Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
US sanctions hit Nicaragua’s social investment programmes
The Central American country’s development is being held back by politically motivated withholding of loans, writes JOHN PERRY
Since 2018 sanctions have been placed on Nicaragua to force a regime change [Elaine Faith /Creative Commons]

WHICH country spends nearly two-thirds of its budget on tackling poverty? When I met Nicaragua’s Finance Minister Ivan Acosta, he had just presented his 2024 budget to its national assembly, and he made clear that a large part of it is aimed at doing just that. 

In cash terms, Nicaragua’s government will spend about 24 per cent more in 2024 than in the current year, which includes a huge increase (43 per cent) in public-sector investment. 

Acosta explained how the country would continue its recent advances in health, education, transport, energy, water supply, housing and local government services. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
People sit along the edge of an abandoned swimming pool across from a tanker terminal along the port of Matanzas, Cuba, March 30, 2026
Features / 4 April 2026
4 April 2026

CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, August 5, 2025,
Features / 7 August 2025
7 August 2025

FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ says the US’s bullying conduct in what it considers its backyard is a bid to reassert imperial primacy over a rising China — but it faces huge resistance

BLAME GAME: Nicaraguan President Manuel Ortega. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate/Creative Commons
Features / 17 July 2025
17 July 2025

The corporate media have been quick to point the finger over the murder of a Nicaraguan opposition figure, but where is the actual evidence, ask KELLY NELSON and ROGER D HARRIS

Kerala
Features / 27 May 2025
27 May 2025

Under Modi’s hard-right regime, India is going backwards — but not in the state of Kerala, where the communist-led government continues to deliver remarkable results in infrastructure, economic growth, healthcare, welfare, education, science and social harmony, reports PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY