Socialism/Communism
socialism doesn't work
The expansion of socialism around our country should be concerning and
requires us to learn more about the situation. The map shows the advance-
ment and acceptance of socialism (leftist) to answer problems of fellow
residents of the Americas. The pin to red shows the degree of movement
toward real socialism/communism. Don't forget to add Canada to the pink
list.
We are surrounded by the socialist movement and we are the only truly
prosperous country in the Americas. No matter how much leaders want to
espouse a socialistic utopia, Socialism does not work. Over the past hundred
years, there have been more than two dozen attempts to build a socialist
society. It has been tried in the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland,
Vietnam, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, Hungary, China,
East Germany, Cuba, Tanzania, Benin, Laos, Algeria, South Yemen, Somalia,
the Congo, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, Nicaragua, and
Venezuela, among others. All of these attempts have ended in varying degrees
of failure.
Recent news tells us that the President of Nicaragua has moved to eliminate future elections, thus ensuring he and his wife retain total control of this country and the chances of Nicaragua moving from the position of the poorest country in Central America unlikely. Nearly one-third of its population falls below the poverty line. The poorest families are particularly concentrated in rural villages, where about 41% of the people reside.
Socialism in Nicaragua is defined by the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)
under President Daniel Ortega. Officially branding their approach as "Christian socialism" (whatever that means), the government maintains a capitalist free-market economy with private property rights while centralizing immense political and economic power within the ruling family.
People understand that socialism doesn't work so they combine it with other political and economic ideas to hopefully get the confused system to work. The tangled mess never works.
Nicaragua has had a troubled past with both Spain and England colonizing its land and people. Before Columbus arrived, there were seven officially recognized Indigenous Peoples, with a total population of close to a million. They included the Chorotega, Cacaopera (Matagalpa), Sutiaba, and Nahoa in the Pacific and central regions, alongside the Miskitu, Mayangna (Sumu), and Rama on the Caribbean coast.
In 1821, Nicaragua declared independence from Spain and in 1860 England gave up control of the Caribbean coastline. This began the U.S. intervention in Nicaragua due mostly to concerns of a canal to the Pacific caused by the discovery of gold in California and prevention of foreign communistic influence. To establish control and provide for political stability, the U.S. sent the Marines to monitor the situation.
As the U.S. Marines withdrew from Nicaragua in the early 1930s, they helped establish the Guardia Nacional. Backed by the U.S., President Juan Sacca appointed his nephew-by-marriage, Anastasio Somoza Garcia, as the commander of this combined military and police force. Anastasio Somoza Garcia seized power in 1936 by leveraging his control of the U.S. trained National Guard. After orchestrating a political crisis and forcing the resignation of President Juan Sacasa, Somoza staged a fraudulent election in 1937, establishing a hereditary military dictatorship that ruled Nicaragua for 43 years.
The FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) is a socialist political party that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution. Initially leaning toward Marxism-Leninism, the original Sandinista government instituted land reforms, nationalized major exports and financial sectors, and launched mass literacy and healthcare programs.
Contras
During the 1980s, the Sandinista government faced a civil war against the US-backed Contra rebels
who were backed and primarily funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Contras were considered by many as a collection of right-wing, anti-communist rebel groups. They were characterized by President Ronald Reagan as "freedom fighters," though human rights groups accused them of widespread atrocities against civilians. (Once again the media tried to influence the narrative.) The FSLN lost power in the 1990 elections but remained a prominent political force that fought against Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government.
After three Constitutionalist Liberal Party presidents, Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2007. Snce returning to the presidency, Daniel Ortega has systematically eliminated political opposition, shut down.
Pres. Daniel Ortega
Independent media, outlawed thousands of non-governmental organizations, and targeted the Catholic Church. The government has effectively abolished future democratic elections.
While implementing heavy social programs--such as committing large portions of the national budget to free public healthcare and subsidized social housing--
The Ortega administration operates a state-directed system that enriches the ruling family and allies with
Saninistas
private business leaders. The constitution was recently amended to create a co-presidency role held by Ortega and his wife. Rosario Murillo.
What is life like for families under this socialistic regime? A wealth gap is part of the problem. The upper class constitutes 2% of the population and social inequality keeps lower-class families from elevating their socioeconomic position. In the nation's remote rural villages, poor families often work as day laborers on local farms and large plantations. They perform backbreaking labor for no more than $1 to $3 a day--but they are grateful to have any work at all. Once the harvest season passes, they will search desperately for odd jobs, washing their neighbors' laundry or traveling long distances to sell household items in the city.
Even if they are fortunate enough to find steady labor, parents may earn barely enough money to provide their children with two meals a day. Nicaragua's minimum wage is among the lowest in the world, and with little to live on, families can only focus on securing food, water and other basic essentials for survival. They often live in cramped, leaky shacks with mud floors, sharing a single mattress and scrambling to keep their plastic-tarp walls from crashing down in a storm.
Other factors that perpetuate the cycle of poverty include a high rate of teen pregnancy, lack of access to quality schools and the separation of families. Many fathers migrate into neighboring towns or countries to search for work, and their households become increasingly divided by the distance.
Welcome to SOCIALISM 2026!
KLN