Global Research

The US is hell bent on making the democratically elected government of Nicaragua buckle under the pressure of various hybrid war tools it has crafted over the years to asphyxiate brave Latin American countries that oppose the Monroe Doctrine of neocolonialism. Since foiling the US-backed hybrid war coup attempt in 2018 the Nicaraguan Sandinista government understood it had to enhance further its democratic security capacities along with its geoeconomic might. The present article describes the sanctions being deployed against Nicaragua and the geostrategic maneuvers the Sandinista government is undertaking with a little help from its multipolar friends since the fateful US coup attempt.

Historical Context

The US backed the Somoza regime until 1979 when it was overthrown by the leftist Sandinista revolution. The US then opted to support the anti-Sandinista rebels known as the Contras, who waged a terrorist guerrilla war against the Sandinista government throughout the 1980s.

The US also imposed economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation on Nicaragua, accusing it of being a Soviet ally and a threat to regional stability.

The US ended their hybrid war campaign in the 1990 elections, when the Sandinistas lost power to a coalition of opposition parties.

The US then lifted the sanctions and resumed aiding its proxies and trading with Nicaragua.

However, an intensification of the US hybrid war resurfaced in 2006, when Daniel Ortega, a former Sandinista leader, won the elections as president. Ortega has since crafted efficient sovereign structures within the Central American state to enhance its high stakes decision-making. Specially since the Sandinista country has been cracking down on pro-US and European proxies’ remnants which used money from the US government to fund fronts for criminality as platforms for its regime change machinery within Nicaragua.

The Empire of Chaos and Sanctions

The North American giant has been waging a multifaceted campaign against Nicaragua, employing a mix of economic sanctions, media info war manipulation and outright political interference to undermine the legitimacy and stability of the Nicaraguan government.

The US has also supported various opposition groups and NGOs and movements that seek to overthrow the elected authorities and instigate a regime change in the Central American country. These groups have engaged in violent protests, murder, kidnapping, sabotage, and armed attacks, acting as proxies for the US interests. This is a classic example of hybrid warfare, a strategy that blends conventional and unconventional methods of aggression to achieve geopolitical objectives.

The US is doing all it can to prevent Nicaragua from optimizing the democratic security of its state by dismantling Hybrid War networks and taking action against the core vanguard of these US funded networks. According to Andrew Korybko,

“This type of infrastructure deals with the actual people that are involved in the Color Revolution, and it is defined through institutions/organizations. It is the Revolution’s direct engine of engagement. Prior to ‘The Event’, this can be divided into three levels: 1) Core (Vanguard), 2) Cohorts (Workers), 3) Civilians (Sympathizers). These individuals are the vanguard of the Color Revolution. They are the people who control the institutions/organizations that are set in bringing about the Liberal-Democratic change. They are highly trained and maintain direct contact with the external patron (ideological and/or financial). The core constitutes a small amount of activists who are dedicated to the cause. In the sense that they are dead-set against the existing status quo and actively seek to disrupt it, they can be defined as ‘ideological extremists’.”

And these are the terrorist remnants networks which the US seeks to protect in Nicaragua, tho some of which were handed over to the US as I detailed here: Why Did Nicaragua Release Part Of The Hybrid War Coup Networks?

The United States has always been incapable of negotiating in geoeconomic terms without resorting to violent coups and Hybrid War in the Latin American and Caribbean regions, but now the US resurrects the block warfare in the form of a New Cold War to hamper the adoption of multipolarity as a political paradigm. Global south countries have withstood and survived North American attempts for total control the region. Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela are at the core of resistance against North American-European neocolonial machinations. Just a few days ago in August 19 the US State Department sanctioned 100 Nicaraguan public officials for dismantling pro US proxies that were still operating within the Sandinista state, prior to that in April the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three Nicaraguan judges.

But the main sanction campaign was introduced to the floor by US Senators Marco Rubio and Tim Kaine, would revamp a sanction tool to impose sanctions on Nicaragua through December 31, 2028. The bill, if passed, would also expand sanctions to include Nicaraguan officials, direct the U.S. State Department to enforce sectoral sanctions, and direct State to work with allies and partners to stop providing investment to Nicaragua through the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The bill builds upon the Nicaragua Human Rights and Anticorruption (NICA) Act of 2018 and the Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform (RENACER) Act of 2021, which deploys sanctions and other international pressures against the Sandinista state.

Multipolar Globalization to the Rescue

Subsequently China and Nicaragua have formalized relations increasing their trade and cooperation significantly. Nicaragua’s economy is now benefiting from China’s investment and support in various sectors, such as infrastructure, agriculture, health and education. Nicaragua is also embracing multipolarity to enhance its sovereignty, democratic security and economic development. China and Nicaragua share a vision of a more diverse and harmonious world order. Nicaragua is going all out even requesting entrance into BRICS and other multipolar institutions.

Since 2018 Nicaragua has aligned itself strategically with multipolarist states such as Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China. China and Nicaragua are getting closer in trade. Starting from May 1, 2023, some products from Nicaragua will enter China without paying any tariffs. This is good news for Nicaraguan exporters who want to sell more to the Chinese market. China and Nicaragua have agreed to boost their trade ties by giving some Nicaraguan products a duty-free access to the Chinese market. Starting from May 1, Nicaragua will be able to export goods such as coffee, beef, honey, and rum without paying any tariffs to China. This is a significant benefit for the Central American nation, which has been facing economic challenges and international sanctions. China hopes that this move will strengthen its friendship and cooperation with Nicaragua, as well as promote regional stability and development. Nicaragua is also considering embracing Russian Mir bank cards for international trade transactions in an effort to circumvent US sanctions. Mir is a Russian payment system independent of the one used by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT).

The Impact of US Sanctions Is Far-reaching

In a world divided by geopolitical and geoeconomic interests, the United States has recently implemented new sanctions with the intention of undermining and destabilizing nations that have chosen a path of multipolarity. These sanctions are part of a broader strategy aimed at asserting the dominance of the US Neocolonial imperialism and maintaining a unipolar world order. What these sanctions against Nicaragua and against other global south states express is the US-led west’s unwillingness or incapacity to compete in the global markets under a multipolar paradigm of fairness and respect.

Under the guise of promoting democracy, these sanctions are designed to target the economies of nations that have chosen to pursue their own independent foreign policies and forge alliances outside the influence of the Empire. By imposing economic restrictions, the Empire seeks to create financial hardships and weaken the governments of these nations, thus making them more susceptible to its influence and control. The United States justifies its actions by claiming that these nations pose a threat to global stability and that their pursuit of multipolarity is detrimental to international cooperation. However, these sanctions are nothing more than a tool to maintain the Empire’s hegemony and prevent any geoeconomic competition. The goal is to create social and economic unrest, fuelling internal conflicts that could potentially weaken global south nations from within.

Furthermore, the United States employs various strategies to enforce compliance with these sanctions. Diplomatic pressure, covert operations, and propaganda campaigns are all part of their arsenal. By isolating targeted global south nations from the international community, the Empire attempts to weaken their standing and portray them as pariahs. Which is why Nicaragua has learned its better to just move away from the US slowly towards other more fair and profitable markets, joining thus an authentic multipolar globalization. 

While the United States claims to champion democracy and global stability, its actions reveal an Empire of Chaos. The imposition of these sanctions meant to impoverish and destabilize Global South nations simply because they have chosen multipolarity signals the North American Empire’s true intentions of continuing the decades old hybrid war / proxy war against Nicaragua as part of its commitment of stopping or even reversing the systemic transition towards a complex multipolar world order in the Latin American region and across the Global South.

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Miguel Santos García is a Puerto Rican writer and political analyst who mainly writes about the geopolitics of neocolonial conflicts and Hybrid Wars within the 4th Industrial Revolution, the ongoing New Cold War and the transition towards multipolarity.