Tag: Nicaragua

Nicaragua On My Mind

Back in the 80’s I was a staunch supporter of the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua….that was when the Reagan and his Boyz were sneaking around trying to arm the Right wing terrorists with cash from the arms sold to Iran (BTW it was illegal and the NRA’s newest cretin, Ollie North, was convicted of his part in the illegal scheme)…..no need to try to force yourself remember those days….I have made it simple for you……https://lobotero.com/2018/05/07/nicaragua-that-magical-land/  or maybe this one……https://lobotero.com/2018/06/20/nicaragua-again/

Well the events in Nicaragua did not go as planned and Ortega continued his hold on the government….he was a Socialists (the horror)…..but with the fall of the USSR Nicaragua fell off the CIA radar….or did it?

AS early as 2016, talk of war against Nicaragua could again be heard in Miami, at a time when the streets of this nation were a regional example of security, peace, and prosperity, where a hardworking, tranquil people proudly enjoyed the social and economic advances achieved by the Sandinista government, that had established a national consensus, in the wake of one of the worst interventions carried out by the United States in Central America.

With no justification whatsoever – when the news from Nicaragua around the world was about a proposed inter-oceanic canal that would boost the economy and impact global navigation – Congress members who make a living off the U.S. war against Cuba and Venezuela were mounting efforts to reverse the prosperity and calm that reigned in the land of Augusto César Sandino.

Congress members, first in the House of Representatives and later the Senate, introduced a bill to create obstacles to the awarding of international loans to Nicaragua, hamper foreign investment, and put a brake on socio-economic development in the country. This imperialist punishment, cooked up by the worst of the anti-Cuban mafia in 2015, set in motion the fabrication of a pretext regarding the alleged lack of democracy, justified as a way to “guarantee electoral transparency and fight corruption.” The result of this initial maneuver was the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of 2017 (NICA Act).

https://www.globalresearch.ca/nicaragua-unraveling-a-plot/5646926

After a couple of decades and some things never change, huh?

Nicaragua Again?

Let me begin by telling my readers that today may be a short day for me for I must return to the doctors and see what the next step is going to be….I apologize for the pace of today’s posts but I hope you will understand.

For 30 years the political front of Nicaragua has not been an important headline….and that is about to change.

How many of my readers are old enough to remember the dark days of the 1980’s…..we were in the middle of Central American politics from Honduras to El Salvador to Nicaragua.

Nicaragua was where the Reagan boyz got in trouble…..the Iran-Contra Affair…..

The Iran-Contra Affair was a secret U.S. arms deal that traded missiles and other arms to free some Americans held hostage by terrorists in Lebanon, but also used funds from the arms deal to support armed conflict in Nicaragua. The controversial dealmaking—and the ensuing political scandal—threatened to bring down the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Soon after taking control of Congress, the Democrats passed the Boland Amendment, which restricted the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Defense (DoD) in foreign conflicts.

The amendment was specifically aimed at Nicaragua, where anti-communist Contras were battling the Sandinista communist government.

Reagan had described the Contras as “the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers.” But much of their funding, to that point, had come via Nicaragua’s cocaine trade, hence Congress’ decision to pass the Boland Amendment.

https://www.history.com/topics/iran-contra-affair

All this effort was to try and stop the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega….Sandinista?

The new government inherited a devastated country. About 500,000 people were homeless, more than 30,000 had been killed, and the economy was in ruins. In July 1979 the Sandinistas appointed a five-member Government Junta of National Reconstruction. The following May it named a 47-member Council of State, which was to act as an interim national assembly. In 1981 the junta was reduced to three members and the council increased to 51.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Nicaragua/The-Sandinista-government#ref1002435

I give you this little slice of history because Nicaragua is making political news again……

There are protests against the Left wing government of Ortega and the Trumpian response is as follows…..

The Trump administration is crafting a range of options, including potential sanctions, against the government of Nicaragua and President Daniel Ortega if it fails to properly address the concerns of student groups, church leaders and other civic players about increasing violence and political repression.

“We’re watching this with laser focus because we need to ensure that, the people have called for dialogue, the government participates; the people have called for investigations, the government does that; the military has said we’re staying out of that, they continue to do so,” a senior administration official told McClatchy.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article211781249.html#storylink=cpy

Will we once again trip the light fantastic with Nicaragua?

Nicaragua–That Magical land

Back in the days of Ronny Reagan there was this magical land known as Nicaragua……and he presided over his domain……and the CIA worked its magic over the land…..

From time to time, the mainstream media (MSM) likes to reflect on the historical legacies of U.S. interventions in the name of American-style democracy. On May 7th, 2016, The New York Times published a story by Frances Robles on a former Contra fighter who wished for U.S. aid to fight a covert war against Daniel Ortega and the Nicaraguan government titled ‘Ortega vs. the Contras: Nicaragua Endures an ’80s Revival’ which paints a different picture in regards to what actually happened during the civil war in Nicaragua. The article is about a rebel fighter by the name of Tyson who lives in the mountains of Nicaragua who was “longing for the days when covert American funding paid for overt warfare.”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-cias-dirty-war-in-nicaragua/5629008

Why would I dredge up this nugget from our sordid past?

It seems that Nicaragua is on the brink of revolt once again…..

Nearly forty years since a popular insurrection toppled Nicaragua’s right-wing dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the Central American nation has once again been engulfed by political unrest, and appears to be on the brink of momentous change.

The present convulsion began earlier this month, after President Daniel Ortega proposed a change to the country’s social-security provisions that would have forced taxpayers to pay more for the program while simultaneously cutting payouts to beneficiaries. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries of Latin America, and public reaction to this change was furious and swift, with demonstrators taking to the streets to protest. The government’s ensuing response was as ill-considered as it was cruel. Police around the country fired live ammunition to break up the protests; as many as sixty people are believed to have died in the chaos that followed, including Ángel Gahona, a young reporter who was shot in the head while conducting a Facebook Live report in the streets of the Caribbean coastal town of Bluefields.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/nicaragua-on-the-brink-once-again

The US may once again become embroiled in the internal struggles of Nicaragua……something we seem to not be capable of avoiding.