The Trump administration, Marco Rubio and Nicaragua

For the US regardless of which administration is in power in Washington, the ‘sin’ of the Nicaraguan people whether in 1984 or 2021, is to elect Sandinista governments.

If they choose to do so the punishment will predictably be attempts to use all means possible short of direct invasion to strangle the country, oust the Sandinista government, and impose its own version of democracy. The Trump administration will continue the punitive measures of the Biden government but apply them with greater speed and ferocity.

Nicaragua (pop 6.8 million) poses ‘an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US’

President Biden announced in November 2024 that Nicaragua still poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

This opens the door for further sanctions – more accurately illegal coercive measures – that go back to the 2018 coup attempt whereby the US supported and financed NGOs and other opposition groups in an attempt to oust the country’s democratically elected government.

These sanctions impact financial transactions, key individuals in the Sandinista government; Nicaragua’s access to international loans to finance poverty reduction and infrastructure programmes; and above all those who are most vulnerable.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accuses Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba of being ‘enemies of humanity’ and causing the migration crisis in the region

During a visit to Costa Rica in early February, Rubio went on to claim that “If it were not for these three regimes there would not be a migration crisis in the (Western) hemisphere.”

Rubio elaborated further that because Nicaragua is ‘not a democracy’ the US would consider expelling the country from DR-CAFTA, the free trade agreement between the US, Central America and the Dominican Republic.

This would have severe consequences for Nicaragua’s economy with more than 50% of the country’s exports going to the US. However, under the terms of DR-CAFTA expelling a country cannot be done through a flourish of Trump’s pen but requires the unanimous agreement of all countries involved. An additional factor, that even Rubio acknowledged, is that any attempt to expel Nicaragua would destabilise the whole region.

How Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have reacted to ‘enemy of humanity’ accusations

President Daniel Ortega stated that US policies represent…”the suffering, death and pain of millions of human beings who have lived and are living through the hell of imperialism.” He went on to quote a line from the Sandinista anthem that refers to the ‘Yankee, the enemy of humanity.’

Cuban President Miguel Dias-Canel stated “It’s proven that the migration exodus in Cuba is proportional to the tightening of the blockade which deprives our people of essential goods. Humanity is endangered by your neo-fascism.”

Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil said “the only enemies of humanity are those who, with their war machinery and abuse, have spent decades sowing chaos and misery in half the world.”