By John Perry and Roger D. Harris

(Nicaragua-based John Perry is with the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition and writes for the London Review of Books, FAIR, and CovertAction. Roger D. Harris is with the Task Force on the Americas, the US Peace Council, and the Venezuela Solidarity Network. This article was first published in Internationalist 360° on Feb. 11, 2025.)

Take your money with you,” said Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, when told about Trump’s plans to cut aid to Latin America, “it’s poison.”

USAID (US Agency for International Development) spends around US$2 billion annually in Latin America, which is only 5% of its global aid budget. The temporarily closed-down agency’s future looks bleak, while reactions to its money being cut have been wide-ranging. Only a few were as strong as Petro’s and many condemned the move. For example, WOLA (the Washington Office on Latin America), a leading “liberal” think tank which routinely runs cover for Washington’s regime-change efforts, called it Trump’s “America Last” policy.

While USAID does some good – such as removing landmines in Vietnam (themselves a product of US wrongdoing) – as an agency of the world’s hegemon, its fundamental role is aligned with projecting US world dominance.

Not unexpectedly, the corporate media have largely come to the rescue of USAID. They try to give the impression that they are mainly concerned that some countries would be badly affected by its loss. In fact, the follow-the-flag media understand that USAID is part of the imperial toolkit.

Both the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg suggested that USAID’s shutdown would “open the door” to China. The Associated Press described the withdrawal of aid as a “huge setback” for the region; the BBC echoed these sentiments. The NYT and other mainstream media point to the irony that many of its programs help stem outward migration from Latin America, an issue which is otherwise at the top of Trump’s agenda.

Weaponization of humanitarian aid

The corporate media, not surprisingly, give a one-sided picture. It’s true, of course, that an aspect of USAID’s work is humanitarian. But, as Jeffrey Sachs explained, “true, and urgent, humanitarian aid” was only one element in a larger “soft power” strategy. From its inception, USAID’s mission was more than humanitarian.

A year after President John Kennedy created USAID in 1961, he told its directors that “As we do not want to send American troops to a great many areas where freedom may be under attack, we send you.”

The organization is “an instrument of [US] foreign policy …a completely politicized institution,” according to Sachs. It has mainly benefitted US allies as with the program to limit hurricane damage in Central America, cited by the NYT which omits Nicaragua, hit by two devasting storms in 2020. Needless to say, Nicaragua is not a US ally.

Although USAID provides about 42% of all humanitarian aid globally, the Quixote Center reports that most of the funds are spent on delivering US-produced food supplies or on paying US contractors, rather than helping local markets and encouraging local providers. The Quixote Center argues that “a review of USAID is needed,” though not the type of review which Trump or Elon Musk probably have in mind.

Indeed, the dumping of subsidized US food products often undermines the recipient country’s own agriculturalists. While hunger may be assuaged in the short-term, the long-term effect is to create dependency, which is the implicit purpose of such aid in the first place. In short, the US globally does not promote independence but seeks to enmesh countries in perpetual relations of dependence.

Regime change

The third and most controversial element, identified by Sachs, is that USAID has become a “deep state institution,” which explicitly promotes regime change. He notes that it encourages so-called “color revolutions” or coups, aimed at replacing governments that fail to serve US interests.

The State Department is sometimes quite open about this. When a would-be ambassador to Nicaragua was questioned by the US Senate in July 2022, he made clear that he would work with USAID-supported groups both within and outside the country who are opposed to Nicaragua’s government. It is hardly surprising that Nicaragua refused to accept his appointment. The progressive government has since closed down groups receiving regime-change funding.

The history of US regime-change efforts in Latin America is a long one, much of it attributable to covert operations by the CIA. But since 1990, USAID and associated bodies like the National Endowment for Democracy have come to play a huge role. For example, they have spent at least US$300 million since 1990 in trying to undermine the Cuban Revolution.

Regime-change efforts in Cuba involved a vast organization known as Creative Associates International (CREA), later shown by Alan MacLeod to be directing similar USAID programs across Latin America. Currently, CREA is working in Honduras whose progressive government is under considerable pressure from the US government. Yet CREA is only one of 25 contractors which, in 2024, earned sums ranging from US$32 million to a whopping US$1.56 billion.

Culture wars

USAID’s regime-change work often fosters ostensibly non-political cultural, artistic, gender-based or educational NGOs whose real agenda is to inculcate anti-government or pro-US attitudes. Examples proliferate.

In Cuba, USAID infiltrated the hip-hop scene, attempted to create a local version of Twitter, and recruited youngsters from Costa Rica, Peru and Venezuela to go to Cuba to run a particularly inept project that risked putting them in jail.

In Venezuela, USAID began work after the unsuccessful US-backed coup attempt against President Hugo Chávez in 2002. By 2007, it was supporting 360 groups, some of them overtly training potential “democratic leaders.” The Venezuelan rock band Rawayana, recent winners of a Grammy, are funded by USAID to convey pro-opposition messages in their public appearances.

In Nicaragua, after the Sandinista government returned to power in 2007, USAID set up training programs, reaching up to 5,000 young people. Many of those who were trained then joined in a coup attempt in 2018.

Astroturf human rights and media organizations

Another tactic is to undermine political leaders seen as US enemies. In 2004, USAID funded 379 Bolivian organizations with the aim of “reinforcing regional governments” and weakening the progressive national government.

It did similar work in Venezuela, including in 2007 holding a conference with 50 local mayors to discuss “decentralisation” and creating “popular networks” to oppose President Chávez and, later, President Nicolás Maduro. USAID even expended $116 million supporting the self-declared “interim presidency” of Juan Guaidó.

In a similar vein, Nicaragua was the subject of a USAID program intended to attack the credibility of its 2021 election. Likewise, after the election of Xiomara Castro in Honduras, USAID set up a democratic governance program to “hold the government to account.”

Creating or sustaining compliant “human rights” organizations is also a key part of USAID’s work. Of the US$400 million it spends in Colombia each year, half goes to such bodies. In Venezuela, where USAID spends US$200 million annually, part goes to opposition-focused “human rights” groups such as Provea. USAID funded all three of the opposition-focused “human rights” groups in Nicaragua, before they were closed down, and now probably supports them in exile, in Costa Rica.

Finally, USAID creates or sustains opposition media which, as Sachs put it, “spring up on demand” when a government is targeted to be overthrown. Reporters without Borders (RSF, by its French initials) reported: “Trump’s foreign aid freeze throws journalism around the world into chaos.” It revealed that USAID was funding over 6,200 journalists across 707 media outlets. In the run-up to the 2018 coup attempt in Nicaragua, USAID was supporting all the key opposition media outlets. RSF, while purporting to support “independent journalism,” itself is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and the European Union – hardly neutral parties.

Few regrets

This is why there may be few regrets about the demise of USAID in Latin America among governments beleaguered by the US. Indeed, opposition groups in Venezuela and Nicaragua admit they are in “crisis” following the cuts to their funding.

Even Trump’s ally President Nayib Bukele is skeptical about USAID: “While marketed as support for development, democracy, and human rights, the majority of these funds are funneled into opposition groups, NGOs with political agendas, and destabilizing movements.”

The evidence that USAID has weaponized so-called humanitarian aid is incontestable. Yet, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it is the Latin American countries that Washington has targeted for regime change – Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela – who are “enemies of humanity.” In response, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil retorted that the “only enemies of humanity are those who, with their war machinery and abuse, have spent decades sowing chaos and misery in half the world.”

Regrettably, USAID has been a contributor to this abuse, rather than opposing it. While temporarily shuttered at USAID, the empire’s regime-change mission will with near certainty continue, though in other and perhaps less overt forms.

* * * * *

Briefs
By Nan McCurdy

Nicaragua Leaves UN Council for Human Rights
On February 27, Valdrack Jaentschke, Nicaragua’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent a letter to Jürg Lauber, the President of the Human Rights Council, an organism of the United Nations, withdrawing Nicaragua from the Council and all its activities. The letter referred to the “Report of the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua” which it said violated the Council’s regulations establishing “the principles of objectivity, impartiality and non-selectivity in the examination of human rights issues and the obligation to eliminate the use of double standards and politicization.” The letter said that this report and previous ones “instrumentalized human rights, exploiting them as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of states and disrespect sovereignty.” It went on to say that this instrumentalization “obstructs the economic and social development of the Nicaraguan people by seeking to impede progress in education, health, housing, infrastructure, food security, energy, water and sanitation, among other areas.”

The letter continued by noting that the “self-styled Group of Experts, the Office of the High Commissioner and the Human Rights Council have become an echo chamber for those who attacked our country’s peace and tranquility, who are the authors of multiple murders, kidnappings, rapes, aberrations and outrages against Nicaragua’s people, and who also caused unquantifiable destruction and damage to the national economy [in 2018], being the very same ones who today celebrate and promote the imposition of unilateral coercive measures that the UN General Assembly has condemned, and declared illegal because they violate international law.” (La Primerisima, 27 February, 2025)

Banana Exports Exceed Four Million Boxes in 2024
The Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) announced that banana companies reported production of 4.69 million boxes with 42 pounds of bananas each, between the months of January and December 2024. The report included nine companies that produce bananas for export. The MAG spokesperson noted out that this crop is primarily grown in the Department of Chinandega and represents an important agricultural activity in the generation of jobs and opportunities for families in the productive areas. The spokesperson added that the government continues to promote productivity, value addition and market access for the development of the sector and the national economy. (La Primerisima, 1 March 2025)

More than 130,000 Students Return to Universities
Young people began classes on March 3 for the first semester of 2025 in the country’s public universities, continuing their professional training in the new school year. In order to strengthen their sense of belonging and promote their integral development, fellowship days were held, organized by the Student Movement UNEN, where the students enjoyed artistic, cultural and sports activities that were designed to enrich their university experience. At the Casimiro Sotelo National University, 4,000 reentry students began their classes for the first semester of 2025. Student Rosmar Talavera, thanked university authorities for providing the facilities needed to integrate easily into the classes. He emphasized the good attention that he received upon on enrollment, and added that he has felt a lot of encouragement. (La Primerisima, 3 March 2025)

Eco-Friendly Company Exports Cocoa to Germany 
Ritter Sport Nicaragua S.A., is a company located in the community of La Palma, municipality of El Rama, South Caribbean Autonomous Region. It has operated in Nicaragua since 2011 and cultivates and processes cocoa for export to Germany. In 2024, it exported 250 tons of dried and fermented cocoa, as well as 20,000 liters of cocoa nectar. Ritter Sport currently cultivates 1,024 hectares of cocoa under agroforestry systems in five varieties which are processed in three stages: fermented, pre-dried and dried. These activities generate direct employment for 400 families in Managua, Boaco, Leon, Matagalpa and El Rama. In addition, 25 more families indirectly benefit from this activity. Its environmental commitment is reflected in the management of its 2,600 hectares of land, of which 1,560 are for forest and biodiversity conservation. It also has the ROS-MAN project which has reforested 730 hectares with forest and fruit plants to guarantee food for species such as squirrels, coatis (also known as coatimundis), sloths, and birds. The company also works in coordination with Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University (BICU) and the National Agrarian University (UNA) to offer internships, develop training programs, and conduct annual biodiversity monitoring. The Nicaraguan Ministry of the Environment confirms Ritter Sport’s commitment to a sustainable development model that combines agricultural production with the conservation of the natural resources of the Southern Caribbean Coast. (La Primerisima, 3 March 2025)

New Health Facilities to Be Inaugurated in March
On March 3, Co-President Rosario Murillo announced inaugurations scheduled this month of new health facilities. She highlighted that on March 7, the Sacuanjoche Hemodialysis Center will be inaugurated in the municipality of San Rafael del Sur, Managua. She also said that on March 8, the Dr. Juan Gutiérrez National Oncology Center for cancer treatment will be opened. She said that on March 26, a tomography center and a morgue will be inaugurated at the Ernesto Sequeira Hospital in Bluefields; on March 27, the clinical laboratory at the Juan Antonio Brenes Hospital in Somoto; on March 28, an X-Ray and mammography room at the Ada María López Primary Hospital in Condega; and on March 31, an emergency room and clinical laboratory at the Raymundo García Primary Hospital in Somotillo, Chinandega. (La Primerisima, 3 March 2025)

Next General Elections to Be Held in November 2027
National Assembly Deputy Edwin Castro announced on March 3 that the next elections of the nation’s co-presidents and deputies to the National Assembly will be held on the first Sunday after November 2, 2027, [which will fall on Nov. 7]. The Assembly began discussion of the new Electoral Law designed to strengthen the legal framework for the elections, ensuring its alignment with constitutional principles. Castro also said that the law specifies that local municipal elections should be held in 2028 and, in March 2030, the regional elections in the districts of the Caribbean Coast will be held to elect the 45 members in the South Caribbean Autonomous Region and 45 in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region. For the National Assembly, 94 deputies with their respective alternates will be elected. The law states that the nation’s executive vice presidents will be appointed by the President. The Supreme Electoral Council will be composed of six magistrates, three proprietary and three alternates. These magistrates will appoint the members of the Municipal and Departmental Electoral Councils, who must be officials with experience in the system. Castro, who is coordinator of the FSLN bench in the Assembly, commented that the approval of a series of new laws has begun. Under the law, it is prohibited to receive financing from private or public donations from abroad. Gender equity and practice is guaranteed, ensuring fifty percent women and men in the integration of boards of directors at all levels and of candidacies to elected positions. (La Primerisima, 4 March 2025)

Minors to Have Identification Document
The National Assembly approved a law that creates a document to identify minors from birth to 16 years of age [everyone ages 16 and older already has an identity document]. The Registry of the Civil Status of Persons of the Supreme Electoral Council will create a unique identification number for each Nicaraguan from birth, which will be the reference in all procedures carried out before public and private entities. The new law establishes a modern and secure identification system that responds to the current and future needs of the country in a context of technological advances and social demands. The law recognizes the right of individuals to have an identity and establishes the duty of every citizen to request and carry an identification card. The minor’s document will be different from the identification card of those 16 and older. From birth to six years of age, the expiration date will be the day the holder turns six years old. From six to 13 years of age the expiration date will be the day the holder turns 13 years old. From 13 to 16 years of age the expiration date will be the day the person turns 16 years old. Deputy Filiberto Rodríguez, explained that the law modernizes and speeds up the identification process of Nicaraguan citizens. “It will allow regulating the creation, use, modification and delivery of identification to natural persons from birth to death, and will also provide legal certainty,” he said. (La Primerisima, 27 February 2025)