Recent months of deadly unrest in Nicaragua have fractured splits in the Sandinista movement, with critics accusing President Daniel Ortega of autocratic rule, and supporters accusing the opposition of attempting a US-backed soft coup. We host a debate between Dr. Mary Ellsberg of George Washington University and Max Blumenthal of the Grayzone Project.
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While Max was talking, you showed footage of riot police and protesters at their best, not the footage of the protesters provoking and attacking police, as I know is also available. That hardly seems to be neutral, but Max did well to ignore it if he could see it at all.
I've followed Nicaragua my whole life and looked into the history. Reporting by "human rights" groups and media has always been pro-empire and follows the lead of the CIA. They ignored human rights abuses of Somoza most of the time, ignore the contras killing mostly civilians and attacking hospitals and farms, ignored Neo-liberal government abuses, and always found fault with FSLN as guerrillas, ruling junta, elected government. Sometimes they like to say the Sandinistas have become just like Somoza. Really, are they dropping their political opponents into active volcanos from helicopter? If they were just like Somoza, the human rights industry and media would be ignoring their faults and the US government would be sending them weapons to defend themselves from their own people.
Blumenthal interviewed Ortega. However, he just asked soft questions to him. He did not ask questions like: if you are the president for the poor, why has Nicaragua been the second poorest county in Latin America?, why is the currency losing value in the market? And what happen to the millions of US dollars Chavez donated to Nicaragua? Blumenthal sides with the Sandinistas.
People like Maduro and Ortega are just the tip of the iceberg in this matter. Gaddafi at some point financed Ortega while he was not in office. Taking this in Consideration, I wonder if Soros in involved with the Sandinistas and Ortega.
This lady is spot on no bs
I swear, Max Blumenthal makes me vomit. The lies that he spews protecting these murdering couple and their paramilitary thugs. No excuse whatsoever! People are being MURDERED by this dictador and his wife!! They have plundered the country. Usurped their power. This is totally ridiculous that this guy vomits his words onto the screen.
Look, I am Nicaraguan and a leftist. Max Blumenthal completely white washes the atrocities committed by the Ortega-Murillo regime. Who cares who produced that Fusion news segment as long as they are reporting the truth. The truth, the facts are that this regime has assassinated peaceful protestors of a dictatorship that has been well established by the fact that Ortega has had the National Assembly change the constitution to make himself president for life and his wife, the vice president, to be his successor. The Ortega-Murillo murderers have usurped their power and consolidated the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch under their full control They have committed crimes against humanity and trampled people's constitutional rights. Closed down several opposition newspapers and TV channels. Censured the press and incarcerated reporters under false pretenses and without due process of the law. Their paramilitary forces have murdered over 400+ people. Did you know that citizens cannot even walk on the street carrying the national flag in their hands, waving the national flag, because Ortega's thugs would come and beat them up or jail them? It is a crime to wave the NATIONAL flag of the country!
I really do NOT understand how Max Blumenthal has the balls to spew his lies when people are being MURDERED by this dictador and his wife. They have stolen billions of dollars off the Nicaraguan treasury. Thousands of people have fled the country and are exiled in neighboring countries. Max should be totally ASHAMED for his support of this oppressive regime. It is so sad to see people like him spreading lies and misinformation while calling themselves 'reporters." Everything that I just wrote is the pure truth. And there are plenty more things about this regime that I have not even touched.
So let me understand some of the comments here better. Anything that would be against the current regime in Nicaragua is automatically something directed from abroad, presumably the USA? I live here and respectfully disagree with Max Blumenthal here. Check out his interview with the head caudillo here. His first question is basically "So when did you realize this was a coup attempt?" What a joke. People peacefully protested and the government went way overboard on the repression of the people protesting. At any point, if the El Carmen couple had simply said, "Look, mistakes were made, we will be investigating the abuses and we will do something to fix it." then the Nicaraguan people would have calmed down and this whole series of violent acts would have never continued. This is the sad part that the supporters of the government don't see, that it has been in the hands of the rulers here to resolve these problems but all they have ever sought is repression and violence to maintain their tenuous hold on power. So the left is really on the wrong side of history here. Most left political parties in Europe for example, have started to support the people in this, anyone who is still supporting the status quo here in Nicaragua just wants more deaths, tortures, arbitrary arrests, and kidnapping.
She's from George Washington University? She sure likes that Koch bros. funding. Her university says the big Koch $ doesn't affect their academic integrity. Interesting, she is cherry picking her narrative to the wild dance of the capitalists.
She feeds a litany of charges against the government too many to ascertain their validity like 'only
the government can access Dragunov sniper rifles' as if there were a tight rein on them in the world. This is patently false. Especially in Central America where so many weapons have notoriously been supplied. The Dragunov can even be bought in the US . Her emotional denunciation of this raises suspicions that it is manipulative.
Even if it were a bona fide Nicaraguan army issue weapon it does not imply that the Nicaraguan army is automatically guilty. Guns can be stolen , bought illegally through corruption and dozens of other ways.
How many have died in the first 2 years of the brutal dictatorship of Donald Trump in the U.S.? Where are the videos of the tears and blood and children in cages and desperate, crying mothers, and the random illegal missile launches on innocent people? We are getting so sick of this obvious BS PROPAGANDA!
Is this part 1 of The Battle for Control of the Democratic Party? I can only see part 3/3 of that. Is this part 1? This is why, I swear to god, the Real News channel drives me crazy! It's whacko!! I can never see all the parts of any story!
Thank you, Real News Network, for excellent work!
The unhrc,oas,etc.,are functioning arms of the US imperialist regime change apparatus. She's either invested personally in these organizations,hopelessly ignorant of the propaganda she believes,or a liar.
Max is bringing the Romantic immaturity of the western progressive left to the Real News.
The sad part is, if u.s was to succeed, all businesses would be owned by Wal-Mart/nestle/coke/pepsi, etc and backed up by police state that really will do what they accuse current gov of doing. Opposition will be played for fools & left with no or low paying jobs or real opportunities…I don't think i have to mention it's gonna be sudden spike in drugs/robbery so the news can have people say " oh please help us" when it's going to be the police doing it. Same recipe different pot.
We want ORTEGAS out of power
Nicaragua more than 75% don't want Ortega never did. Here smell's of communist bullshit
Max Blumenthal- FEARLESS! In an era of institutional lying and brainwashing and propaganda, he pulls no punches…
It seems that the same patterns that were seen in Syria and other places, with snipers targeting both sides to create violence and chaos are at work in Nicaragua. Some deep state elements are obviously operating to undermind the country's stability.
We never get this type of information from the corporate media.
Democratic Socialism destroying one more country!!!
UNHRC is riddled with Wahhabi/Salafi heads-choppers from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other regime-change sponsors. There are zero reasons to believe their "report" which is an unverified compilation of the claims made by Nicaragua's fascistic death squads.
Viva Ortega
God bless Nicaragua and President Ortega, their legitimate leader. Have people forgotten the same thing happening in Syria?