Tucson, AZ – For a small, largely agricultural country, Nicaragua has delivered several losses to the much larger, more militarily advanced U.S. empire. From Augusto Sandino’s peasant army expelling the U.S. Marines in the 1930s, to the Sandinista Revolution of 1979 that toppled the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship, to the electoral return of the Sandinistas in 2006, to the defeat of the U.S.-coordinated soft coup attempt in 2018, the 2021 elections are another win for people of Nicaragua.

With over 65% of eligible voters participating, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) won the presidency and vice presidency with a resounding 76% on November 7. In a country of 6.3 million people, the FSLN is immensely popular, with over 2 million registered party members. This election took place under the continued threat of more sanctions from the declining U.S. empire.

The U.S., through the CIA’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED), routinely funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to fund opposition groups and influence media narratives to undermine the FSLN. These opposition groups and media drove a campaign in the months leading up to November’s elections to slander President Ortega and question the legitimacy of the voting process. On top of that, in recent weeks, the U.S. government cooked up new sanctions as a threat to Nicaraguans: vote out the Sandinistas or we’ll make the economy scream. Considering the results of the election, they failed miserably. Again.

Since ending the 16-year reign of neoliberal privatization of public services by winning the presidency in 2006, the FSLN has achieved numerous important victories in the service of their people. By having a national democratic orientation, the FSLN has helped Nicaragua construct dozens of hospitals, procure ambulances and fire trucks, reinstate free public education, lower mortality rates for infants and mothers, once again eliminate illiteracy, build public housing, offer zero-interest loans, provide subsidized electricity, reduce violent crime and drugs, and enhance their food sovereignty.

It is no mystery why the FSLN won in such a big way – the people of Nicaragua are proud of the accomplishments and determined to forge their future free of U.S. domination.

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