The CAFTA treaty and the prospect of new US sanctions against Nicaragua
A briefing by the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, February 2025 Draft legislation from the last session of the United States Congress, likely to be reintroduced in the 119th session, appears to conflict with an important US trade treaty. If approved, the ill-named “Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act” (formerly numbered S.1881 in the Senate […]
Panama Tries Compromise; US Says It’s Not Enough
After intense pressure by the U.S. on Panama to return possession of its canal to Washington because the Trump administration thinks China is threatening it, the Central American nation on Sunday sought a compromise by announcing it would study whether or not to renew contracts with a Chinese company managing two ports on the waterway […]
Whether Biden or Trump, US’s Latin American Policy Will Still Be Contemptible
By John Perry and Roger D. Harris With Donald Trump as the new US president, pundits are speculating about how US policy towards Latin America might change. In this article, we look at some of the speculation, then address three specific instances of how the US’s policy priorities may be viewed from a progressive, Latin […]
Development banker says US knew of plot to oust him over Nicaragua loans
The US government was aware of a campaign to remove a top development banker from power to stop anti-poverty loans to Nicaragua, where Washington sought regime change. In an exclusive interview with The Grayzone, Dante Mossi, who headed the Central American Bank for Economic Integration from 2018 to 2023, denounced a plot by “Costa Rica […]
How the Human Rights Industry Manufactures Consent for “Regime Change”
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 […]
What’s Left in Latin American and the Caribbean: Year 2024 in Review
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 […]
Biden declares another “national emergency” because of the threat posed by tiny Nicaragua
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 […]
John Perry lives in Masaya, Nicaragua where he works on