The Right to Defend Our Existence

Aparicio Cienfuegos and William Camacaro, NicaNotes, October 7th 2021
https://afgj.org/nicanotes-10-07-2021

“Every time President Daniel Ortega speaks, he emphasizes that the Nicaraguan government has a preferential option for the poor. It is a way of doing politics. Why do politics if we do not seek the welfare of our populations, of the majority of historically marginalized people who have lacked services such as education, health, recreation, sports, electricity, or water? What is wrong with a government that defines its internal policies so that those who historically have had nothing now have access to the most basic services? Our government seeks to define and make policies to restore the fundamental human rights of our people.”

This is how Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Denis Moncada opened his speech on Sunday, September 26, before hundreds of people who packed the Holyrood Church in Manhattan to show their solidarity with Nicaragua. Pastor Luis Barrios welcomed Minister Moncada to speak about the importance of peace, security, and sovereignty for Nicaragua. For more than two hours, the conversation revolved around the November 7 elections and the 150 years of Nicaraguan resistance against colonialism and U.S. economic, political, and military interference, now present in the form of Illegal unilateral sanctions.

A wave of threats and insults followed the announcement of the Community and Popular Mass in Solidarity with Nicaragua, many of them originating from fake social media profiles. However, the opposition did not foresee that these attacks, far from intimidating the audience would become an additional motivation for the Sandinista supporters resisting far-right censorship in the U.S. The Popular Mass at the Holyrood Church event – the most significant action in solidarity with Nicaragua since 2007 in New York City – was an opportunity to show their solidarity with the Nicaraguan people and their struggle for sovereignty.

“Historically, Nicaragua has had a lot of solidarity from the American people, from labor organizations, from peasants and the working class in general, from academics and students, and hundreds of thousands of others who are clear that Nicaragua is defending a just cause.”

The opposition also did not know that the Holyrood Church – Iglesia Santa Cruz is not just any church. Under the coordination of Pastor Luis Barrios (priest, academic, and activist), the sanctuary located in Washington Heights has a congregation primarily of migrants and refugees from the Caribbean islands and who know from personal experience the consequences of U.S. colonialism.

With Liberation Theology as its compass, the Holyrood Church – Iglesia Santa Cruz – has been a home for the people: just as it has opened its doors to personalities such as Hugo Chavez and now Foreign Minister Moncada, the church is also part of the Sanctuary Movement that provides shelter to all those refugees that U.S. foreign policy forced to flee their countries of origin only to find racism, xenophobia, and deportation in “the land of the free and home of the brave.” The opposition did not know that the Nicaraguan people, the Holyrood Church base and those who attended guided by internationalist solidarity have much more in common than those who tried to censor this event.

The extraordinary mobilization announced by the opposition translated into a paltry showing of 9 people across the street. At the end of the mass, the handful of opposition forces entered and were given the floor, but they failed to raise even a coherent question or statement. The opposition’s failure to stop Sunday’s event is an example of the weakness and lack of organization of those who oppose President Ortega and Vice President Murillo’s preferential option for the poor and those who find in U.S. imperialism the last chance to defend their elite privileges.

“When we talk about an empire, we are talking about an elite of very reduced economic, military and political power. (…) From intellectuals, workers, and students, to black and indigenous people, the American people also suffer the effects of that unjust or aggressive empire.”

The calm and friendly attitude of the minister contrasted with the insults of the handful of opponents present. His confidence showed that he did not fear hostile questions or absurd charges, but above all, it shows the coherence between Sandinista discourse and praxis. The insults from the Nicaraguan right were not enough to overshadow the forcefulness of Minister Moncada’s arguments.

For example, according to the World Economic Forum, Nicaragua has the best public infrastructure in Central America. The Sandinista government implemented a socialized healthcare system, with free and universal care for the people, regardless of their political ideology or party affiliation. Initiatives to reduce gender gaps in leadership positions, implemented by the administration of President Ortega and Vice President Murillo, have led Nicaragua to rank fifth in the world in gender equity. The cascade of arguments continued to flow as the opposition drowned in the false propaganda pushed by the U.S. and its allies.

The outcome of the elections on November 7 will likely reflect the popularity of the FSLN-led government. According to a poll conducted by the firm M&R Consultores in September of this year, 66.9% of Nicaraguans indicated that they will vote for the FSLN, and the trend continues to increase. The same survey shows that 65.2% think Nicaragua will be better off with a Sandinista government and 63.8% approve of President Ortega’s administration. These statistics make more than evident the will of the Nicaraguan people, show that the struggle for sovereignty and dignity is possible, and are an example of the obstacle Nicaragua represents for expanding U.S. influence in the continent.

“(…) After many years of struggle, we continue to maintain the spirit of defense of our sovereignty, our national dignity, of our existence as a free, independent, and self-determined country. We are also very critical of the unjust policies of the U.S. towards Nicaragua and other countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and against countries in Africa and Asia. While the U.S. government says the Nicaraguan government is wrong, we disagree with them and their way of imposing ‘democracy, freedom,’ and their attempts to destabilize and overthrow a legitimate and democratically elected government. This is an example of the struggle of people who want to live free, with dignity, exercising their rights and defending their policies; and how the power of the US sees these governments as a threat and tries to overthrow them violently.”

Today, U.S. fear of Nicaragua manifests itself in the form of sanctions. A recent report published by the Sanctions Kill Coalition shows how sanctions are used as a tool of political destabilization and are complemented by other forms of violence and direct intervention. While the U.S. tries to justify unilateral sanctions the facts show the opposite. The victims of the sanctions are the people; sanctions affect fundamental areas like health and basic food. An example of this is that “Nicaragua is one of the few Latin American countries to receive no U.S. vaccine donations so far.” (https://sanctionskill.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SanctionsReport_v1-compressed.pdf)

The Reinforcing Nicaragua Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act (RENACER) is the name of the latest sanctions package pushed by the U.S. and Nicaraguan elites. If approved, the RENACER ACT “will intensify sanctions on Nicaragua and expand the targets of personal sanctions to ordinary Sandinista party members, more than 2.1 million people.” (https://sanctionskill.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SanctionsReport_v1-compressed.pdf)

Another poll published by M&R Consultores shows that 87.3% of Nicaraguans think that the sanctions imposed unilaterally by the U.S. are another U.S. attempt to intervene in Nicaragua’s course.

“We have the right to live as a State, in freedom and seeking the best for our population! We have the right to defend ourselves institutionally and constitutionally from aggressive actions by the U.S. and other European countries! We want to live in dignity, but other powers wish us the opposite. We are convinced that we have the right to justice and to defend our country in these forums and events, and share and debate. We have the right to protect our existence.”

Editor’s Note: There is still one way to stop RENACER. Please call and write the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters. Phone calls are best: her office number is 202-225-2201 (California office: 323-757-8900); please leave a comment on the comment line. You do not have to be a constituent to contact her as the Chair of the Financial Services Committee regarding legislation before her committee. Then call the Financial Services Committee directly with the same message: 202-225-4247. Thank you!]