In 2009 the Nicaraguan Supreme Court lifted the constitutional ban that prevented presidents from serving consecutive terms, paving the way for Ortega’s reelection in 2011. All of this stems from the attempted coup against Nicaraguan President, Daniel Ortega, during early 2018. Most of the convicts included in these lists were arrested during a violent coup attempt against Nicaragua’s elected Sandinista government in 2018. P.S. The man was caught with explosives and illegal firearms, and was allegedly plotting terror attacks against his country’s elected, UN-recognized government. But authoritarian countries are not alone: This technology is now being harnessed for law enforcement and surveillance purposes in many democracies. Arick Wierson and Javier Arguello Lacayo Published 12:22 PM ET Fri, 10 Aug 2018 CNBC.com The power couple in Managua seemed perfectly safe. Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge? Ortega dispelled the fake news when he appeared on April 15 to deliver a fiery televised speech in which he defended Nicaragua’s socialized healthcare system, called for world peace, and criticized the United States for spending so much money on war while its own citizens were dying due to a lack of healthcare. To learn more, read What ‘Normalcy’ on Ortega’s Terms Looks Like in Nicaragua for FREE with your subscription to World Politics Review. Stay on top of Nicaragua latest developments on the ground with Al Jazeera’s fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated maps. In late January 2019, the Nicaraguan government announced it was implementing the very reforms that triggered the widespread protests last year and led to a brutal government crackdown. The Nicaraguan Civil War of 1926–27, or the Constitutionalist War, broke out after a coup d'état by Emiliano Chamorro, a member of the Conservative Party, removed Nicaragua's democratically elected government, resulting in a rebellion by members of the Liberal Party. Alongside the Pentagon, USAID played a central part in the US coup attempt against Venezuela’s democratically elected government. Two failed attempts at dialogue last May and June were followed by more state violence against protesters, which raised the specter of civil war and allowed Ortega to regain the upper hand. But Castro Ortez had the fortune of being named in a US-backed list of “political prisoners,” so the cold-blooded killer was freed in 2019, and unleashed on Nicaraguan society. President Ortega subsequently said the courts would discuss the potential reform. 5 This instability plunged Nicaraguan citizens into poverty that has been largely inescapable to this day. 1988 - Hurricane leaves 180,000 people homeless. US government-backed Nicaraguan NGOs and their sponsors among the European Union and Organization of American States have refused to comment on the crimes committed by the former “political prisoners” whose freedom they lobbied for. In its press release on the arrests, the Nicaraguan police noted that Danny de los Ãngeles GarcÃa Gonzalez had previously been arrested, during the 2018 coup attempt, and had been charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism and possession of restricted firearms. Though the fierce street battles that threw the country into turmoil have ended, the crisis has not. After all, the former Marxist rebel, who overthrew a despised, corrupt regime back in the late 1970s and fought a U.S.-backed militia in the 1980s, has rewritten the constitution to make it possible to remain in power, while packing the courts and election boards and securing control of all the levers of power. He is the assistant editor of The Grayzone, and the producer of the Moderate Rebels podcast, which he co-hosts with editor Max Blumenthal. [22] The Nicaraguan Revolution was a revolution in the central american country of Nicaragua. The contra War killed 30,000 Nicaraguans and tortured/raped 100,000 (1981-1988). The government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, had every reason to feel confident that the future was secure for their dynastic project. All along, he enjoyed strong popular approval. The aim of the program was to “undermin[e] the image of the Nicaraguan government at the beginning of the electoral process of 2016.” In the last two years, USAID audits, the most recent from August 2020, show that a further $2 million has been allocated under the same program. Nicaraguan president missing in action for nearly one month and counting. [SPECIAL OFFER: Want to learn more? During Nicaragua's devastating civil war in ... (COVID-19), walks by a mural depicting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in Managua, Nicaragua March 30, 2020. After decades of Somoza’s brutal dictatorship, anger and despair among the Nicaraguan people created the conditions for a civil war. Right-wing Nicaraguan opposition groups funded by the US government have published lists of hundreds of detainees they insist are being unjustly imprisoned. ... Ethiopia war appeal, and a viral victory in Congo. In late August 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a blistering report on the political violence in Nicaragua that killed more than 300 people and injured more than 2,000 in the previous months. The police said both suspects “admit that the explosives would have been used to target the Masaya mayor’s facilities and monuments to [Sandinista] heroes and martyrs, and to spread terror and anxiety in the barrios of Monimbó, San Carlos, and Divino Niño.”. Video Documentary on Nicaragua, Lies Through Omission and Fake Evidence. Jeremy Corbyn suspended even as report vindicates him on anti-Semitism smears, Biggest trade deal in history excludes United States, What Biden’s election means for Venezuela, US military seeks to “create new base in Syria” – Syrian journalist, Como la nueva senadora socialista de Bolivia resistió el terror del golpe de estado: Conozca a Patricia Arce, Gobierno golpista boliviano detiene, expone y amenaza a observadores internacionales en vÃsperas de las elecciones, El ‘juicio del siglo’ contra Julian Assange: 10 razones para salvar el futuro del periodismo, Puedes leer este informe en español aquÃ, former “political prisoners” who have unleashed violent chaos in Nicaragua, Nicaragua’s elected Sandinista government, bloody putsch had the full backing of Washington, The Grayzone reported in February on the horrifying case of Ruth Elizabeth Aburto Acevedo, The Grayzone’s Ben Norton interviewed relatives of Aburto Acevedo at her family home in Jinotepe, Nicaragua, Nicaragua’s national police force arrested two suspects, Observatorio de Derechos Humanos Nicaragua, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Capacity Building for Civil Society Advocacy (CBCSA), US coup attempt against Venezuela’s democratically elected government, USAID appears to be gearing up for another coup attempt against the Sandinista government, fifth-highest rate of gender equality in the world, information war against its democratically elected socialist government, Comité Pro Liberación de Presos PolÃticos, Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution is still thriving, after 40 years. (Reuters) - Nicaragua’s parliament voted on Tuesday to amend the Central American country’s constitution to allow life sentences for hate crimes despite criticism from human rights organizations who contend it will be used to target political opponents.. Perhaps the most egregious example is in China, where the government has used facial recognition technology to racially profile Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority that is concentrated in Xinjiang province, and forcibly lock them up in internment camps. But with loads of cash pouring in from the US government, it has resorted to spreading fake news and destabilizing the country with sporadic acts of violence. By Nicaraguan civil society, July 09, 2020 . Anti-government protesters march outside Central American University, Managua, Nicaragua, Sept. 26, 2018 (AP photo by Alfredo Zuniga). The fear of a new Nicaraguan civil war cast a shadow across the region last year, when a government crackdown against dissent turned deadly. The US State Department relies on the Comité Pro Liberación de Presos PolÃticos’ data in its own reports on “human rights” in Nicaragua. The fact that much of the violence carried out by right-wing criminals has been directed at women is a source of particular concern for the Nicaraguan government. While these criminals have carried out egregious crimes, up to and including murder, especially targeting women, both the Donald Trump administration and the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have repeatedly called for more supposed “political prisoners” to be released. During the 1980s, Ortega was a leftist icon thanks to his part in the 1979 Sandinsta Revolution that successfully overthrew the right-wing Somoza administration. The US government institution launched this initiative nearly a decade ago in order to train opposition NGOs to destabilize the elected Sandinista government and eventually remove President Daniel Ortega from power. At least that’s how it looked on the surface. Present-day Nicaragua is still recovering from its legacy of dictatorship and civil war. As of June 28, the death toll in Nicaragua has reached 285, with more than 1,500 wounded. By 1827 fortunes had changed again, and his cousin, Juan Arguello, was dictator. A poll by a mainstream firm, M&R Consultores, found that around 90 percent of Nicaraguans supported the proposal of life imprisonment for deadly hate crimes. Ben Norton is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. Editor's Note: This article was first published in October 2018 and is regularly updated. In late August 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a blistering report on the political violence in Nicaragua that killed more than 300 people and injured more than 2,000 in the previous months. A search of the Nicas Presos PolÃticos database that this opposition group maintains reveals that GarcÃa Gonzalez was listed. With the threat of violent unrest in the past, how is Daniel Ortega now stifling dissent? The Nicaraguan parliament, controlled by the ruling party, today approved an Act mandating the state to legally claim a million dollar compensation to the United States, based on a 1986 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for damages caused during the Nicaraguan civil war. They had been carrying bags full of explosives, guns, and drugs. 1987-88 - Nicaraguan leadership signs peace agreement and subsequently holds talks with Contras. Reagan's contras lost....mostly democratic governments have come and gone since 1989 all non contra, and today 2020 Daniel Ortega and the FSLN Sandinista's are in power again. See more ideas about Civil war, Nicaraguan, War. But the unrest in Nicaragua, less than 1,000 miles from U.S. shores, quickly escalated into a crisis that grabbed global attention, when the government there continued along its uncompromising path of repression. An anti-government protester is dragged away and arrested by police as security forces disrupt an opposition march coined "United for Freedom" in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. The extreme political and economic volatility during and after the Nicaraguan Civil War prevented the implementation of necessary infrastructure and proper resource allocation. In response to several appalling cases of femicide in Nicaragua in September, including the ghastly murder of two young girls that sparked a nationwide scandal, Vice President Rosario Murillo raised the possibility of life imprisonment for men who kill women and carry out deadly hate crimes. Can Nicaragua’s Military Prevent a Civil War? All rights reserved. His website is BenNorton.com and he tweets at @BenjaminNorton. Release all political prisoners now unconditionally and cease harassing them and their families. 3 Min Read. Whether international pressure and offers of mediation will resolve the crisis remains to be seen. #COVID19https://t.co/USRtIyptHa pic.twitter.com/Qxh2ZIcB1Z, — Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) April 9, 2020. Meanwhile, the violence carried out by the former “political prisoners” has only escalated. United States Presidential Election, 2012 (President Ventura) United States Presidential Election 2012 (LLB'sWorld) United States Presidential Election 2016 (LLB'sWorld) His Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) succeeded in expanding its base while other parties declined. International pressure on the Ortega administration has increased in recent weeks, but the situation in the country is still deteriorating, with tens of thousands of Nicaraguans having already fled into exile. These disinformation campaigns concerning “political prisoners” and Nicaragua’s crackdown on femicide are coordinated attacks in a larger information war against its democratically elected socialist government. — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 24, 2020. . But in a matter of weeks, everything changed. Get full access to World Politics Review for just $12 for 12 weeks and read all the articles linked here to get up to speed on this important issue.]. The United States, European Union, Organization of American States (OAS), and leading so-called “human rights” organizations have aggressively lobbied for the release of Nicaraguans who they claim are political prisoners. Picture taken March 30, 2020. @BenjaminNorton traveled to Jinotepe, Nicaragua to report the shocking story of how the US and OAS lobbied for the release of violent criminals behind a 2018 coup attempt, One man they called a "political prisoner" stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to deathhttps://t.co/6fA6TZOgmO, — The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) February 28, 2020.