/07/20/resultados-del-intento-de-golpe-de-estado-en-nicaragua/">this
list of 20 results from the coup,</a> which begins
with “A more consolidated and United FSLN.” In addition,
the <a
href="http://www.redvolucion.net/2018/07/20/declaracion-del-grupo-de-accion-de-la-campana-de-solidaridad-con-nicaragua/">Action
Group of the Solidarity with Nicaragua Campaign put
forward seven propositions</a> to unify around. The
protest took advantage of challenges the Nicaraguan
government faces in continuing to lift up the poor and
economically insecure. It shows their need to build
their capacity to quickly let the public know their side
of the story. And, it shows the need for planning for a
post-Ortega Sandinista government, as the president is
in his third term.</p>
<p>The anniversary of the revolution was a good beginning
at strengthening the unity of the Sandinista movement
and celebration of the defeat of the coup, but there
will be challenges ahead. Nicaragua is a poor country
that needs foreign investment. If the United States
escalates the economic war, which seems to be the
intent, it will make it challenging to continue the
social and economic programs that are lifting up the
poor. Nicaragua had relied on investment from Venezuela,
but it is also in the midst of an economic war, which
along with the low oil prices has created economic
challenges for them. Nicaragua has begun to build
economic relationships with China, Russia, Iran and
other countries; these will likely need to expand.</p>
<p>The misinformation was deep and widespread. Inside
Nicaragua, there were <a
href="http://www.redvolucion.net/">stories of students
being killed that never happened</a> but that
escalated the protests. The opposition claimed to be
nonviolent when their strategy was to use violence to
force regime change while the government quartered the
National Police. False news and videos of attacks on
neighborhoods and universities never stopped being
manufactured. One example, students calling for help
and claiming they were under attack, was later exposed
in a <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/jorge.capelan/videos/10156409208141655/">video
showing the students practicing</a> the false social
media narrative.</p>
<p>Peace and justice activists in the United States and
western nations have learned they need to be much more
careful believing reports on what is occurring in
Nicaragua. The US-funding of NGOs involved in women’s
issues, environmental protection and human rights in
Nicaragua make them questionable sources of information
for justice advocates. In addition, US-funded regime
change efforts are getting more sophisticated at social
media; and thus, care must be taken as social media has
it is abused by regime change advocates. We must look to
other sources that have shown the ability to report
accurately e.g., <a href="http://tortillaconsal.com/">Tortilla
con Sal</a>, <a
href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english">Telesur</a>, <a
href="http://www.redvolucion.net/">Redvolucion</a>.
Peace and justice <a
href="https://popularresistance.org/foundation-of-anti-imperialism/">advocates
must be grounded in anti-imperialism</a> and
nonintervention by the United States.</p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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