NicaNotes: Reality lays bare the scam of the coup perpetrators

By Jorge Capelán

A new piece of information reveals the great scam of the promoters of the “soft coup” attempted in 2018 which was presented inside and outside Nicaragua as a “student insurrection” against the Sandinista government.

On Jan. 26, Vice President Rosario Murillo announced that the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) had the largest pre-registration of students in history, with more than 18,000 applicants for 76 careers offered, the most demanded being medicine, public accounting, finance, and English.

Of the more than 18,000 applicants to this public university, 76.23 percent come from public schools while 60 percent are young women.

If “the students” were the ones “massacred” and “persecuted” by the “regime,” how can the classrooms be full of them? If, as the coup propaganda says, “the students” migrated “en masse” abroad, how can the classrooms be not only full, but overflowing with them? The public universities were one of the terrorists’ favorite targets during the defeated coup against the people of Nicaragua between April and July 2018, and yet today they are full of students.

If, as the coup plotters say, the country is in the throes of a hopeless and bottomless crisis, how can young people bet massively on education instead of simply looking for a way to survive?

The truth is that today there is an educational explosion in Nicaragua with almost 1.8 million people studying, among them hundreds of thousands of young people studying one of the 60 technical careers available in 45 government technology training centers nationwide.

The story of the coup leaders is nothing more than a monumental scam. It is striking that there are still people outside the country who believe in it, because inside Nicaragua, everyone’s eyes were opened long ago.

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Video Documentary Demolishes Opposition Narrative of Failed Coup

Further evidence of the scam perpetrated by the US-funded opposition is the release on YouTube of a documentary film by lawyer, author, videographer, Dan Kovalik. Entitled:

Nicaragua: The April Crisis & Beyond (50 min.) is a documentary film which explores the troubling events of the summer of 2018 in which much of Nicaragua was enveloped in chaos and violence.  The film, which includes interviews with Nicaraguans from Managua, Leon, Grenada and the rural town of Santa Teresa, as well as with ex-pats who moved to Nicaragua to support the revolutionary process there, paints a very different picture than that presented in the mainstream press.  It shows that the Sandinista government, far from being the villain in the events of 2018, acted in a restrained and cautious way to confront a counter-revolutionary movement, funded from abroad, which attempted to sow violence and chaos to topple the government and destroy the Sandinista Revolution.  The film also shows generally how the Sandinista Revolution, begun in 1979, changed people’s’ lives for the better and how it continues to be a viable and effective force 40 years later.  The film is available in English and Spanish.

You can watch it by clicking on this link.

 

BRIEFS

By Nan McCurdy

Women’s Police Stations Relaunched
The Women’s Police Stations will be re-launched as part of a campaign to protect women’s lives, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said Jan. 31. As another measure to stop violence against women, a government commission headed by Attorney General Ana Julia Guido is being formed. Vice-president Rosario Murillo explained that in 2019, 21 cases of femicide were registered, which is still the lowest figure in the region. Murillo reported that 81% of the victims were homemakers and the murders occurred at home. “The Women’s Police Stations, the Attorney General’s Office, the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office, the Institute for Women, the Women’s Ombudsman, the Reconciliation Commissions, all have the obligation to work together to prevent deaths,” she added. (Radiolaprimerisima, 1/31/2020)

New Programs Planned as 1.756 Million Students Begin School Year
The first day of school was Monday Feb. 3. The presidential advisor on educational issues, Salvador Vanegas said that this year a series of activities are planned to improve the quality of learning. The goal is to incorporate 40,000 children into student choirs, and 1,300 students will train to be part of symphony orchestras, a program that has been very well received by the children. The school lunch is guaranteed for 1.2 million primary and secondary school students in the countryside, one of the most emblematic programs promoted by the Sandinista government. Vanegas said 180,000 people who have trained in school counseling will be certified to work with students to reduce adolescent pregnancies and drug use, among other things. (Radiolaprimerisima, 2/3/20)

Police Investigations Continue in Crimes on Indigenous Lands
Police investigations in the Mayagna indigenous communities of Alal, Kibusna, Musawas and Imnawas, in the municipality of Bonanza, in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region, of crimes that occurred on Jan. 29 continue. Four men were killed two hospitalized with injuries and 12 homes burned. The bodies of the four men, Jarle Samuel Gutiérrez, Juan Emilio Devis Gutiérrez, Cristino López Ortiz and Amaru Rener Hernández were found on the Kahaska Kukun River on Jan. 31. They had all been shot. The police continue to search for the “Chabelo” criminal group, whose leader is the delinquent Isabel “Chavelo” Meneses Padilla.

On Jan. 29, Gustavo Sebastian, president of the government of the Mayagna indigenous territory, explained that a group of Mayagnas led by Chavelo Meneses shot at a group of community members, in an act of revenge for an action in December 2019.  According to Sebastián, the community members led by Rodrigo Rufos allegedly killed several colonizers in the same territory, including a brother of Chavelo Meneses.

In the Mayagna Sauni As Indigenous Territory, made up of 75 communities, there is an internal dispute over control of indigenous lands. Some of the leaders have sold land to groups of outside colonizers. More than 30% of Nicaraguan territory is titled to Indigenous groups and the Mayagna territories have been duly titled by the Nicaraguan Government according to law in the indigenous communities’ name. The authorities that administer them are designated by the communities themselves. (Radiolaprimerisima, 1/30/20, 2/1/20, Sin Fronteras, 2/3/20)

Prisoners Have Opportunity to Get Education
In Nicaragua those in the national prisons can get elementary, secondary, university and technical education. Minister of the Interior María Amelia Coronel also highlighted the Social Reinsertion Programs, such as the “Come closer and educate your child” program, which has allowed more than 11,000 people to benefit from Family Coexistence (serving time at home under house arrest), such that the level of recidivism has been low. (Radiolaprimerisima, 2/4/20)

Indigenous and Afro Descendant Women Present Projects in Mexico
An Intercultural Forum for Leadership Strengthening attended by Indigenous and Afro-descendant Women from Central America and Mexico was held last weekend in Mexico. The Nicaragua delegates Keña Leal and Larisa Escobar presented two community development projects based on the legal framework of the Autonomy Statute of the Nicaragua Caribbean Coast. The “Miskito Mairin Pawanka” project promotes economic empowerment of Miskito women through the planting of diversified vegetables in Wangky Twi Tasbarraya community, in the municipality of Waspam. The other project addresses climate resilience” and works with 30 Indigenous and Afro-descendant youths in Waspam municipality, promoting cultivation adapted to climate change. Both proposals were recognized for promoting development of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, in compliance with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (Nicaragua News, 2/29/20)

Donors Satisfied with Nicaraguan Use of International Resources
A technical mission from the Inter-American Development Bank and the OPEC Fund for Development (OFID) visited Nicaragua and highlighted the efficiency with which international cooperation resources are being used for social electrification projects, and therefore renewed their support. This year, nearly 20,000 more families will have electricity with an investment of $27.2 million from OFID, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, and Nicaragua Government funds. (Informe Pastran, 1/30/20)

More Cruise Ships to Come to Nicaragua
The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) is a commercial organization that represents 21 cruise lines that operate close to 200 vessels in Florida, the Caribbean and Latin American waters. They will promote the arrival of more cruise ships to Nicaragua because of its tourist attractions and public safety. The FCCA works with governments, ports and all representatives of the public/private sector to maximize the spending of cruise passengers and cruise lines as well as to improve the destination experience and the number of cruise passengers who return as repeat visitors. (Informe Pastran, 1/30/20)

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