Stephen Sefton, Tortilla con Sal, July 5th 2021
Nicaragua's political opposition is split between the country's legitimate political parties and opposition movements advocating foreign intervention like the Civic Alliance and the National Unity blocs which falsely claim to represent Nicaraguan civil society. Among the most aggressive components of this non-party political opposition, the ex sandinistas of the former Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS), now known as Unamos, have received funding from the US government since 2005. From that time to the present they have consistently misrepresented themselves in North America and Europe as a progressive political movement. In fact, they made an electoral pact in 2006 to support their right wing partners at the time and continued that deal in the 2008 municipal elections, when they promoted US supported right wing banker Eduardo Montealegre as candidate for mayor of Managua for the right wing PLC party, still controlled at that time by corrupt ex-president Arnoldo Alemán.
Dora María Tellez and Hugo Torres campaign with right wing banker Eduardo Montealegre in 2008.
The MRS old guard of Hugo Torres, Dora María Tellez and Victor Hugo Tinoco passed on the leadership of the MRS to a younger generation of centre right political leaders including Ana Margarita Vigil who have consistently lobbied for US intervention in Nicaragua's internal affairs since before their failed coup attempt in 2018.
Ana Margarita Vijil (3rd from right), lobbying Ileana Ros Lehtinen (center),
notorious right wing US Congress member for coercive measures against Nicaragua's government
The MRS have coordinated their political opposition activities with right wing former government officials under the neoliberal governments of Arnoldo Alemán and Enrique Bolaños. These include Felix Maradiaga, a fomer Minister of Defence functionary under Enrique Bolaños. Maradiaga has links to national and regional organized crime and has good relations with former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe, the political leader of of his country's narco-terror based right wing.
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The Colombian drug trafficker Julio César Paz Varela, was a leading regional distributor |
Other opposition allies of the MRS include the criminal leaders of Nicaragua's violent Anti Canal Movement who were coached to project themselves as a legitimate protest movement by Monica Baltodano and her daughter Monica López using their Popol Nah non profit to receive foreign funding for their political activities, including funding from the US government.
Monica López Baltodano (left) coordinating activities with Anti Canal Movement leader Francisca Ramirez (next to her)
and right wing former presidential candidate Fabio Gadea (right) in the offices of the virulently right wing Radio Corporación
Nicaragua's phoney civil society political opposition groups include small groups of students. In 2018, leaders from these marginal student groups lobbied right wing US politicians like Marco Rubio and Ileana Ros Lehtinen to promote US government intervention in Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan student leaders lobbying for US intervention with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Marco Rubio
These opposition movements in Nicaragua all supported the right wing 2019 coup in Bolivia against Evo Morales.
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The non-party political opposition in Nicaragua includes phony human rights activists who formerly worked for organizations like the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), the Permanent Commission for Human Rights (CPDH) or the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH). All of these organizations depended on foreign financing from the US or European Union country governments. The ANPDH in particular has been exposed for false reporting of the events in 2018. Some of these phony human rights activists now work out of Costa Rica funded by foreign governments in organizations like Nunca Más, which also promotes US government intervention in Nicaragua.
US government funded Nunca Más NGO promoting a photo of opposition supporters
lobbying for intervention with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Among these phony human rights activists is Eva Amaya Coppens who was convicted in 2019 of very serious crimes involving the organization of extortion with menaces and assault causing serious bodily harm. Appropriately enough, Coppens accepted an award presented by Melania Trump and President Trump's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to the US to promote US government intervention in Nicaragua.
Eva Amaya Coppens accepting a prize from Melania Trump and Mike Pompeo, President Trump's
Secretary of State as part of her lobbying activities for US intervention in Nicaragua
In March 2016, then US ambassador Laura Dogu received a group of Nicaraguan women opposition activists lobbying for
US support for their non profits. The group includes Sofía Montenegro, Vilma Núñez, Ana Quiroz and Suyen Barahona.
Leaders of Nicaraguan NGOs lobby ambassador Kevin Sullivan
Opposition activists Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda lobby US Vice President Mike Pence
Partial list of US government funding to opposition organizations for the period 2017-2018