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Tag: Ortega

nicaragua

As Turmoil Engulfs Nicaragua, What Does That Mean To The US?

Written by Alice Salles on . Posted in Foreign Policy, Immigration, Liberator Online, News You Can Use. No Comments on As Turmoil Engulfs Nicaragua, What Does That Mean To The US?

Violence against anti-President Daniel Ortega Nicaraguans continues to escalate as he refuses to hold early elections. This could mean that, in no time, distressed protesters will no longer feel safe at home and might try to flee.

The latest wave of violence happened on Sunday when pro-government armed men entered Diriamba and Jinotepe in Carazo along with police. After officials tore down barricades erected by protesters, at least 14 were killed, Vilma Nunez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, said.

“This has been a horror. We have a minimum of 14 dead, but it could be more,” she told reporters.

nicaragua

President Donald Trump’s administration has already announced that Nicaraguan immigrants with a special status granted to them in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch protecting them from deportation will no longer hold the same status by 2019. And knowing Trump continues to wage his battle against Central American immigrants crossing the border illegally because of drug war-related violence at home, it’s nearly impossible to see Nicaraguans being given easy access to asylum status because of the political turmoil in the country.

It could be conceivable to think that, perhaps, as Ortega appears to hold on tight to power despite having served as the president since 2007, a larger number of Nicaraguans will try to come to America one way or another. Just as some have done recently. And if so, the public will undoubtedly ask the question, “What next?”

Welfare State: Is It Necessary?

While politicians such as Rand Paul make a strong case against bringing an end to the welfare state only after the warfare and the corporate welfare pillars of U.S. government come down, many argue that immigrants shouldn’t come in because they end up using welfare benefits. Many even argue that immigrants come to America because they are told that here, everything is “free.”

Clearly, not all immigrants make use of welfare and not all immigrants fight to arrive in the United States because they believe they have something to benefit other than, perhaps, live and work in a more peaceful country.

Still, there’s an easy answer to that argument, regardless of where you stand politically: End the welfare state. If nobody benefits from taxpayer-backed programs, immigrants won’t either.

Sounds simplistic and almost juvenile to say, “well, raise a wall around the welfare state.” But in the end, bringing the entire system down is the only thing that would keep anti-immigration hawks from fighting the flow of immigrants from Central America. After all, without welfare, there could be no risk of abuse.

Then, without a welfare program in place, guest worker programs, which were still in place until a few decades back, could be implemented, allowing immigrants into work would help fill the labor shortage in agriculture and other industries while giving immigrants fleeing violence the reassurance that they would not be sent back.

This solution would not only be good to the immigrants themselves but also to the business and farm owners who are seeing crops rot simply because Americans are not taking on the jobs that once were fulfilled by immigrants.

Giving the employer back the right over the job he owns and ending the welfare state would benefit everybody in the short term. Even, perhaps, Nicaraguans.

Nicaraguans Hope To Take Down Their Dictator — Are They Ready For Liberty?

Written by Alice Salles on . Posted in Liberator Online, News You Can Use, War. No Comments on Nicaraguans Hope To Take Down Their Dictator — Are They Ready For Liberty?

For the past seven weeks, Nicaraguans fed up with President Daniel Ortega’s tyrannical hold on power and disastrous crony capitalist policies have been slaughtered in the streets.

Unarmed, tired, and cornered, peaceful people continue to demonstrate in public displays of discontent, only to be killed by snipers, arrested and tortured, or starved in besieged cities.

So far, at least 113 people were killed. More than 1,000 more injured, and hundreds have gone missing or have been arrested. The rebellion has turned the country upside down. But not because protesters are raising hell – instead, the country is at a breaking point because the Ortega administration refuses to listen or let go of power.

Ortega amassed a great deal of support after having ruled the country since 1979. He then helped bring the socialist Sandinista movement to power in 1990 and was then reelected again in 2007 after a populist campaign. It was after Ortega pushed for reform that allowed him to stay in power that things started to go downhill.

Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights President Vilma Núñez told The Miami Herald that Ortega “turned [the protests] into a massacre.” And the signs of despair are clear.

In the capital, spray paint reads, “The state did it,” which refers to the murder of protesters. But the Ortega government says right-wing gangs are behind the killings.

Even the Catholic church was called in to mediate a talk between protesters and the government, bishops said, “enough.”

“It is not possible to resume national dialogue while the people of Nicaragua are being denied their right to protest peacefully and are being repressed and murdered,” they declared.

But as the people uprising against the state continued to be slaughtered with impunity, Nicaraguans wonder if resistance will have the effect they hope. Even businessmen, who are considering going on a national strike, are fearful of what comes next.

“By January of 2019, Nicaragua will no longer exist,” an anonymous businessman told reporters.

“Although the private companies and all of the business people have tried to avoid it, I don’t see how we can continue maintaining the situation like it is now without a national strike,” he added.

“We don’t have weapons, so what else do we have left? Keep protesting, keep showing our faces and keep suffering the casualties?”

Socialism, Utopia, And Reality

Ortega has always been clear about the Sandinista movement and its roots being socialist. But as the need to stay in power grew, so did his ties with the private sector. With cronyism being the driving force of the Ortega administration, and his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his vice president, a virtual dictatorship has been installed.

As the president becomes richer thanks to his government’s cozy relationship with the business elite, the media remains censored. With the opposition being persecuted a snipers being sent to kill unarmed protesters, it’s hard to ignore the countless young men and women in the country who have grown tired. But to many of them, Ortega is the wrong guy because he’s betrayed the socialist cause. To them, Ortega hasn’t done enough to “lift the poor.” Instead of the current dictator, they want someone who will put the government to take even more action to bring total equality to the country.

But history has shown us that when governments act to make people more equal, they succeed — but not by lifting them. Instead, they make everyone equally miserable.

The people of Nicaragua are at an important time in their country’s history.

They can choose to turn their back to the old world of authoritarianism, whether it’s called socialism or not, and embrace real freedom of association.

If that’s the path they choose, they will see growth like never before. Liberty will also flourish as a result. But if they choose to continue embracing the same type of policies implemented by Ortega, except by someone else, not much will change.

As they face the tough questions that will shape their immediate future, we hope they are able to see the light and choose to put liberty before whatever potential ruling elite may come next. And we hope the transition is one of peace and hope, not revolution and hardship.