How Billion-Dollar Foundations Fund NGOs to Manipulate U.S. Foreign Policy:
A Case Study from Nicaragua
By Rick Sterling - June 8, 2021 2
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U.S. foreign policy is increasingly promoted by billionaire-funded
foundations. The neoliberal era has created individuals with incredible
wealth who, through philanthropy, flex their influence and feel good at
the same time. While these philanthropists can be liberal on some issues,
they almost universally support U.S. foreign policy and the free market.
Because many of these super-rich individuals made their wealth through
investments and speculation, most do not like a planned economy, socialized
services beyond the private sector, or greater government control.
These mega-wealthy individuals, and the people who run their foundations,
are often intimately connected to the U.S. foreign policy establishment.
Grants are given to projects, campaigns and organizations which align with
their long-term goals. In this direct way, supposedly independent think
tanks and NGOs are influenced if not controlled. There is much truth in the
old saying, He who pays the piper, calls the tune.
Independent Nicaragua
Nicaragua is a good example. For historical and contemporary reasons,
Washington is hostile to the Nicaraguan government. The socialist Sandinista
Front ousted the U.S.-supported dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 and
governed until 1990. Then, following a decade of U.S.-sponsored Contra war
and economic sanctions, the Sandinistas were voted out of office. Next,
after 16 years of neoliberal governments, the Nicaraguan people voted to
return the Sandinistas to power in 2006. Since then, the Sandinista Front
(FSLN) has won two subsequent elections, with more support, 62%, in 2011 and
more still, 73%, in 2016.
Nicaragua's Ortega Ready to Meet Trump Despite US Threat | Voice of America
- English
Nicaraguas current leader Daniel Ortega was a leader of the 1979 Sandinista
Revolution and has long been a target of Washington regime-change plots.
[Source: voanews.com]
Nicaragua under the Sandinistas has sustained a capitalist economy, but the
government provides many social services, including health care and
education, along with community-based policing and an impressive 90% food
self-sufficiency. Nicaragua maintains an independent foreign policy which
sometimes aligns with Cuba, Venezuela and other independent movements in
Latin America.
Nicaragua has made plans for a trans-oceanic canal. Because this would
compete with the Panama Canal and be independent of heavy U.S. influence,
the United States does not approve. With the financial collapse of the
canals Chinese investor, the plans have been suspended if not cancelled.
Regardless of whether the plan is implemented, the U.S. foreign policy
establishment and associated media are hostile to the Nicaraguan government
for daring to plan this project.
U.S. Targets Nicaragua
U.S. meddling in Nicaragua is thinly veiled behind the U.S.-funded civil
society, a new generation of democratic leaders and an ecosystem of
independent media. In September 2016, a high USAID official, Marcela X.
Escobari, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that 2,200 youth had
received leadership training.
Marcela Escobari
Marcela Escobari [Source: brookings.edu]
U.S. governmental hypocrisy is quite astounding. Imagine if Nicaragua (or
Russia or any other country) trained thousands of U.S. activists to promote
democracy in the USA.
In December 2018, the U.S. ratified the Nicaragua Human Rights and
Anticorruption Act which imposes sanctions and commits the U.S. to
preventing Nicaragua from receiving loans, financial or technical assistance
from U.S.-dominated financial institutions.
In August 2020, journalist Ben Norton at The Grayzone reported details of a
new USAID task order called Responsive Assistance in Nicaragua (RAIN). The
document outlines plans for a U.S. regime-change scheme against Nicaraguas
elected leftist government. In short, Washington is not just hostile but
actively trying to undermine, destabilize and replace the Sandinista
administration.
USAID Nicaragua transition coup
[Source: thegrayzone.com]
The Foreign Policy Establishment, Nicaragua and Elliott Abrams
A key institution of the foreign policy establishment is the Council on
Foreign Relations (CFR). Its role and importance are analyzed in a
two-volume history, Imperial Brain Trust, and Wall Streets Think Tank,
by Laurence N. Shoup, whose titles convey the main thesis. CFR events and
publications, including Foreign Affairs magazine, give a good picture of key
foreign policy priorities and debates.
A picture containing text, book
Description automatically generated[Source: amazon.com]
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Hostility to the Nicaragua government is reflected in CFR reports and
publications. One important example is an article by Elliott Abrams, who has
been a major foreign policy official for 40 years. He was convicted of lying
to Congress, yet he is a Senior Fellow at CFR. In September 2015 he wrote an
article published at CFR titled The Sandinistas Attack the Miskito Indians
Again. He ends the article with an appeal to environmental and human
rights groups:
The open question is whether anyone groups defending the environment, or
defending Indian rights or human rights more generally, or fighting against
Sandinista repressionwill help them.
Elliott Abrams: The War Criminal Running US Policy in Venezuela
[Source: therealnews.com]
Seemingly in response to Elliott Abramss suggestion, several major
foundations have financed reporting on Nicaragua that emphasize conflict and
tensions in the indigenous Miskito zone.
In March 2017 a Guardian article based on research funded by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation described Lush heartlands of Nicaraguas Miskito
people spark deadly land disputes.
An armed Miskito man on patrol along the bank of the Coco river in Wiwinak,
Nicaragua
Armed Miskito on contested land bank prepared to fight the Sandinista
government. In the past, the CIA has helped arm and finance these groups.
[Source: theguardian.com]
Report cover
[Source: oaklandinstitute.org]
In the fall of 2018, the Oakland Institute received a grant of $237,294 for
Land Dispute Project Nicaragua from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
This year the Oakland Institute published Nicaraguas Failed Revolution.
The subtitle of the report is The Indigenous Struggle for Saneamiento,
with saneamiento being the final step of the process toward regaining
indigenous rights.
The funding for these reports came from foundations where the key players
are interconnected with the foreign policy establishment. For example,
Howard G. Buffett, the former Executive Director at the Howard G. Buffett
Foundation and son of Warren Buffett, the multi-billionaire CEO of Berkshire
Hathaway, is a member of CFR. Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), is a writer for CFR publications and
speaker at CFR events.
Howard Buffett Net Worth | Celebrity Net WorthHoward G. Buffett. [Source:
celebritynetworth.com]
Melinda Gates - WikipediaMelinda Gates [Source: wikipedia.org]
We do not know if they were influenced by Elliott Abramss appeal, but the
anti-Sandinista message was likely heard one way or another. Land disputes
involving indigenous groups are widespread in the Americas, including North
America. Research and reports could be done regarding almost every country.
But instead of researching and reporting on indigenous land conflicts in
Colombia or Honduras or British Columbia, the billionaire foundations chose
to fund reports on Nicaragua.
The Miskito indigenous in Nicaragua are not new to conflict. During the
1980s the CIA manipulated them to advance their proxy Contra army. Many
Nicaraguans died as a result. Now, 35 years later, people such as Elliott
Abrams are trying to use the Miskito all over again. The Miskito may have
legitimate grievances against the Nicaraguan government. But are their
supposed champions in the U.S. seeking a solution or are they seeking to use
them for their own purposes? There is a big difference.
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Contra fighters in the 1980s included Miskito Indians. [Source:
legacyofgena.medium.com]
Economic Warfare and Conflict Beef
The United States is increasingly using sanctions and economic warfare to
hurt those governments deemed to be adversaries. Some right-wing foreign
policy advisers would like to amplify the economic damage to Nicaragua. Some
would like to prevent the U.S. from importing beef from Nicaragua.
Cattle ranching is a major part of the economy in Nicaragua. Previously
Nicaragua exported large amounts of beef to Venezuela. But with the extreme
economic hardships, exports have declined. Nicaragua has helped fill the gap
by exporting larger quantities of high-quality beef to the U.S.
A picture containing grass, outdoor, tree, cow
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Cattle farm in Indio Maíz Biological Reserve in Nicaragua. [Source:
news.mongabay.com]
On the October 20, 2020, broadcast of the PBS Newshour, a nine-minute video
about Conflict Beef was shown. The documentary said the increase in
Nicaraguan exports is coming at a high cost for indigenous communities that
are being run off their land to make way for cattle ranches. This
accusation, and the suggestion that perhaps Nicaraguan beef should not be
imported, was a core message of the video which merged journalism with
activism.
Reveal depiction of supermarket beef
[Source: fair.org]
Subsequent research, including interviews with indigenous leaders from the
area, reveal that the PBS Newshour report is fundamentally inaccurate.
Journalist John Perry, based in Nicaragua, gives details in the article
Progressive Media Promoted a False Story of Conflict Beef from Nicaragua,
published by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Some of the reported
violence was made up; some was exaggerated. The claims of genocide are not
credible.
The exaggerated and untrue accusations in the PBS report are based on four
sources. Lottie Cunningham is an indigenous attorney who heads the Center
for Justice and Human Rights on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN).
Her organization is a USAID recipient and she is close to the U.S.
Ambassador to Nicaragua. The United Nations Human Rights Commission has
issued press releases based solely on her accusations. Judging by this
Conflict Beef report, her accusations are sometimes exaggerated and
sometimes untrue.
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Lottie Cunningham [Source: rightlivelihoodaward.com]
Another source for this report is Anuradha Mittal, founder and Executive
Director of the Oakland Institute. The Institute received a grant of nearly
$250,000 for its research on Nicaraguan land conflict.
Much of the information came from the Oakland Institute report and the
claims of Lottie Cunningham, who in addition to being a USAID grant
recipient, received the Lush Spring Prize, sponsored by Lush Cosmetics.
Recently published interviews with numerous elected indigenous leaders from
Nicaraguas autonomous zones indicate that Lottie Cunningham is viewed with
skepticism if not hostility. The leaders believe that her organization,
CEJUDHCAN, does not represent the interests of indigenous communities and is
actually promoting violence and publicity for personal gain.
Nathan Halverson | Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
Journalist | Muck Rack
Nate Halverson [Source: muckrack.com]
The lead journalist for the PBS report Conflict Beef, was Nate Halverson
at the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). CIR is well funded, with a
budget around $10M, and has received large grants from dozens of individual
foundations: Hearst ($625K), Soros ($325K), Gates ($247K), Ford ($250K),
Pierre Omidyar ($900K).
Another journalist, Camilo de Castro Belli, appeared in the video. He is the
son of author and Sandinista critic Giacondo Belli and a Central America
Fellow at the neoliberal Aspen Institute. The Aspen Institute is funded by
grants from the Rockefeller, Ford, Gates and other U.S. philanthropic
foundations. Its chairman, James S. Crown, is the Lead Director of the
General Dynamics Corporation, one of the worlds top arms manufacturers, and
was appointed by Barack Obama to the Presidents Intelligence Advisory
Board.[1]
Camilo-de-Castro-BelliCamilo de Castro Belli [Source: califoundation.org]
James Schine CrownJames Crown [Source: aspeninstitute.org]
Key allegations in the Conflict Beef story are untrue. The beef for export
comes from cattle that are NOT from the indigenous zones. The cattle are
individually tagged and regulated by the national IPSA (Institute for
Agricultural Protection and Health) which is in turn audited by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Nicaraguans are currently in discussion with
European regulators in preparation for export there. This video, from one of
the Nicaraguan beef producers, gives a sense of their professionalism.
Even the introduction to the PBS report is untrue. They sensationally claim
that a young Miskito girl was shot in the face by someone sending a
message to the community. The girl was accidentally shot while playing with
another youth who had his fathers gun. This version is confirmed by the
president of the local indigenous community who knows the family of the
victim. The girl survived the incident, and the family accepted a bribe to
fabricate the story.
Another claimthat dozens of armed men attacked another Indigenous village
in northeast Nicaragua, killing four people in the Mayangna communityis
false. A version of this same story was repeated twice in the Oakland
Institute report and sent by Lottie Cunningham (CEJUDHCAN) to the United
Nations Human Rights Council which dutifully issued a press release. This
despite the fact the claims had been quickly exposed as false by the
president of the Mayangna indigenous community. The media quickly jumped on
the story, reportedly after two phone calls but no verification.
When a government is targeted by Washington, as the Sandinista government
clearly is, the media attitude seems to be guilty until proven innocent.
This story about Conflict Beef reveals how big foundations influence
reports which promote the U.S. foreign policy goals on Nicaragua: to defame
and economically punish those who are too independent.