Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition 7.7.2026: Our Statements; Recent Webinars; Upcoming Delegations
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition Statement in Support of Cuba The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition stands in firm solidarity with the people of Cuba against escalating aggression by the government of the United States. The economic, commercial, financial and energy blockade illegally imposed by the government of the U.S. on the Cuban people is a genocidal act and we demand that it stop… The island is facing oil shortages, power outages, and lack of drinking water, medicines and food, along with constant aggression and interference as the country to the north attempts to destroy their entire society. Cuban doctors have the training and the will to heal their people, but are heartbroken as they watch their patients die because needed medicines and supplies cannot reach them through the illegal blockade; and the equipment of modern medicine is useless when fuel has been denied to the island.
Cuba continues to be an example of international solidarity: even in the midst of its own crises, Cuban rescue workers were among the first to arrive in Venezuela to help search for survivors following the recent earthquakes. Cuba’s health solidarity extends worldwide, regardless of ideology, and has helped overcome some of the most difficult health crises of recent years.
We urge you to take action:
● Show your solidarity in a concrete way by traveling to Cuba to commemorate the 100th birthday of Comandante Fidel Castro August 1-15th with organizations such as the National Network on Cuba
● Demand the lifting of the criminal blockade of Cuba by signing here.
● Donate medical aid through Global Health Partners, or donate material aid to be sent with August brigades through the People’s Forum
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition signs on to National Single Payer’s Declaration of Independence from the Medical-Industrial Complex (Please sign on as individuals) We Demand that our government recognize health care as a human right; Demand the elimination of private health insurance and the banning of for-profit delivery of care; Demand the enactment of a publicly financed, national single payer program that provides comprehensive coverage to everyone from cradle to grave and the passage of improved H.R 3069 Medicare for All, free from profit; Demand that health care delivery be transformed from profit-seeking ventures into services organized to serve the people of our country, a system in which all caregivers are freed from corporate control.
Please sign on: Return Venezuela’s Stolen Wealth for Full Quake Recovery The Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition was one of the initial sponsors.
Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition Reaffirms its Support for Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution and Opposes all U.S. Interference (June 11) Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution is facing an unprecedented situation following the illegal U.S. invasion of Venezuela and abduction of its democratically elected president, Nicolas Maduro, and First Lady Cilia Flores. Since then, the U.S. has kept in place the crippling economic coercive measures (“sanctions”), estimated to have already caused over 100,000 excess deaths in Venezuela, while threatening further military aggression.
The U.S. empire has also intensified its campaign of psychological warfare. This not only includes the old tactic of blaming the Revolution for the impacts of sanctions, but now targeting the Revolution’s supporters with rumors of betrayal spread through the media and social media. This U.S. tactic, which has been similarly employed elsewhere around the world, is intended to divide the Venezuelan people, sow despair, and demobilize revolutionary resistance and international solidarity.
We will not fall for these tricks. Chavistas–revolutionaries in Venezuela–remain unified in their opposition to U.S. imperialist aggression. The Revolution continues, albeit while facing its most challenging moments. The Venezuelan people know how best to defend their Revolution, as it belongs to them. Like Nicaragua’s Sandinistas, Chavistas have built political consciousness and deep organization while steeped in decades of struggle.
For international solidarity, our primary role is to expose and fight against the ongoing violence and coercion the U.S. has imposed on Venezuela before and since January 3. We demand that the U.S. government and the forces of imperialism keep their Hands Off Venezuela! Our responsibility is to organize actively to oppose imperialist interference from wherever we are, particularly in the imperial core.
For this reason, we continue to prioritize the campaign to liberate kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores from the U.S. prison where they are being illegally held as political prisoners, and to oppose and condemn all unilateral coercive measures that violate Venezuela’s sovereignty and right to self-determination.
Britain detains human rights lawyer and Nicaragua supporter Daniel Kovalik On June 27, professor, journalist, lawyer for Colombia President Petro, Daniel Kovalik was detained by counter-terror police at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport [ironically, Lennon had been denied entry to the US] under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act, which allows border police to detain and question people they believe to be involved in “hostile state activity.” Kovalik, visiting England for a wedding, was detained for approximately two and a half hours and interrogated extensively on his political views about “everything under the sun,” including on Israel, Palestinian and Lebanese resistance organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, the war against Iran and on China and Russia.
Kovalik was told he would be arrested if he did not co-operate with the interview or provide the passwords to his electronic devices. Officers seized his phone and laptop, took his DNA, fingerprints and photographs from nine angles, copied his bank and credit cards and rifled through his luggage. Kovalik regretted taking his devices with him, “Activists and others need to be smart, they shouldn’t be bringing their phones and computers onto international trips. Buy burner phones.”
Twenty-five countries of the Greater Caribbean elected Nicaragua to head the main political governing body of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Nicaragua was elected unanimously during the 31st Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers, at a gathering of the 25 member countries. Nicaragua will assume the Presidency for the 2026-2027 term. Over the years, the ACS has promoted regional initiatives and cooperation among its members on issues of strategic interest to the Greater Caribbean. Its composition, which integrates diverse economic, social, and geographic realities, gives it a unique character within the regional system, allowing countries of varying territorial and population sizes to participate in the same forum for dialogue and coordination.
Roger Harris, John Perry: Democratic Party’s Corollary to Trump’s Foreign Policy – Venezuela, Cuba, NicaraguaBeneath the rhetoric of Republican-Democrat party conflict lies a bipartisan consensus promoting US hemispheric hegemony and crushing governments that resist it – with Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua at the forefront. While Democrats frequently portray Trump as reckless, they generally accept the underlying premises of economic coercion, political intervention, and regime-change pressure. Their objections mainly focus on the execution of policy rather than its legitimacy.
Once Daniel Ortega was elected in 2007, both Bush and Obama administrations made cuts in aid; it was under Obama that Democrats joined with Republicans to launch the NICA Act, eventually implemented under Trump in 2018. While Trump signed the NICA Act and sanctioned various Nicaraguan functionaries, Democrat senators took the lead in formulating stronger measures in the RENACER Act, signed by Biden in 2021. This led to an estimated loss of $500 million annually in development finance that would have been directed at Nicaragua’s poorest communities. Democrat senator Tim Kaine, with Marco Rubio, put forward new legislation in 2023 that was intended to strengthen the RENACER Act and ensure even greater damage.
In 2024, Biden’s trade representative sought to disrupt trade with Nicaragua and possibly at excluding it from the regional trade treaty, CAFTA. He recommended punitive tariffs, but only relatively mild penalties were actually implemented by Trump. Marco Rubio regularly imposes sanctions on individual Nicaraguans, including a hundred more just this month. More than 2,300 have now been sanctioned by successive administrations. Nevertheless, hardline Democrats, as well as Republicans, are pushing Rubio to do far more.
The shared strategic objective of the bipartisan Washington consensus is US hemispheric dominance. The two parties differ mainly in messaging and, to a lesser extent, on tactics. It is between competing methods for achieving the same strategic objective. Republicans may be more inclined toward overt confrontation, selective military assaults and maximal pressure; Democrats typically prefer a combination of inhumane sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and multilateral coercion. But both approaches rest on the assumption that Washington has the right to shape the political future of other nations.
Nicaragua GDP first quarter 2026 Quarterly GDP registering a year-on-year growth of 6.1% (5.9% in the previous quarter). With this result, the average annual growth rate reached 5.8%. From a production perspective, the year-on-year evolution of GDP was driven by growth in mining and quarrying (24.0%), construction (16.7%), trade (15.8%), hotels and restaurants (9.8%), livestock (6.8%), financial intermediation and related services (5.2%), water (5.2%), and other services (7.8%), among other activities. However, declines were recorded in fishing and aquaculture (10.0%), electricity (3.9%), public administration and defense (-3.0%), and agriculture (-2.4%), among others.
Webinar Videos:
National Single Payer Presents: Lessons from Nicaragua: Universal and Equitable Health Care Matters
June 2026 Webinar: 40 Years of a Historic Ruling The Ruling of The Hague in favor of NicaraguaFor original language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnBYu51ATtI&t=5766s
Upcoming Events
July 13 (Monday), 2:30 pm ET: Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition monthly meeting on zoom. Register here for the July meeting. Note: Only the starred (*) items are required. The others (optional) just help us know where our supporters are coming from.
September 3, 10, 17, 23: Governing from Below: Nicaragua During the Neoliberal Years Following the loss of the elections in 1990, Nicaragua's Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) vowed to “govern from below.” Over the next 16 years the FSLN worked closely with its grassroots base through unions, student groups, and social movements to influence the national government and eventually return to power. The FSLN’s experiences in opposition to neoliberal governance provide important lessons for activists around the world working to effect change.
Upcoming Delegations to Nicaragua: 2027 Casa Ben Linder Nicaragua Tours
13-19 Feb 2027 Bird Brigade - birding in Solentiname and Rio San Juan
6-14 March 2027 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
22-30 April 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. Learn about his work and celebrate his legacy and that of other internationalist heroes in northern Nicaragua and with an activity for families at Casa Ben Linder of the 1st Annual Ben Linder Circus Arts Festival.
21 May – 1 June 2027 Mayo Ya - Cultural tour to the Southern Autonomous Region of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua,which is the heart of Nicaragua's Indigenous and Afrodescendant communities. Enjoy Mayo Ya celebrations in Bluefields with marching bands and dancing in the streets. Visit an Afrodescendant Garifuna community to learn about their culture and education of their youth, take a trip to the Pearl Keys with white sand beaches in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.
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