Nicaragua is becoming a dictatorship (again)
Tim Rogers on Why we should care that Nicaragua is becoming a dictatorship (again).
For such a small region, Central America sure seems to have a lot of ink written about it in the US. (There's no TV coverage of the region which means for many Americans the place doesn't exist but it sure seems like a lot of ink is spilled on the region.) US policy is concerned with the violence associated with drug trafficking, organized crime, and transnational gangs. Nicaragua has all three criminal activities but without the overt violence.
Nicaragua is sending thousands of its citizens out of the country in search of a better economic life. However, the Nicaraguans are generally headed south to Costa Rica. There are not thousands of Nicaraguans, as far as I know, attempting the trek through Mexico and onto the US. Corruption is really bad in Nicaragua, but thousands are no pouring into the streets to demand Ortega's resignation, which might have forced the US' hand (a la Perez Molina).
The Obama administration has tried to approach the region in a non-partisan sort of way. It has tried to engage with the Perez Molina, FMLN, JOH, and Ortega governments on issues of mutual concern without falling into right-wing or left-wing pits. It has applied pressure, unevenly, but generally left it up to the governments of the region to solve their own problems. I'm not sure how different its approach to Nicaragua has been compared to the other countries in the region.
(See my earlier articles on Can Nicaragua continue to play both sides? with the Christian Science Monitor and Chipping away at democracy in Nicaragua and Panama with Al Jazeera.)
When the Sandinistas were voted back into power after 16 years of “governing from below,” Nicaragua was ready to give them another chance. After all, Ortega and his party had respected the rules of the game enough to acknowledge electoral defeat in 1990, and again in 1996 and 2001. So the Sandinistas had proven that they were housebroken and respected rule of law—or so I thought.
Boy was I so wrong.The US has been rather quiet. Tim attributes its silence to the fact that its concerns in Nicaragua are mostly economic and that as long as its economic interests are being protected, it won't lift a finger. I don't doubt the US' economic interests. That however can't explain everything. US economic interests in Nicaragua are not that great.
For such a small region, Central America sure seems to have a lot of ink written about it in the US. (There's no TV coverage of the region which means for many Americans the place doesn't exist but it sure seems like a lot of ink is spilled on the region.) US policy is concerned with the violence associated with drug trafficking, organized crime, and transnational gangs. Nicaragua has all three criminal activities but without the overt violence.
Nicaragua is sending thousands of its citizens out of the country in search of a better economic life. However, the Nicaraguans are generally headed south to Costa Rica. There are not thousands of Nicaraguans, as far as I know, attempting the trek through Mexico and onto the US. Corruption is really bad in Nicaragua, but thousands are no pouring into the streets to demand Ortega's resignation, which might have forced the US' hand (a la Perez Molina).
The Obama administration has tried to approach the region in a non-partisan sort of way. It has tried to engage with the Perez Molina, FMLN, JOH, and Ortega governments on issues of mutual concern without falling into right-wing or left-wing pits. It has applied pressure, unevenly, but generally left it up to the governments of the region to solve their own problems. I'm not sure how different its approach to Nicaragua has been compared to the other countries in the region.
(See my earlier articles on Can Nicaragua continue to play both sides? with the Christian Science Monitor and Chipping away at democracy in Nicaragua and Panama with Al Jazeera.)
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