The recent protests in Nicaragua has bought the Central American country into the international spotlight in a way it hasn't been in many years. The mainstream media in the U.S. paints a picture of President Ortega as a dictator who will soon be toppled by the masses who have the backing of all Nicaraguans.

However, this is not the whole story. Like other recent protests in Latin American countries that have left and left-leaning government, people in the U.S. solidarity movement have rightly been asking: Who is protesting? Why they are protesting? How might the U.S. be involved?

The selection of articles below will hopefully help to shed light on what is happening in Nicaragua and provide a different perspective than what you will find in the corporate media.

Jake Johnston at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) writes about the proposed reform to the public pension system (think: Social Security in the U.S.) that sparked the protests.

Melissa Castillo in Latino Rebels questions why both friends in progressive Latinx circles in the U.S. and her Contra parents are supporting the protests.

The Quixote Center (a long-time Nicaragua solidarity organization) breaks down how National Endowment for Democracy (NED) money from the U.S. government has been used to fund dissent in Nicaragua. 

Dan Kovalik in Counter Punch has a good overview of how the protest have mirrored other protests against leftist governments in Latin America, among other interesting points.

John Perry in Democracia Abierta goes into detail about the NICA Act, a bill that would cut off all international loans to Nicaragua and thus block the Sandinista government from being able to continue its popular social programs.