In the words of the United Nations, “human rights” range from “the most fundamental—the right to life—to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.” These rights are supposed to be “inherent to us all.” But this lofty ambition has become distorted, not only by the UN itself but by the whole of what Alfred de Zayas calls the “Human Rights Industry.”
Continue reading “How the Human Rights Industry Manufactures Consent for “Regime Change””
This document was submitted in response to an investigation of Nicaragua launched by the US Trade Representative, in late 2024, clearly aimed at disrupting trade with Nicaragua and possibly at excluding it from the trade treaty, CAFTA.
By Roger D. Harris and John Perry
The progressive regional current, the “Pink Tide,” could be better called “troubled waters” in 2024. The tide had already slackened by 2023 compared to its rise in 2022, when it was buoyed by big wins in Colombia and Brazil. Then, progressive alternatives had sailed into power replacing failed neoliberal policies. Since, they have had to govern under circumstances that they inherited but were not their own making.
Continue reading “What’s Left in Latin American and the Caribbean: Year 2024 in Review”
In the dying days of his administration, President Biden must have needed a reminder by his officials on November 22. He had to decide whether Nicaragua still poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”. Presumably he agreed that it does, because he renewed its status as a “national security threat” for a further year, repeating the designation that first began under the last Trump presidency.
Mijal Gur-Aryeh, Israel’s ambassador in Costa Rica [Source: laprensani.com]
Recent events appear to show the truth of her remarks.
Continue reading “Latin American Governments Pay a Price for Challenging Israel’s Genocidal War”
Claims that Nicaragua is “weaponizing” immigration by allowing free passage of migrants towards the U.S. border have been appearing regularly in the media over the last twelve months. The claim was made on NPR in January, in the Associated Press last October, in El Pais last November and by the BBC this July, to cite just a few. In May, the Biden administration accused the Nicaraguan government (the “Ortega-Murillo regime”) of “repressing people and preying on migrants,” imposing new sanctions on those it believed responsible. Is there any basis to these claims?
Continue reading “Is it Nicaragua that is “weaponizing” immigration? – or is it Washington?”
[Source: georgiatoday.ge]
Alfred de Zayas and John Perry examine the ways that human rights can be manipulated for geopolitical ends and used to justify illegal coercive measures like sanctions. Watch here.
A briefing for the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, June 2024
Draft legislation currently passing through the United States Congress appears to conflict with an important US trade treaty. A bill (S.1818, the ill-named “Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act”) has passed with amendments through the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A similar bill (H.R.6954), but thus far without the same amendments, has been introduced in the House of Representatives. If this legislation were to be approved, it could enable the US administration to impose sweeping new economic sanctions on Nicaragua.
Continue reading “The CAFTA treaty and the prospect of new US sanctions against Nicaragua”
When Nicaragua accused Germany of aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month, readers of corporate media might have seriously wondered whether Nicaragua’s case had any legitimacy.
The case targeted Germany as the second biggest supplier of arms to Israel, because the US, Israel’s biggest supplier, does not accept the court’s jurisdiction on this issue. The object (as Nicaragua’s lawyer explained) was to create a precedent with wider application – that countries must take responsibility for the consequences of their arms sales to avoid them being used in breach of international law.
Continue reading “When Nicaragua Took Germany to Court, Media Put Nicaragua in the Dock”
John Perry lives in Masaya, Nicaragua where he works on