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Title: Update from Nicaragua Author: CrimethInc. Date: May 16, 2019 Language: en Topics: Nicaragua, reportback, uprising, indigenous Source: Retrieved on 17th June 2021 from https://crimethinc.com/2019/05/16/update-from-nicaragua-one-year-after-the-insurrection
A year has passed since the uprising that threatened the government of
Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua—a largely left uprising against a nominally
socialist government. Today, as the US government seeks to promote a
civil war in Venezuela in order to expand its sphere of political and
economic interests, the questions raised by the Nicaraguan insurrection
are more pressing than ever. What should people do who oppose both
Maduro’s authoritarian version of socialism and Guaidó’s authoritarian
version of democracy? Does “anti-imperialism” just mean supporting
governments connected to rival empires like Russia and China? What about
the Sandinistas, feminists, indigenous peoples, environmentalists,
students, and campesino movements who oppose Ortega? What about the
Venezuelan socialists and anarchists who oppose Maduro?
And, at the same time, what does it mean when both neoliberal US
politicians and the EZLN support a protest movement in Nicaragua? What
does it mean when anarchists, communists, and the US military all
support the experiment in Rojava—but with completely different agendas?
How do we support movements like the ones that oppose the Ortega
government in Nicaragua without simply providing cover for capitalists
to manipulate social movements into opening up new markets? How do we
ensure that anti-authoritarian movements are not exploited as a way to
install new authorities? How do we strategize to resist reactionary
forces inside of popular movements without sabotaging the movements
themselves?
For years, we have corresponded with anarchists and grassroots
organizers in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and elsewhere who have described
situations that sound a lot like the ones that poor people and people of
color face in more explicitly capitalist countries, despite the supposed
socialist agendas of the presiding governments. While some of the
participants in resistance to the Maduro and Ortega regimes are clearly
motivated by the desire to profit on the introduction of even more
oppressive economic policies, others are driven by legitimate grievances
and a real desire for equality and self-determination—just like those
who rose up against the Brazilian government under Dilma Rousseff in
2013 or the people who rose up in Ferguson in 2014 under Obama’s
administration. If international revolutionary movements do not offer
the poor and desperate opportunities to fight for liberation from all
forms of state oppression, some of them will end up naĂŻvely enlisting in
uprisings orchestrated by neoliberals.
We have to build powerful movements that do not legitimize any form of
capitalism or state power. Otherwise, we will be forever forced to
choose between the lesser of two evils—and geopolitics will suffer from
the same foreclosure of possibility as the two-party system in the US.
Both neoliberal capitalist governments and authoritarian socialist
regimes cynically make use of each other’s in order to promote
themselves as the only possible alternative. This has been going on for
almost a century; it’s up to us to create a real alternative.
It’s striking how readily many leftists in the global North have
supported the yellow vest movement despite the participation of outright
fascists, but have ignored the uprising in Nicaragua or stigmatized it
as reactionary. We have a lot of work to do.
The following report was supplied by Miranda de las Calles and Mark
Alexander.
---
It’s been a long year since the popular uprising in Nicaragua. To recap:
starting in April of 2018, following years of corruption,
authoritarianism, nepotism, economic violence, and environmental
destruction perpetuated by the Daniel Ortega government, people took the
streets in a way not seen in Nicaragua since 1979. The uprising was led
by students, workers, feminists, campesinos, and indigenous people from
a variety of economic, social, and political backgrounds. The main
demands were for Ortega to resign; to allow new democratic possibilities
including educational autonomy, participatory democracy, and a radically
new judicial system; and to offer reparations for all the violence
perpetrated by the state, the police, and paramilitary forces.
A year later, the government continues to utilize violence against the
Nicaraguan people, independent media outlets have been forced into
exile, human rights organizations have stopped operating, and all
dialogue and mediation has failed. In the following report, we go over
some of the historical context for the Nicaraguan uprising and present
an update on the situation as it stands today.
In part because of the history of conflict between the state and the
people in the Caribbean, there is a longstanding tradition of autonomous
activism in the Caribbean region. Community activists have had to work
outside of the structures of the state to combat issues such as
state-sanctioned sexual violence against young girls and women and
various forms of economic colonization. A brief history of the region
can show the roots of the tendency towards self-organized community
activism and direct action on the Caribbean side.
The Spanish empire colonized the pacific region of Nicaragua, while the
Caribbean was set up as a “protectorate” of the British empire, which
colonized it in a different way. There are multiple ethnic and cultural
differences between the two regions as well: 96% of the people of the
Pacific are relatively homogenous (mestizo) and speak Spanish. The
Caribbean is populated by multiple ethnic groups—Miskitos,
Afro-Caribbean, Garifunas, Sumu, Rama, and others—speaking multiple
languages.
In 1894, with the assistance of the United States, José Santos Zelaya
(president of Nicaragua from 1893–1909) annexed the Caribbean coast. The
state branded the annexation as a “reincorporation”;—however, people on
the coast still refer to it as the “overthrow.” This is the origin of a
longstanding struggle pitting indigenous and black people of the
Caribbean against the Nicaraguan state to reaffirm their rights to their
ancestral lands.
Here are a few notable examples of autonomous activism in the Caribbean
coast:
In 2009, in opposition to the Nicaraguan government, nearly 1000 people
organized by community activists in Bluefields to occupy over 860 acres
of communal land on which to grow their own food and build dignified
housing. This was the birth of the “Back to the Land Movement.”
In April 2009, indigenous people from the Caribbean declared
independence from the state due to racism, poverty, hunger, and land
colonization. They have asserted that they have “enough will and ability
to govern themselves for the well-being of their own community.”
Mestizo land colonization is the biggest crisis facing Black and
indigenous communities in the Caribbean. Some people have armed
themselves and resorted to insurrectionary direct action to protect
themselves from this threat.
---
The Ortega government’s response to the spontaneous rebellion in
Nicaragua has been similar to the strategy that they have been utilizing
against the indigenous and Black people of the Caribbean coast for
decades. The strategy includes the arbitrary use of state violence
against anyone the state considers to be a threat, mass surveillance,
increased police and military presence, and the criminalization of
community activity.
For the people of the Caribbean, the experience of militarization has
continued steadily for many decades without much change. As capitalists
have used the police and military to secure their interests in the
Caribbean region, the state has used the war on drugs to justify and
legitimize the militarization. In spite of Ortega’s anti-imperialist
rhetoric, his government has worked closely with the DEA (Drug
Enforcement Agency) to advance the racist “war on drugs.” Ortega also
works with ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to implement US
anti-immigration policies.
In 1987, Nicaragua signed a law establishing two autonomous regions on
the Caribbean coast: the RACNN (North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region)
and RACCS (Southern Caribbean Autonomous Region). However, the autonomy
law has had little effect in practice: today, Black and Indigenous
communities have been under attack by settlers that have taken over
communal lands. The colonos (mostly mestizo ranchers) have been
attacking and kidnapping people. Many people on the coast believe that
the Ortega government is offering the colonos lucrative loans, assisting
them in illegally purchasing the land, in order to establish control of
the region.
Large plots of indigenous communal lands are being occupied and used to
raise cattle. This is inflicting a devastating impact on the people and
the environment. The most blatant illustration of the Ortega
government’s contempt for the people of the Caribbean is his proposal to
build an environmentally devastating canal that would displace thousands
of Black and indigenous people.
The state has determined that struggles for communal land rights and
indigenous and Black self-determination are contrary to the security
goals of the (mestizo) Nicaraguan state. Consequently, Black and
indigenous people are stigmatized as criminal drug dealers. At the same
time, those who rebelled or demonstrated any form of solidarity with the
April 18^(th) rebellion are stigmatized with the label of terrorists and
golpistas (coup d’etat plotters).
Ortega’s war on drugs has been propelling the county towards mass
incarceration. During his tenure, the Nicaraguan prison population has
seen one of the sharpest increases in the world: from 2007 to 2018, the
prison population more than doubled, increasing from 119 to 276
prisoners per 100,000 of the national population. Black people are
disproportionately represented among the prison population. In
Bluefields, for example, over half of the prison population is Black,
although Black people represent only a quarter of the total population.
Most of Nicaragua’s prisons are operating at more than double the
capacity, and Ortega’s solution to the issue of overcrowded prisons has
been to build more prisons using funds seized from the drug war.
Here, we’ll briefly review some of the developments in the year since
the uprising was suppressed.
The United Nations Refugees Agency claims that since April 2018, 62,000
Nicaraguans have sought refuge in Costa Rica, living in precarious
conditions and facing local xenophobia. Nicaraguans in Costa Rica have
been creating solidarity and support infrastructures to the best of
their ability.
In response, the Orteguista government has created a new program
offering safe return to refugees, but nobody trusts this program. One
student returning from exile was immediately arrested in Managua.
In December of 2018, the GIEI, a Interdisciplinary Group of Independent
Experts, produced a 400+ page report based on evidence and testimony on
the ground in Nicaragua concluding that the Ortega government committed
crimes against humanity. This claim is supported by the Organization of
American States, the UN, and the European Union. This report further
isolated Ortega from the rest of the world; in Latin America, Ortega is
only supported by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela. Ortega has
virtually no allies in Europe, and many European organizations have cut
ties with Nicaragua. This report has legitimized the demands of protest
movements on an international scale and has isolated the Orteguista
government.
With Ileana Ros-Lehtinen leading the charge, the United States
government passed the Nica Act in December 2018 with bipartisan support.
This act completely changes the relationship between Nicaragua and the
United States. The United States has applied direct sanctions to
government officials and to the Ortega family. Slowly, the diplomatic
relations with Nicaragua will rupture, leading to more economic
instability and sanctions.
Unfortunately, many Nicaraguan people depended on foreign aid, which
funded hospitals and clinics. They will now face economic uncertainty.
This has been compared to an embargo, which also affects Nicaragua’s
diplomatic and economic relationship with other countries. The
Nicaraguan bourgeoisie will also be affected by the Nica Act.
In a communiqué from the Consejo Indigena de Gobierno (Council of
Indigenous Government), the Zapatistas extended their solidarity and
support to the people of Nicaragua. In a meeting at the Second General
Assembly with Campesina leader Francisca Ramirez from Nicaragua, the
Zapatistas stated that Ortega had betrayed the ideals of the Sandinista
revolution.
A new attempt at dialogue between the government and the so-called
“Civic Alliance” started in February 2019. This was the first time the
government had been willing to negotiate since June 2018. This new
attempt has generated growing frustration over the lack of
accountability and response by the government but also for the “soft”
approach of the Civic Alliance. The Civic Alliance is largely tied to
the capitalist class. Also, not a single woman was seen on either side
of the negotiating table. These negotiations have slowed down, as the
government has not met the many deadlines that have been established.
The first agreement is to release all political prisoners and then to
open a process of democratization. The Civic Alliance is focusing on
electoral reform and speeding up the 2021 elections. Their macro
strategy is framed as pragmatism: the idea is that first Ortega will
step down, then we figure out what kind of country we want to live in.
Nicaragua is a predominantly Catholic country that observes many
religious celebrations. The current crisis and situation has turned
processions, religious celebrations, and Sunday services into political
spaces in which people denounce the violence of the government. People
have been gathering and protesting inside of churches. The bishops, who
have been neutral for the last 20 years, are now sending messages of
social justice and political change.
Monsignor Baez, the most outspoken bishop in Nicaragua, has been
compared to Monsignor Romero in his demands for justice in Nicaragua.
Pope Francis has suggested Baez seek refuge in Rome for a while, a
decision that most Nicaraguans lament, as they now lose a public
powerful critic against the Orteguista government. The pope claims that
peace can be achieved through dialogue.
In February 2019, the state freed about a hundred political prisoners,
giving hope that more liberations were on the way. The state has been
holding political prisoners hostage as currency for the negotiations.
Over five hundred political prisoners remain in custody. Two months ago,
the government stated that it would release all political prisoners
within a 90-day period. As of yet, there has been no sign of this
happening. Some prisoners are refusing to leave prison until everyone is
released at the same time. Despite the government’s claim that it will
release prisoners, it continues to detain people who participate in
spontaneous protests.
Several political prisoners have organized protests inside the prisons
by escaping to the roofs of the prison buildings, dancing, chanting, and
constructing barricades inside of the prisons. Police have used tears
gas and rubber bullets to suppress these protests.
In addition, the head producer of the news outlet 100% Noticias and the
journalist LucĂa Pineda were arrested in December and have been held in
solitary confinement since January.
The traditional principles of anarchism—self-organization, mutual aid,
and direct action—have gained traction in the Pacific region of
Nicaragua since the April 18^(th) rebellion. For example, activists put
up roadblocks throughout much of the country that almost managed to
topple the Nicaraguan government. The city of Masaya, a traditional
Sandinista stronghold, declared that it would no longer recognize the
government of Daniel Ortega and formed a commission to self-govern. Not
surprisingly, this provoked violent retaliation from the state.
Right now, the most common form of direct action is the piquet or
“sting.” It involves a call for decentralized small-scale manifestations
all around a city, in which affinity groups of any size can rapidly
protest and then disappear. Some examples of these piquetes involve
rapidly taking the streets, disrupting food courts in malls, calling out
chants in public buses, doing banner drops, intentionally causing
traffic congestion with your car, dropping gallons of white and blue
paint in the street, setting up impromptu memorial graves, protesting
inside a church, tying balloons to street poles and trees, and more. The
goal of these piquetes is to overwhelm the police and create panic in
their ranks, since they try to rapidly locate and disrupt such actions.
What are the next steps for anarchists in Nicaragua?
The Nicaraguan people still face uncertainty. It’s important to
strengthen social movements now, in order that they will have more power
later. In Nicaragua, this means supporting the campesino movement, the
feminist movement, and the Afro-Descendant and Indigenous movements from
the Caribbean coast, all of which promote strong critiques of capitalism
and the state. These movements have started to establish and articulate
what the differences are that distinguish them from pro-neoliberal and
pro-state movements. The most progressive of the student movements is
the Coordinadora Universitaria por la Democracia y Justicia (CUDJ).
There is a lot of support and affinity for anarchist thought in this
student organization.
You can check out Hora Cero, an online self-run news and critique
program born from CUDJ.
Anarchist solidarity networks are slowly emerging in Central America and
worldwide. Writing and sharing information are speeding this process,
but it is taking place out of necessity. On social media, anarchists are
taking advantage of widespread discontent against the state, bourgeois
interests, and authoritarian violence, and have thus far succeeded in
resisting right-wing and neoliberal attempts to co-opt the struggle.
On the ground in Nicaragua, it is very hard to organize meetings or
public events, but several people have formed study groups to share,
debate, and develop ideas. Piquetes continue to happen spontaneously.