Nicaraguan Sorrows

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/u-s-government-meddling-machine-boasts-of-laying-the-groundwork-for-insurrection-in-nicaragua/

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/homage-to-nicaragua/

The situation in Nicaragua is tragic and yet it is but part of a larger sweep of recent history.

Many of us remember Daniel Ortega from the 1980's and the Contra War which followed in the wake of the Sandinista Revolution of 1979. Ortega led the country from 1979-1990 when he was forced from office.  And yet he made a political comeback, winning the 2006 election and has held power ever since. And yet Ortega II is cut from a different cloth. While still a hero and icon to some on the left, the new Ortega is a figure of compromise and corruption.

He came to an agreement with both Washington and Nicaragua's Evangelical and Catholic constituencies and the once principled and idealistic politician has become wealthy and self-serving and now clearly serves the interests of the capitalist class. Not a few who once admired him now consider him the heir and descendant of the Somoza regime which he helped overthrow in the 1970's.

That said, Washington wants him gone. Even though Ortega will do business with Washington and the days of the Contra War are long past, they still consider Ortega part of the 'Pink Tide' that came to power in the first decade of the 2000's. He has purchased weapons from Russia and has sought to work with the Chinese in building a replacement for the Panama Canal. Even though the latter seems to be in a state of collapse, the move angered Washington.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/04/world/americas/nicaragua-canal-chinese-tycoon.html

He is still painted as 'Left Wing' and 'Socialist' by some in the Western media. He doesn't represent those positions anymore and yet he's flirting with Washington's enemies and now lines have been crossed and they want him gone.

Washington has through USAID and the anti-democratic National Endowment for Democracy (NED) flooded the country with money, funding the opposition and playing no small role in fomenting and fueling the unrest. It's a familiar pattern and one would have to be blind or insane to doubt that the US even has agents on the ground doing all they can to stir the pot. These are old and oft used formulas from the CIA playbook.

That said, Ortega's crackdown has been brutal. He's desperate to hang on to power and undoubtedly knows that he's been entrapped. He thought he had 'made friends' Washington and yet like many of America's former enemies-turned-allies he finds that he's been set-up, used and then destroyed. Ortega is trying to prevent it from happening but he's got a campaign being run against him that has taken on a life of its own. Additionally the media is out to get him as the both the Left and the Right in the West have turned away from him. In the United States both mainstream and 'Christian' (Evangelical and Catholic) sectors have turned against Ortega and have called for an end to his presidency.

Not exactly a figure of sympathy, the objective observer will find the whole episode to be a source of disgust. All parties are at fault and yet perhaps some special blame belongs to the outside agitators.

Of course the irony here is that even while the US lambasts Russia for 'election meddling' the US Deep State is presently working to undermine Nicaraguan politics, and this unfortunate Central American nation is hardly alone.

We must pray for the situation but we must also pray for the truth to be told and wisdom in interpreting it. I am hearing the Evangelical voices coming out of Nicaragua and I don't like what they're saying. I'm hearing bad theology and heretical ideas which have been exported from US Evangelical circles. This is what the politicised gospel of Dominionism leads to... violence.

And as the US steps up pressure and involvement it will most certainly engender bitterness. American Christians should avoid calling on Washington to intervene on the Church's behalf but sadly this is not the course of action. Most recently US Evangelicals applauded their fellow Evangelical Vice-President calling out Erdogan and threatening Ankara unless they released an American pastor. This was later echoed by Donald Trump. These are disastrous developments for the Christian Church and reminiscent of the Imperial Age... a period which for many Christians ended in disaster and in a permanent stain on the witness and testimony of Christ's Church.