Costa Rica

US Congressional Resolution Calls for Annulling the Monroe Doctrine and Ending Sanctions

Now, 200 years after President James Monroe first promulgated his dictate giving the Yankees dominion of the rest of the hemisphere, a congressional resolution calls for annulling the Monroe Doctrine and replacing it with a “new good neighbor” policy. The intent is to “foster improved relations and deeper, more effective cooperation” with our neighbor nations. […]

New US Immigration Policies’ Effect on Nicaragua

On Jan. 5, the Biden administration announced new legal pathways to the US which include expanding the “Parole Process” for Venezuelans to Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans, a policy that will favor richer migrants. Migration from these countries has dropped since then. The Sandinista party won the presidency of Nicaragua in January 2007 and from that […]

US sanctions and economic conditions drive Nicaraguan migration, while Washington blames repression

Blaming migration on “repressive dictatorships” allows Washington to pretend that its policies are helping Nicaraguans, when in fact they are impoverishing them. This article was originally published on November 23, 2022 by COHA. Why are more Nicaraguans heading north to the United States looking for jobs? Until July 2020, numbers were tiny. But in the last 1½ years numbers have increased sharply. Suddenly this has become a story, and government detractors argue, with little evidence, that people are fleeing political […]

Costa Rica Authorizes Vaccination – Against Parent’s Wishes

The Tico Times | January 30, 2022 The Costa Rica Ministry of Health in conjunction with the National Children’s Board (PANI) gave hospital officials the authorization to vaccinate all children in their care as long as there are no medical counter indications that would preclude it. The issue arose after the parents of a child […]

US Congress outlines new phase of economic attacks and hybrid war on Nicaragua’s Sandinista government

The US Congress invited neoconservative regime-change strategists to discuss the next stage of hybrid warfare on Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, which will likely involve creating an economic blockade, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of President Daniel Ortega, and borrowing tactics the Trump administration used in its coup attempt in Venezuela. A House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on September 21 set out plans for the next phase of the United States’ hybrid warfare on Nicaragua, which aims to destabilize and ultimately overthrow […]

Right-wing Central American leaders praise neoliberal ‘Biden Plan’ to strengthen US ‘sphere of influence’

Right-wing Central American politicians are applauding Plan Biden, a US strategy promising corporate investment in return for neoliberal reforms. They pledge to remain in the US “sphere of influence” and isolate China and Russia, while calling for regime change against Nicaragua’s leftist government. The Joe Biden administration has prioritized Central America in its foreign policy, developing a comprehensive plan that pledges $4 billion in funding for the impoverished region, along with foreign corporate investment, in return for aggressive neoliberal “free […]

2020 Latin America and the Caribbean in Review: The Pink Tide May Rise Again

The balance between the US drive to dominate Latin America and the Caribbean and its counterpart, the Bolivarian cause of regional independence and integration, tipped portside by year end 2020 with major popular victories, including reversal of the coup in Bolivia and the constitutional referendum in Chile. Central has been the persistence of Venezuela’s Bolivarian […]