NicaNotes

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NicaNotes is a blog for Nicaragua activists and those interested in Nicaragua, published by the Nicaragua Network/Alliance for Global Justice. You can read more about the history of the blog on the About page.



Nicanotes: To Die for Others

By John Kotula Over the last couple of weeks, I have lent a hand on the restoration of a mural on the long wall in front of the Ajax Delgado municipal police headquarters in Managua. This large complex is named after a student activist who fought against the Somoza regime and was murdered on September…

NicaNotes: Nicaraguans Lose TPS: Outrageous and Yet a Back-Handed Compliment

By Chuck Kaufman A couple of weeks ago, the Trump administration announced that Nicaraguans in the US would no longer have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) allowing them to stay legally and to work in the US. First extended when Hurricane Mitch devastated Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador in 1998, Nicaragua was the first country to lose TPS status during an overall review…

Nicanotes: Sandinistas Sweep Nicaragua Municipal Elections

By Katherine Hoyt Katherine Hoyt is the former National Coordinator of the Nicaragua Network/Alliance for Global Justice. The results of Nicaragua Municipal Elections on Sunday affirmed that voters credit the Sandinista party for the country’s stability and economic progress. The elections were accompanied by two different international teams of observers and over 5,000 internal monitors.…

NicaNotes: Lobbying Against The NICA Act

By John Kotula I imagine that most readers of NicaNotes are up to speed on the NICA Act. If you would like to read the details of why this is such terrible legislation, check out Chuck Kaufman’s last couple of NicaNotes blogs here and here. Rather than review that information, I want to write about my own experience of…

Nicanotes: The Battle of San Jacinto and the Image David and Goliath in Nicaragua

Molotova Man taken by Susan Meiselas on July 16, 1979. It is a famous image of the Sandinista Revolution and has been widely appropriated for other works of art and was used in a billboard for the September commemorations of 1986 which said “A los130 años, el enemigo es el mismo,” which translates as “After 130 years, the enemy is the same.”

By John Kotula September in Nicaragua sees the celebration of two important dates of liberation and anti-imperialism. One is Independence Day on September, 15 marking the end of Spain’s colonial rule in 1821. The other is a day earlier; the remembrance of The Battle of San Jacinto which occurred on September 14, 1856. The events are celebrated with…

Nicanotes: NICA Act passes the House. Now What?

By Chuck Kaufman The NICA Act passed the House of Representatives last Wednesday by unanimous consent. This is the bill that is intended to block Nicaragua from access to multilateral loans from the World Bank, IMF, and others. Thank you to readers who responded to our Alert and contacted their Representatives. I’m particularly angry that the Act passed…

NicaNotes: Movie Review: American Made: Reagan’s Drug Running & The Drug War Featuring Tom Cruise

  By John Kotula According to Rotten Tomatoes, the new Tom Cruise movie, “American Made,” opened in the US on September 27. It opened earlier, playing at the mall in Managua. Never being one to pass up air-conditioning, I went, munched popcorn and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the Nicaraguan audience that filled the theater. Their laughter was a couple of…