On Aug. 25, 2010, The Christian Science Monitor published an article entitled, “Nicaraguans say US turns blind eye to abuses of Daniel Ortega.” As with other articles about Nicaragua published by the US corporate press over the past three decades, it would take more words than the original article to debunk all the lies, innuendos, and disinformation. Nevertheless, these press attacks should not go unanswered by solidarity activists. Following are talking points for letters-to-the-editor. Please send a letter to letters@csmonitor.com
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Schedule a Showing of Bananas!* in Your Community!

Nicaraguan workers accuse Dole of fraud and suborning testimony!

BANANAS!* is multi-layered courtroom drama delving into the global politics of food, the dynamics of First and Third world nations, and ultimately, human rights at the basest of levels.

Directed by investigative journalist Fredrik Gertten, BANANAS!* focuses on a landmark and highly controversial legal case pitting a dozen Nicaraguan plantation workers against Dole Food Corporation and its alleged use of a banned pesticide with a probable link to generations of sterilized workers.
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This Wednesday, April 28th, marks the 23rd anniversary of Ben Linder’s death.  As most of you know, Ben was a North American engineer who was murdered by the U.S.-sponsored Contras.  Ben was only 27 years old when he was killed.

Ben was an engineer and also a unicyclist and a clown.  (There’s a unicycle depicted on his tombstone in the Matagalpa cemetery.)  His presence was a symbol of international solidarity to Nicaraguans in the El Cua region of northern Nicaragua, and to all Nicaraguans who knew about him and his work.

Friends of Ben say that he was a really wonderful human being—capable, humorous, and compassionate.  It’s terrible to realize that his life was snuffed out by soldiers armed and trained by the leaders of Ben’s own country.

I hope that this Wednesday we all take a moment during the day to say ¡Benjamin Linder, presente!  The Jews among us can light a Yahrzeit candle in Ben’s memory on Tuesday night.

Nicaragua Will Not Be Next
By Chuck Kaufman
National Co-Coordinator
Nicaragua Network / Alliance for Global Justice

While the facts in the Prensa Latina article, “After Honduras, Nicaragua?” on April 22, 2010, and some coverage by other international media, are correct about the current turmoil in Nicaragua, the implication that Nicaragua is ripe for a coup, such as occurred in neighboring Honduras, is not. The Nicaraguan opposition, generously funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy and US Agency for International Development, has worked to make the country ungovernable virtually since President Daniel Ortega took office in January 2007. One of the periodic escalations of those tactics is taking place now. During the previous unpopular government of Enrique Bolaños (2002-2006), laws were changed, which were intended to adjust the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches.
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[The Nicaragua Network received this action alert from the Quixote Center. We urge you to take action.]

On Sunday, Nov. 29, “elections” were held in Honduras by a military coup regime that is internationally recognized as illegitimate, responsible for massive human rights violations and in an environment of terror and persecution.
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MS Central America
Danish Association for International Cooperation
November 30, 2009
by Christian Korsgaard, correspondent, MS Central América.

The participation was the greatest in history says the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The participation was the lowest in history says the Resistance. The confusion is great over the real numbers, but all indications are of victory for National Party candidate Pepe [Porfirio] Lobo.

Polling place in Tegucigalpa, Sunday at 4:20pm. The long lines of the TSE and local media are not visible. The ambiance might better be described as boring. Photo: Christian Korsgaard.

The polling places in Honduras closed at 5:00pm on Sunday after a day of conflicting reports that raised questions about whether the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and the Resistance were referring to the same election.

Meanwhile, most of the local media reported early on of a massive participation, the Resistance has stayed firm during the whole day, arguing that the level of abstention was the highest in history. The Resistance had recommended a boycott of the elections, since due to numerous violations of the human rights, they do not consider them to be valid or democratic.
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Zelaya with Shannon.

[The Nicaragua Network has received this urgent action alert from School of the Americas Watch (SOAW). We urge you to take action!]

We are extremely concerned about the situation in Honduras, where SOA graduates overthrew the democratically elected government on June 28, 2009. An agreement that was brokered last week between representatives of President Zelaya and the coup regime was supposed to “return the holder of executive power to its pre-June 28 state” but it turns out it was just another stalling tactic by the coup regime. [Nicaragua Network note: U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) said that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Assistant Secretary Thomas Shannon had assured him that the US would recognize the outcome of the Honduran elections regardless of whether Manuel Zelaya was reinstated. This is unacceptable.] Read a statement from Honduran President Manuel Zelaya below.
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By Mark Weisbrot

This column was published by The Guardian Unlimited on November 4, 2009. To read it in the original, click here.

Last Friday an agreement was reached between the de facto regime in Honduras– which took power in a military coup on June 28th — and the elected president Mel Zelaya, for the restoration of democracy there.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in announcing what she called an “historic agreement, said: “I cannot think of another example of a country in Latin America that…overcame such a crisis through negotiation and dialogue.” Hopefully this will turn out to be true.

But the ink was barely dry on the accord when leaders of the coup regime indicated that they had no intention of honoring it. Some of them clearly saw the agreement as just another delaying tactic. They have talked of postponing congressional approval of the accord until after the November 29th elections, or even voting not to restore Zelaya.
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Calls for continued struggle for a just society!

Comuniqué No. 32

The National Front of Resistance to the Coup d’Etát, facing the imminent signing of a negotiated agreement between the commission representing the legitimate President Manuel Zelaya Rosales and the representatives of the de facto regime, communicates the following to the Honduran people and the international community:

1. We celebrate the upcoming restoration of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales as a popular victory over the narrow interests of the coup oligarchy. This victory has been obtained through four months of struggle and sacrifice by the people who, in spite of the savage repression unleashed by the repressive forces of the state in the hands of the dominant class, have been able to resist and grow in their levels of consciousness and organization and turn themselves into an irrepressible social force.
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Call the State Department to set them straight!

At the Organization of American States today, the Obama administration appears to have given a clear signal to the coup government that it now has a free hand to do what it wants. Call the State Department and the White House to tell them that Zelaya had every right to return to his country and the U.S. must condemn the violent repression by the coup regime.

Below is a translation of a Notimex article about Lewis Amselem’s speech at the OAS and below that are two sample messages to convey to the State Department and/or President Barak Obama.

Call the White House comment line at 202-456- 1111 or write President Barack Obama.

Call the State Department at 202-647-4000 and ask for the comment line.
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