Arnie Matlin, Metro Justice, October 25th 2017
http://www.metrojustice.org/
The NICA Act [H.R. 1918] passed the U.S. House of Representatives "unanimously" on October 3, 2017. (Unanimously in this context means that the bill was of so little interest or importance that the House majority and minority leaders just accepted it without debate.)
The NICA Act (Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act of 2017), if it is passed by the Senate, would require U.S. representatives in multilateral lending institutions to vote against loans to Nicaragua until the Government of Nicaragua is taking effective steps to (1) hold free, fair, and transparent elections overseen by credible domestic and international electoral observers; (2) promote democracy, as well as an independent judicial system and electoral council.
Chuck Kaufman is National Co-Coordinator of NicaNet/Alliance for Global Justice. (Chuck is also a winner of ROCLA¹s International White Dove Award.) Chuck paraphrased the NICA Act in this way: No loans "Until the Sandinista government overthrows itself and turns over power to the U.S.-approved opposition whose support among voters is in the single digits."
Michael Argaman and I met with Rep. Louise Slaughter to ask her to oppose the NICA act. Rep. Slaughter was opposed to the bill, but she told us that it would surely pass in the House of Representatives, because Rep. Ros-Lehtinen was the sponsor, and she is retiring. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen is a far right Republican, so the fact that she is retiring is actually good news. The bad news is that, as Rep. Slaughter predicted, the House wanted to give her this bill as a going-away present.
Chuck Kaufman has written, "Very little shocks me anymore when it comes to the U.S. political system, but I have to say that my jaw dropped when I heard this. Can you imagine a more cynical, corrupt, immoral, dare I say, imperial act than to ruin a country's economy as a retirement gift? In lieu of a gold watch dear Ileana, we give you the suffering of six million people!"
This bill makes no sense other than the punishment that Rep. Ros-Lehtinen thinks Nicaragua deserves, for whatever reason. There is simply nothing true about it. The Sandinistas win because they are popular. A CID Gallup poll, published Sept. 21st, found that President Daniel Ortega has an 89% favorability rating among the Nicaraguan people. Seventy-two percent of respondents said President Ortega always does what¹s best for the country, and 74% expressed a positive opinion about his leadership. (The survey was carried out between September 8th and 14th, and is based on interviews with 1,200 individuals nationwide.)
Also, Nicaragua has invited observers to the November 5th municipal elections. The OAS has signed an agreement with the Nicaraguan government to send a mission to observe the elections. Also, the President of the National Council of Universities, Telemaco Talavera, announced that 5,000 students and teachers will be observers at the municipal elections. He added that electoral observers will be present at all polling stations nationwide, offering assistance to citizens and protecting their right to vote.
The only Member of Congress that I know spoke publicly against the NICA Act was Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. He objected because he knew that passage
of the bill would strain relations with Nicaragua. It would lead to instability in Nicaragua, and increase migration to the United States through his Texas district. Gonzalez added that Nicaragua has its economic and political challenges, but it has advanced toward the resolution of poverty, climate change, and economic growth.
Very little direct U.S. foreign aid goes to Nicaragua. However, the U.S. has, in fact, virtual veto power for any loans given to any country by the IMF and the World Bank. (The so-called Washington Consensus.) Nicaragua counts on receiving funds from these sources, and if the funds were blocked, Nicaraguans would suffer. Why would any Representative or Senator want to make Nicaragua so poor that undocumented immigrants would join the people from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador making their way to our borders?
There's no rational explanation other than pure evil.
We hope that the Senate won¹t even consider the NICA Act [S.972], although
it was introduced by Ted Cruz. The Senate may have more important evil
matters to accomplish. Even so, I believe it would be important to call or
write to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer telling them to oppose the NICA
Act. The NICA Act is bad for Nicaragua and bad for the U.S.