{"id":115182,"date":"2018-07-23T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=115182"},"modified":"2018-07-22T16:56:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T15:56:52","slug":"violent-coup-fails-in-nicaragua-us-continues-regime-change-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/07\/violent-coup-fails-in-nicaragua-us-continues-regime-change-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Violent Coup Fails in Nicaragua, US Continues Regime Change Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nicaraguans celebrate 39th Anniversary of the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution in Managua, July 2018.
Source Redvolution.<\/p><\/div>\n

21 Jul 2018 – <\/em>Note: Before the update on Nicaragua, I an providing two recent interviews that provide a context for what is happening in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n

First, is an interview I did with Lee Camp, the lead writer, and host of Redacted Tonight, \u201cUS Pushing for Regime Change in Nicaragua,\u201d where we discuss the economic and political situation in Nicaragua as well as who is behind the coup and the government response. This interview discusses the issues raised in an article by me and Nils McCune, \u201cCorrecting The Record: What Is Really Happening In Nicaragua<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GS2MMTMsdvM<\/p>\n

On\u00a0Clearing The FOG radio and podcast<\/a>, Margaret Flowers and I interviewed\u00a0Stephen Sefton, who lives in Nicaragua and is a founder of Tortilla con Sal.\u00a0He names the names behind the violence and describes what is happening in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n

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Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega arrives at the celebration of the Sandinista Revolution.
By Alfred Zeniga for AP.<\/p><\/div>\n

Lessons Learned from the Failed Violent Coup in Nicaragua and Next Steps<\/strong><\/p>\n

The violent\u00a0coup 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.\u00a0 The coup\u00a0exposed 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>\n

People Celebrate Revolution, Call for Peace, Show Support for Government<\/strong><\/p>\n

The people of Nicaragua showed their support for the democratically-elected government of Daniel Ortega with a\u00a0massive outpouring in Managua<\/a>\u00a0in 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>\n

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\u00a0Masaya. 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.\u00a0With the opening of the main road on the east side of Masaya, all Nicaragua\u2019s main routes are open to traffic and buses etc are operating normally.<\/p>\n

At the rally,\u00a0President Ortega called on the people<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Nicaragua 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.\u00a0He said, \u201cPeace must be defended every day to avoid situations like these being repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also criticized the Catholic Bishops for their role in the failed violent coup. Ortega described the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua as \u201ccoup leaders\u201d 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 reign 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>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mzg7Z-0vQjM<\/p>\n

Other Latin American leaders spoke out against involvement in the coup.\u00a0Bolivian President\u00a0Evo Morales<\/a>\u00a0condemned US \u201cinterference\u201d in Nicaragua, denouncing the \u201ccriminal strategies\u201d 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 \u201copenly supporting violence\u201d in Nicaragua. Also at the celebration were\u00a0the foreign ministers of Cuba and Venezuela, Bruno Rodr\u00edguez Parrilla, and Jorge Arreza, all supporting Nicaragua over the violent coup of the United States and oligarchs.<\/p>\n

The United States is Escalating Economic War and Support for Opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n

The United States is not giving up. Also on the\u00a0anniversary\u00a0of the revolution,\u00a0the 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\u00a0Nicaragua Human Rights and Anti-corruption Act of 2018,<\/a>\u00a0imposes sanctions, calls for early elections and escalates\u00a0US intelligence involvement in Nicaragua. It is a law that ensures continued US efforts to remove the democratically-elected government.<\/p>\n

At the same time,\u00a0USAID announced an additional $1.5 million for Nicaragua to build opposition<\/a>\u00a0to 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>\n

The coordination between Nicaraguan\u00a0opposition and the United States was shown by Max Blumenthal\u2019s attempted visit to an organization that funnels USAID and NED money to the opposition. He visited the Managua offices of the\u00a0Institute of Strategic Studies and Public Policies\u00a0(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>\n

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Tried to visit the Managua offices of IEEPP, a main channel for US National Endowment for Democracy\/USAID money to the opposition. It was closed bc its director, Felix Maradiaga, who was at the heart of the violent unrest, was back in Washington to ask USAID for more money. pic.twitter.com\/kLeIzsMoNc<\/a><\/p>\n

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n