The Fight for Democracy in Nicaragua

The Fight for Democracy in Nicaragua

Author: The Watson School March 2, 2022 Duration: 31:37
Trending Globally: Politics and Policy
NewsEducationScienceSocial

This past November, Daniel Ortega was reelected as president of Nicaragua. He ensured his victory by imprisoning his political opponents and launching the largest crackdown on political dissent in the country in decades. This was just the most recent step in his multi-decade effort to transform Nicaragua from a budding democracy into an authoritarian regime. 

What can’t be forgotten is that just one year ago this horrific turn didn’t seem inevitable. On this episode, Dan Richards talks with two experts on the subject: one is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute, the other an activist in Nicaraguan politics who is currently living in exile. They explain how Nicaragua got to its current state of extreme repression, and what might be done to change it.  

This is also a story with a special connection to the Watson Institute, which hosted a conference in 2019 marking the 40th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. Both of the guests on this episode were at that conference, as were multiple activists who are currently imprisoned in Nicaragua. 

For more context on this crisis you can listen to the Watson Institute’s limited podcast series Revolution Revisited, which told the story of the Sandinista Revolution from the people who lived it. 


Guests on this episode:

Stephen Kinzer: Watson Institute Senior fellow in international and public affairs, and author of Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua.

Luis Carrión: Political activist and democracy advocate, and former senior member of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.  


From the Watson School at Brown University, Trending Globally: Politics and Policy brings the insights of leading scholars and practitioners directly into your ears. This award-winning podcast digs into the complex forces shaping our world, moving beyond headlines to understand the deeper political and policy decisions behind them. Each conversation is designed to unpack a pressing issue-whether it's international trade tensions, public health crises, or social movements-with clarity and depth. You'll hear experts from the Watson Institute and beyond explain not just what's happening, but why it matters and how different policies might change the course of events. The discussions are grounded in rigorous research yet remain accessible, turning daunting global topics into understandable and engaging dialogue. For anyone curious about the mechanics of power, governance, and societal change, this series offers a vital resource. It’s a direct line to some of the sharpest minds in international and public affairs, all within a format that fits into your daily routine. Find Trending Globally: Politics and Policy and add it to your listening rotation for a consistently informative perspective on the stories that define our time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Official website RSS
Trending Globally: Politics and Policy
Podcast Episodes
Small Barriers, Big Impact: Rethinking International Development [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:15
Bryce Steinberg is a development economist, which means she studies how lower-income countries grow into more prosperous ones. More specifically, she studies how to help people in low-income countries build their “human…
‘Illicit global economics 101’ with Peter Andreas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:20
Watson School political scientist Peter Andreas has spent decades studying the global economy — but not the one you read about in the business section, or are taught in Econ 101. His focus is on the illicit global econom…
Diplomacy, security, and the “Art of Coercion” [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:48
In his new book “The Art of Coercion,” Watson political scientist Reid Pauly provides a seemingly straightforward definition of coercion: “The practice of convincing a target by the use of threats, to bend to your will.”…
What does the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ mean for America? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:30
On July 4th, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law. The bill cuts trillions of dollars in taxes, and allocates hundreds of billions in new spending. To offset all of this, it calls for over a t…
USAID is gone. What's the future of international aid? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:24
On July 1st, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially closed its operations. It was the culmination of a months-long effort by the Trump administration to dismantle the agency, which had…
Inflation’s winners and losers, with Mark Blyth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:14
On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Mark Blyth about his new book, co-written with Nicoló Fraccaroli, called “Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.” Mark and Dan discuss the competing theories for what causes inf…
How American firearms fuel violence in Mexico (rebroadcast) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:09
Mexico, like the United States, has a gun violence problem. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and most of those murders come from firearms. In 2019, for example, almost 70% of the country's 35,000 murd…
Press freedom and democracy in Africa and around the world [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:12
The World Press Freedom Index, which is issued by Reporters without Borders, measures the health of press freedom around the world. They do so along a number of axes, including the economic health of independent media, l…
Trump’s (second) “first 100 days” [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:50
Tuesday, April 29, marked the first 100 days of Trump’s second term. To help make sense of all that’s happened (and a lot has happened), Dan Richards spoke with political scientist and Interim Director of the Watson Inst…

«123456...10»