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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: Recent Health Advances in Nicaragua

By Nan McCurdy and Katherine Hoyt Nicaragua’s advances in nutrition, public health and health care may not be recognized in the mainstream media but they have been recognized by international organizations. Dr. Suzanne Serruya of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) stated in August that “It is very important to bear in mind that not…

NicaNotes: Nicaragua a ‘Dictatorship’ When It Follows US Lead on NGOs

By John Perry [John Perry lives in Masaya, Nicaragua, and writes on Central America for The Nation, FAIR, The London Review of Books, OpenDemocracy, The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Counterpunch and other outlets.] (This article was first published in FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting): https://fair.org/home/nicaragua-a-dictatorship-when-it-follows-us-lead-on-ngos/ ) Daniel Ortega’s government in Nicaragua is “laying waste…

NicaNotes: Good News in the Financial Arena in Nicaragua: January to September 2022

By Nan McCurdy and Katherine Hoyt The international main-stream media rarely focuses on good news from Nicaragua, on its achievements in reducing poverty, and maternal and infant mortality, or on its expansion of health care, education, electrification, water and sewerage, renewable energy, and roadways. However, a recent article published on the web page of the…

NicaNotes: The Catholic Church and Nicaragua

By Becca Renk (Becca Renk has lived and worked in sustainable community development in Nicaragua since 2001 with the Jubilee House Community and its project, the Center for Development in Central America. The JHC-CDCA also works to educate visitors to Nicaragua, including through their hospitality and solidarity cultural center at Casa Benjamin Linder. The article…

NicaNotes: The Privilege of Free Health Care

By Becca Renk [Becca Renk has lived and worked in sustainable community development in Nicaragua since 2001 with the Jubilee House Community and its project, the Center for Development in Central America. The JHC-CDCA also works to educate visitors to Nicaragua, including through their hospitality and solidarity cultural center at Casa Benjamin Linder. This article…

NicaNotes: A Nicaragua Bishop Is on His Knees, But Not to Ask for Forgiveness

By Magda Lanuza (Magda Lanuza is a Nicaraguan sociologist who has worked over 25 years in sustainable development in Nicaragua and in Central America.) [Some background: Bishop Rolando José Álvarez, Catholic Bishop of Matagalpa and Estelí, has this month been placed under house arrest in Matagalpa, and is under investigation for “organizing violent groups to…

NicaNotes: Reflections on Differences Observed Since I Last Visited Nicaragua

By Marilyn Carlisle [Marilyn Carlisle has been an educator–mostly in early childhood education–since 1978, when she returned from nine years living in South America. She looked for a way in Baltimore to help people in Argentina who were suffering during the state-sponsored terrorism from 1976 – 1983. The closest thing she found was Central America,…

NicaNotes: A Strange Kind of Dictatorship

By Barbara Larcom (Barbara Larcom is the coordinator of Casa Baltimore Limay, a Baltimore, MD-based friendship project linked with San Juan de Limay, in the Esteli Department of Nicaragua.  With Nan McCurdy, she is also the co-organizer of the monthly Nicaragua Webinars series.  She has visited Nicaragua regularly since 1989.) My government in the United…

NicaNotes: Celebrating Revolution in Nicaragua

By Margaret Kimberley  (Margaret Kimberley is Executive Editor and Senior Columnist at Black Agenda Report.) [This article was originally published by Black Agenda Report on July 20, 2022.] Genuine peoples’ holidays are hard to come by in the U.S. But in Nicaragua the ongoing revolutionary process is widely celebrated. Holidays in the United States celebrate…

NicaNotes: Nicaragua celebrates 43 years of revolution: A clash between reality and media misrepresentation

By John Perry (John Perry is a COHA Senior Research Fellow and writer living in Masaya, Nicaragua. This article first appeared on the web page of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) at: https://www.coha.org/nicaragua-celebrates-43-years-of-revolution-a-clash-between-reality-and-media-misrepresentation/. It is also available in Spanish at: https://www.coha.org/nicaragua-celebra-43-anos-de-revolucion-un-choque-entre-la-realidad-y-la-distorsion-mediatica/.) July 19th is a day of celebration in Nicaragua: the anniversary of the…