Nicaragua next in Trump and Rubio’s imperial sights?

The US project to recolonise Central and Latin America means regime change in Nicaragua is now on Trump’s agenda, writes MATT WILLGRESS

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WHEN Trump returned to the US presidency for the second time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio almost immediately declared Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua “enemies of humanity,” making it clear they would be in the crosshairs of US aggression.

He astonishingly added that “if it were not for these three regimes there would not be a migration crisis in the hemisphere.”

The record since of the US regime when it comes to these countries is fully in line with Rubio’s comments, and when it comes to Venezuela and Cuba this has been widely covered in the labour movement and left press.

Venezuela faced ever and ever harsher sanctions from the US before being bombed this January, and its President, Nicolas Maduro, kidnapped to face a ludicrous, lengthy show trial in a gross violation of both national sovereignty and international law.

The US meanwhile is seeking to starve Cuba, again and again making clear that nothing less than “regime change” is the ultimate aim of the tightening the devastating blockade.

Sources from the US have also consistently briefed the press they plan to move on to Cuba once the war with Iran concludes, although at the time of writing that war looks far from over.

The case of Nicaragua though has perhaps received less attention internationally, but a closer look at developments shows that “regime change” is a clear aim — and US meddling is increasing.

In September, a statement from Rubio “urged” regional “international partners” to ​immediately stop “business as usual” ‌contacts with Nicaragua.

The US has also said that Nicaragua “threatens our hemisphere’s stability and prosperity,” adding the country “should not enjoy the same economic or political benefits as governments committed to defending hemispheric peace and security.” The latter camp includes the far-right governments of Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and others.

As a prominent, supportive and chilling comment from another user on Rubio’s X account put it, the US “has officially moved Nicaragua from ‘strongly worded letter’ to ‘you’re about to find out why this hemisphere has a Secretary of State’.”

And a real clue on the direction this could all take was made when Florida Republican Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez urged Rubio to ensure that “after Cuba, Nicaragua is next.”

This latest wave of anti-Nicaragua statements came hot on the heels of the empire imposing sanctions on 100 further Nicaraguan officials in June, meaning the total number sanctioned stands at over 2,350.

Indeed, ever since the sanctions containing “Nica Act” was signed by Trump in 2018 the US has repeatedly stated that Nicaragua poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” Exactly the same as Venezuela before it.

This is of course ridiculous — especially when remembering that the US (whose southern border is 2,000 miles away) is the country with the highest military budget in the world.

So far, sanctions against Nicaragua have taken three forms.

First, the aforementioned sanctioning of individuals, including the likes of MPs and Sandinista mayors — freezing assets and a US travel ban. Second, obstructing international financial transactions. Third, preventing Nicaragua’s access to financing by international lending institutions.

The latter two clearly effect all the people of Nicaragua.

Because of these measures, it is estimated Nicaragua lost over £1.05 billion between 2018 and 2021 — 90 per cent of its potential funding from international institutions.

This has impacted the country’s development in areas such as school lunch programmes and rural development, plus infrastructure programmes.

Nicaragua has also since been included in a fresh round of US tariffs. Other forms of “economic war” will surely intensify following Rubio’s recent attempts to whip up a regional and international “coalition of the willing” for “regime change.”

Trump’s stated aim is the recolonisation of Latin America, and all its interventions in the region need to be understood in this context.

In Nicaragua, US deadly interventions of the 1980s are still very much in the popular consciousness — 43,000 lost their lives in the 1981-90 US-financed war waged by the Contra mercenaries against the Sandinista government. The total killed during the Sandinista revolution (1971-79) is estimated as between 30,000-50,000.

Those murdered included thousands of civilians in the rural areas, including agricultural, healthcare workers and teachers.

It is to be anticipated that any US intervention nowadays would follow a similar pattern.

Alarm bells should then be ringing in the ears of all those who oppose Trump’s war-drive and our rallying cry is clear — hands off Latin America!

Liverpool event: Viva La Solidaridad! No to Trump’s War on Latin America. Speakers include Gabriel Becerra, Colombian MP (Pacto Historico party), Francisco Dominguez, Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, Julia Felmanas, Brazilian Workers’ Party. Sunday September 27, 1pm, Racquet Club Hotel, 5 Chapel Street, Liverpool, L3 9AG. Register at http://bit.ly/vlsliverpool

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