Stephen Sefton *, Nica Notes, June 11th 2026
https://afgj.org/nicanotes-nicaragua-solidarity-coalition-reaffirms-its-support-for-venezuelas-bolivarian-revolution-and-opposes-all-u-s-interference
The government of Co-Presidents Comandante Daniel Ortega and Compañera Rosario Murillo have demonstrated the high integrity and validity of socialist planning based on extensive local and national consultations which in effect decentralize and democratize the decision-making process.
Programs such as Usura Cero (Zero Usury) have ensured the increasing inclusion of women entrepreneurs in urban areas. (Photo: Usura Cero Managua Facebook page)
The National Plans for Human Development and Poverty Reduction, developed on the basis of constant exchange with the different sectors of national life, incorporate a continuing process of innovation. The aftermath of the failed coup attempt of 2018, the devastating hurricanes Eta and Iota of November 2020 and Covid-19, demonstrated the agility of Nicaragua’s government team to adapt to new realities and urgent challenges.
Since January 2007, the innovation processes initiated by Comandante Daniel and Compañera Rosario have progressively deepened the implementation of Sandinismo’s historic program. Its development has been most evident first in the agricultural production sector and the inclusion of rural families with programs such as the Productive Bonus, in the exploration of non-traditional crops and the wide application of new techniques. Institutions such as the National Innovation and Technology Center (INTA) and the Institute for Agricultural Protection and Sanitation (IPSA) and the National Agrarian University have facilitated the healthy development of ways to reduce the adverse impact of diseases on plants and animals, to sustainably increase the yield of crops and fruits, for the healthy development of new derived products and, in the case of fisheries, best practices to increase the catch and to process and market fishery products.
Programs such as Usura Cero (Zero Usury) have ensured the increasing inclusion of women entrepreneurs in urban areas, an inclusion consolidated by initiatives such as the different Creative and Entrepreneurial Economy Programs and the promotion of national, regional and international tourism. Advances in these sectors have improved marketing techniques, online business development, the creative design of new artisan products from materials such as bamboo, new ideas for textiles and greater use of recycled products. These initiatives are constantly promoted at the local and national level through municipal fairs and national scientific and technological research and innovation days.
The biggest national conventions have been the hackathons that promote technological entrepreneurship based on the learning and implementation of new technologies. Since 2020, the National Technological Institute (INATEC) has inaugurated different innovation centers and innovation laboratories in the national technical education system.
The national strategy of the Ministry of Education (MINED) focusses on activities of innovation and creativity in learning and constant teacher training. MINED has taken optimal advantage of new technologies to increase the scope and quality of its education programs.
The University in the Countryside Program has brought free innovative university level education to rural students. (Photo: Universidad en el Campo)
The most obvious example in this sense has been the development of the University in the Countryside that has been possible thanks to the creative capacity of the MINED in adapting innovation so as to ensure a truly revolutionary education in the country. The openness to new ideas has facilitated the updating of the curriculum at all levels and the strengthening of teacher training to achieve greater coherence in curriculum content and greater continuity in education processes. The adaptation to new technologies and scientific perspectives has also fostered greater coordination and exchange between the educational system and the productive sector and with private enterprise in general.
Public health is another area of national life that demonstrates how innovation processes enrich and strengthen the restitution of rights to the Nicaraguan people. The installation of linear accelerators for the treatment of cancers and other sophisticated equipment of all kinds, the recent advances in intrauterine fetal surgery and in cardiovascular surgeries and neurosurgeries among others, show that MINSA maintains a quality of health care among the best in the region or the world.
The consolidation of the maternal prenatal center system, the national vaccination system and the volunteer brigade system all result from MINSA’s commitment to opening up to constant exchange at the community level.
Nicaragua’s Family and Community Health Model has been exemplary as a model for the region and was recognized in 2024 by the Pan American Health Organization for its innovation in digital health. PAHO said, “Nicaragua stood out among 24 other countries, due to its leadership in working with the population, its demonstrated ability to mobilize resources, general and specialized knowledge, the challenges faced, the obstacles overcome and the novelty of the strategy’s approach, which serves as an example to other countries.”
Providing better services to the community is a fundamental element for the Sandinista government and is reflected in the introduction of administrative practices such as one-stop processes to be able to make payments more quickly and access online services more efficiently.
The authorities at both central and local levels in Nicaragua are working to become modern governmental institutions integrating new technologies to serve the population in an increasingly better way and to respond to their priority problems. This requires innovative and efficient coordination between municipal authorities and the institutions of central government via their departmental delegations, for example, from the Attorney General’s Office, the environmental ministry MARENA, the General Directorate of Revenue or INETER which monitors earthquakes and volcanic activity.
In fact, the commitment of the government of Comandante Daniel and Compañera Rosario to innovation with the objective of consolidating and deepening Nicaragua’s revolutionary democratization was expressed in the reform to the Constitution that created the figure of the CoPresidency. Compañera Rosario Murillo constantly emphasizes the importance of this revolutionary spirit, for example, when she explains “This is the meaning of the creative, family, community, victorious economy, this economy of the majority, which is fundamentally, basically, essentially and spiritually democratic, because it is the economy that encourages all of us as protagonists to move forward, to make our way learning, undertaking and prospering in our forever free Nicaragua.
* A naturalized Nicaraguan citizen, Stephen Sefton is a writer and community worker based in Nicaragua since 1994. Besides coordinating the web outlet Tortilla con Sal since 2008, he has supported community education and health programs in and around Estelí, where he lives, since 1996