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: Profound Advances in Education and Culture

By Nan McCurdy and Katherine Hoyt Since 2007, when the Sandinistas returned to power, until 2023, Nicaragua’s education budget has increased by a staggering 457%. Nicaragua places children and families at the center of all its educational policies. An inclusive multicultural model at all levels of education has been developed, from preschool through technical and/or…

NicaNotes: Nicaragua, the UCA, and the Society of Jesus

By Marvin Ortega (A longer version of this article was published in Spanish by Cuaderno Sandinista on September 27, 2023. English translation by Jill Clark-Gollub.) Marvin Ortega is a Nicaraguan sociologist and political analyst. The propaganda machine of the Society of Jesus has trained its guns on Nicaragua by throwing mud from thousands of schools…

Nicanotes: Nicaragua – The Education Generation

By Becca Renk Becca Renk is originally from the U.S. but has lived and worked in Nicaragua since 2001 with the Jubilee House Community and its project the Center for Development in Central America. She and her husband Paul have two daughters who have studied in Nicaraguan public schools for 15 years. Thanks to a…

NicaNotes: Spectacular Advances in Health in 2023!

By Nan McCurdy and Katherine Hoyt Nan McCurdy is the editor of NicaNotes. Katherine Hoyt is the former editor (now retired) of the Nicaragua News Bulletin and the Nicaragua Network Hotline. Nicaragua made some spectacular advances in health care so far this year. The country has done very well in Covid vaccination compared to most…

NicaNotes: Corporate Media Spread Anti-Nicaragua War Propaganda

Margaret Kimberly Interviews Camila Escalante (This is a transcription of a podcast interview on Black Agenda Report on September 15, 2023.) Margaret Kimberley is Executive Editor and Senior Columnist of Black Agenda Report and the host of the Black Agenda Radio podcast. Camila Escalante is a Canadian journalist who has reported from different Latin American…

NicaNotes: Putting people first

By Roger McKenzie [This article first appeared in the UK publication The Morning Star.] Roger McKenzie is a journalist from the UK who has spent time in Nicaragua. Here he reports on Nicaragua’s free family and community model of healthcare and the role of ‘brigadistas’ in assisting pregnant women and rural populations. He speaks with…

NicaNotes: Send messages to your Senators! Oppose new & old sanctions on Nicaragua!

By Katherine Hoyt and Richard Kohn [Katherine Hoyt is a retired National Co-Coordinator of the Nicaragua Network/Alliance for Global Justice. In retirement she has published “Unequal Encounters: A Reader in Early Latin American Political Thought” from Lexington Books. Rick Kohn is a professor at the University of Maryland and member of Friends of Latin America.…

NicaNotes: Mission Accomplished! Ten Homes Built the Cooperative Way

By Winnie Narvaez [This article was first published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign of the UK on August 24, 2023.] (Winnie Narváez Herrera is a popular education facilitator working with the educational organization ÁBACOenRed /FUPECG supporting co-operatives. It is based in northern Nicaragua. Here she reports on how public institutions and the Victorias de Noviembre…

NicaNotes: Elliott Abrams and the People of Central America: Never Forget!

By James Phillips (James Phillips is a cultural and political anthropologist who has lived in Nicaragua and Honduras and has studied Central America for many years. His latest book is: Extracting Honduras: Resource Exploitation, Displacement, and Forced Migration.)  Elliott Abrams is being considered for a position on the State Department’s Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.…