an Interview by Community Radio host Jeffrey Blankfort
Dr. Rebecca Gordon begins with a short history of the Nicaraguan revolution since 1978/79. She describes what the Sandinistas had done for the people of Nicaragua in terms of health, education, and dignity, but is quick to point that neither Pres. Danny Ortega or today’s Sandinista movement bears any political resemblance to the Sandinistas of the 80s who captured the world’s imagination and ire of the United States, which has a long and ugly history of intervening in Nicaragua. In particular via the Honduras based and trained Contra.
She points out how Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo had come back into power after making political alliances with the extreme right; and after joining a reactionary Catholic sect which led to the imposition of overly strict laws against abortion.
Rebecca Gordon describes the background of the current street battles and repression in Managua and praises the protesters as another generation of Nicaraguans fighting injustice and for their liberty. She chides those former supporters of the Sandinista movement who are backing the Ortega government, claiming the US government is behind the rebellion, for not allowing the Nicaraguans to have their own agency, to act without being guided or manipulated by outside forces.
Dr. Rebecca Gordon teaches in the Philosophy Department at the University of San Francisco and for the university’s Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good. Her publications include Letters from Nicaragua, Cruel and Usual: How Welfare “Reform” Punishes Poor People, and, in 2016, American Nuremberg: The Officials Who Should Stand Trial for Post 9/11 War Crimes, plus, she is a regular contributor to Tom’s Dispatch.
Thanks to my long-time friends, Rebecca Gordon, Jeff Blankfort and the staff and listeners at KZYX radio, for the opportunity to re-broadcast this Great interview.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)
