ROSARIO: We're not saying goodbye, dear Coleen, we're leaving you here, among us, among our best life experiences We begin our remarks today by highlighting the departure to another plane, the higher plane of life, of our dear companion, faithful sister of our blessed Nicaragua, herself a Nicaraguan by the grace of God, Coleen Littlejohn, who came to us from the United States as part of that generous people, and today has departed, leaving a legacy of light, life, and true truths in our Nicaragua... A legacy we embrace as our cultural and social heritage of brotherhood among the peoples of the world, as a testament to human greatness, greatness, luminous and eternal greatness, as a living example in our ongoing battles for peace and the common good.
We are not saying goodbye, dear Coleen, we are leaving you here, among us, among our best life experiences, among our sublime legacies of spiritual coherence, among our inheritances of formidable humanity. In Nicaragua, we feel privileged to have traveled and continue to travel together. We send our greetings, Coleen, to your son Javier, to all your family, to your friends and brothers and sisters in Nicaragua and in so many other parts of the world who admire and love you.
Coleen Littlejohn: Founding Member of the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition Coleen Littlejohn’s passing is a great loss to our coalition as well as to many of us personally. Many more tributes will be forthcoming in this week’s issue of NicaNotes, but here we express our profound gratitude for her contributions to the work of the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition. On April 7, 2019, Coleen hosted a meeting during which many of us decided to coauthor the ebook Live from Nicaragua: Uprising or Coup? That initial collaboration brought even more of us together over time, as we deliberated how to shed more light on Nicaragua’s impressive achievements. As part of that process, Coleen hosted many delegations in her home, so that more people could experience Nicaragua for themselves. She ensured Nicaragua’s inclusion in the 2020 conference of United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) and was a key organizer of the 2023 Nicaragua hearing in the “International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism.”
Coleen was a member of our coalition’s coordinating committee since its inception in 2023. Last year she facilitated our closer relationship with the European Committee in Solidarity with the Sandinista Popular Revolution. She was a featured speaker in several Nicaragua Webinars, most recently in October 2025. These are just a few of the ways Coleen has enriched our solidarity. Thank you, Coleen! Presente! Presente! Presente!
Stephen Sefton: Coleen Littlejohn - a tribute Our comrade Coleen Littlejohn passed away today, October 25, leaving a great void for all those who knew, loved, and respected her because of her extraordinary talent and tireless hard work for the Sandinista People's Revolution and for Nicaragua. In 2024, Comrade Rosario recognized Coleen, noting, “Since 1980 here, always at the forefront, Comrade Coleen Littlejohn, whom we recognize for all her effort, all her support, and the permanent dissemination of our realities, the defense of our Truths.”
I met Coleen quite late in life, as a result of the failed coup attempt of 2018, during and after which she played a central role in mobilizing international solidarity against the fierce psychological warfare offensive by Western governments and their vast machinery of lies and disinformation from the media, academia and the non-governmental sector. Others will remember Coleen's leading role in solidarity with Nicaragua's Sandinista Revolution during the 1980s, from weekly demonstrations in front of the US embassy to organizing significant material support, intensive media work, and constant lobbying of both the US government and its allied governments.
Later, during the 1990s, in addition to her political solidarity work, Coleen was widely known for her successful work developing grassroots community organizations to support impoverished rural and urban families in Nicaragua, helping them overcome the endless hardships of life under corrupt neoliberal governments. Coleen's work enabled thousands of low-income families in Nicaragua to cope better than they otherwise could have with the difficulties caused by the neoliberal offensive of privatization and public spending cuts imposed under the oppressive tutelage of US and European ruling elites.
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Nicaragua plans to allocate 65% of public spending to reducing poverty during 2027 "This means that for every 100 córdobas (equivalent to $2.70) that are collected, almost 65 (approximately $1.70 ) go directly to those who need it most," said the president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, Ovidio Reyes. "With this, we have accumulated seven consecutive years of fiscal surplus accounts. Higher revenues and expenditures, as well as the largest budget surplus, are not cold numbers. They are the expression of responsible public management and thought about the future." The budget project contemplates social spending of 57% of total spending, where the health and education portfolios represent 67% of that component in this Central American nation, where these services are free.
As for public investment during the next year, it will favor the construction of the Punta Huete International Airport, a deep-water port in Bluefields (South Caribbean), sports infrastructure and investments in hospitals, explained the head of the issuing entity.
Poll shows overwhelming support for the government of Commander Daniel and Comrade Rosario The latest poll shows the government has 88.2% support of the Nicaraguan people.
Stephen Sefton: Nicaragua and independence in a new world order Nicaragua has demonstrated that revolutionary democratization guarantees better quality economic growth and greater social stability than the mediocre dogma of neoliberalism prevalent in the rest of the region. When Comandante Daniel observed in relation to Central America’s Independence, “That was our first independence, from then on we would have to fight, as we are fighting, for our second and definitive independence. That historic step was taken by Cuba, and then other peoples advanced on the same path, liberating themselves just like Cuba, with the strength of ideas, reason and arms.” The reforms to the Constitution this year, strengthening national independence and sovereignty against constant foreign interference, are another stage of a profound national political process in development since the failed coup attempt of 2018.
Nicaragua has the best economic performance, the highest level of gender equality, the best public health system, the most innovative education system, the most extensive high-quality vocational technical education, the best roads, the best citizen security, the most advanced disaster prevention and mitigation system, the most extensive and modern sports infrastructure, the best agricultural health protection system and the most successful security policy against drug trafficking and organized crime.
Becca Renk Foster, John Perry: Colombia Threatens Its Caribbean Neighbor: Nicaragua When Abelardo de la Espriella was declared the winner of Colombia’s presidential elections, he announced his plan to sever diplomatic relations with Nicaragua, saying, “In my government there will be no ties whatsoever with tyrannies.” In October, he revived a longstanding maritime dispute with Nicaragua relating to the San Andrés archipelago in the Caribbean, which had been resolved by the International Court of Justice in 2012 in a judgment repeated just three years ago.
Colombia is now part of the “Shield of the Americas,” a group of countries subservient to the US, organized to push the “Donroe Doctrine” of complete US dominance in the region. While it has broken diplomatic relations with Nicaragua and Cuba, it has restored ties to Israel. In August, De la Espriella’s government was rewarded by a new, $1 billion security-assistance package from the U.S. State Department.
But what happens if Colombia unilaterally redraws its maritime boundaries and attacks Nicaraguan fishing boats or a navy vessel in waters that the World Court considers belong to Nicaragua? If Colombia or the U.S. were to carry out military operations in Nicaragua’s territorial waters without its consent, an international armed conflict could be triggered. This would be a bizarrely unequal contest.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez: Cuba will defend its sovereignty as a way to defend the sovereignty of all states on the planet The draft resolution, "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," will be brought before the UN for the thirty-fourth time—this time, with two notable new features. Bruno Rodríguez explained: "What is new, unique, and extraordinary is that the General Assembly will, for the first time, be responding to a situation in which the blockade against Cuba has been tightened to an extreme degree." The second new aspect is a ruthless campaign by the US government to exert extreme pressure on numerous UN member states, aiming to force them to abandon the positions they have sovereignly maintained for decades.
He declared that what is happening to Cuba today could happen to any other state tomorrow. He urged the international community—specifically the United Nations General Assembly—to take collective action to restore the rule of international law, and to prevent the use of force, the threat of the use of force, and the so-called imposition of peace through force.
He further noted that the issue to be discussed at the UN is, in no way, a mere dispute; rather, it concerns the sovereign rights of every state on the planet. He emphasized that Cuba will not be defeated, will not be overcome, and will not surrender; it will defend its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity—as a way of upholding the independence and sovereignty of all states across the globe—regardless of the ultimate consequences.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming #NoWarOnCuba Events or here Events around the country to demand No War on Cuba
October 18-31: Witness for Peace sponsors a US speaking tour of a Cuban from the Martin Luther King Center, Raleigh and Durham
November 2 and 23: Solidarity Campaign Against U.S. War & Empire. Register here for the November 2 meeting (7pm ET).
November 1-7: Global Resistance Week to Stop U.S. Imperialism & Genocide
November 10-12, Wash DC: Taxpayer Uprising to say "No more money for war!" A taxpayer uprising is coming to Washington, DC, and we need you to be part of it! Join the CODEPINK contingent for three days of nonviolent action as we take a stand and demand: NO MORE of our Money to Wars and Militarism! End the catastrophic war in Iran—and ALL wars. We want to live in peace. End US complicity in Israeli crimes. No more money for Israel. No integration of the US and Israeli militaries. Slash the gargantuan military budget—over $1 trillion—and instead invest in Medicare For All, affordable housing, green energy and a sustainable future.
November 10-12: Taxpayer Uprising in D.C. No More Money for War
2027 Casa Ben Linder Nicaragua Tours
Feb 13-19 Bird Brigade – birding in Solentiname and Rio San Juan
March 6-14 Power and Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua – meet with women in leadership roles – cooperatives, labor unions, peasant feminists, and artisans to explore gender equity in Nicaragua
April 22-30 Light and Legacy: Ben Linder Brigade – Commemorate 40 years since the assassination of U.S. solidarity worker Ben Linder by U.S.-funded contra forces
May 21-June 1 Mayo Ya – Cultural tour to the Southern Autonomous Region of the Caribbean Coast, which is the heart of Nicaragua’s Indigenous and Afrodescendant communities.
Delegations to Cuba:
Witness for Peace 2026-27 delegations to Cuba
Friendly Planet delegations to Cuba
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.com
Monthly meetings of the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition are held on Zoom on the second Monday of each month at 2:30pm Eastern/ 11:30am Pacific time. The next meeting: Monday, November 9. Register in advance here.
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