For better or worse, Nicaragua is on its own
It is beyond sad to see what is happening in Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega has spent the last ten-plus years dismantling what semblance of democracy the country had built over the previous two decades.
We did not necessarily turn a blind eye to his autocratic tendencies, here's an op-ed I wrote for Al Jazeera on Chipping away at democracy in Nicaragua and Panama in December 2012, but we tried to content ourselves with the fact that the economy was growing, poverty rates were improving, crime was low compared to its neighbors, and some collaboration was taking place between the Ortega family and the private sector. Nicaragua had its problems but we much preferred their problems to the problems confronted in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
As Tim Rogers writes in the Atlantic, "Nicaragua is now in the throes of a mass uprising against Ortega’s murderous regime. It’s a dangerous endeavor for an unarmed population, especially after the collapse of peace talks last week. But there’s no going back. Nicaragua has experienced a national awakening."
No one seems to have a good sense of where things go from here. The United States is in no position to broker an acceptable resolution to the crisis. Among other things, it is hampered by Trump and its long, awful history in Nicaragua. Brazil is beset by corruption scandals. Mexico is in the grips of an election. Cuba is dealing with its own transition (away from the Castros?) and Venezuela has nothing to offer. Even if they wanted to, Nicaragua's immediate neighbors of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica don't seem to be interested in providing any coordinated response.
For better or worse, Nicaragua is on its own.
We did not necessarily turn a blind eye to his autocratic tendencies, here's an op-ed I wrote for Al Jazeera on Chipping away at democracy in Nicaragua and Panama in December 2012, but we tried to content ourselves with the fact that the economy was growing, poverty rates were improving, crime was low compared to its neighbors, and some collaboration was taking place between the Ortega family and the private sector. Nicaragua had its problems but we much preferred their problems to the problems confronted in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
As Tim Rogers writes in the Atlantic, "Nicaragua is now in the throes of a mass uprising against Ortega’s murderous regime. It’s a dangerous endeavor for an unarmed population, especially after the collapse of peace talks last week. But there’s no going back. Nicaragua has experienced a national awakening."
No one seems to have a good sense of where things go from here. The United States is in no position to broker an acceptable resolution to the crisis. Among other things, it is hampered by Trump and its long, awful history in Nicaragua. Brazil is beset by corruption scandals. Mexico is in the grips of an election. Cuba is dealing with its own transition (away from the Castros?) and Venezuela has nothing to offer. Even if they wanted to, Nicaragua's immediate neighbors of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica don't seem to be interested in providing any coordinated response.
For better or worse, Nicaragua is on its own.
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