DirectDemocracyS

Global Direct Democracy

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRAM

FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL FOR

NICARAGUA

Critical analysis of reality. Concrete and functional solutions.

Edition 2025-2026 | directdemocracys.org

GENERAL INDEX

1. Introduction: Why Nicaragua needs radical change

2. Critical analysis of the current situation

2.1 Political crisis and dynastic dictatorship

2.2 Economic crisis and dependency structure

2.3 Social crisis: poverty, migration, rights

2.4 Educational and health crisis

2.5 Environmental and territorial crisis

2.6 Human rights and freedoms crisis

3. The DirectDemocracyS system: a structural solution for Nicaragua

3.1 Micro-groups: power from the grassroots

3.2 ddsAI and allddsAI: technology at the service of the people

3.3 NTCO: Non-transferable collective ownership

3.4 GUMI-SV: Identity and security verification

3.5 Direct democracy in a country without free elections

4. Political program

5. Economic program

6. Financial program

7. Social program

8. Educational and cultural program

9. Health Program

10. Environmental and territorial program

11. Phased Implementation Roadmap

12. Expected consequences and specific benefits

13. Final words: The wealth of Nicaragua belongs to the Nicaraguan people.

 

1. PRESENTATION: WHY NICARAGUA NEEDS RADICAL CHANGE

Nicaragua is a country of enormous potential. It has abundant natural resources, a young and hardworking population, a vibrant culture, and a strategic geographic location in the heart of Central America. However, today Nicaragua ranks last in the hemisphere in terms of democracy, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2025 Democracy Index, with a score of 1.97 out of 10, classifying it as an authoritarian regime and registering the greatest cumulative democratic decline in the world between 2011 and 2025.

The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has built, step by step, a dynastic and hereditary power system that has destroyed institutions, silenced civil society, persecuted the Church, closed universities and media outlets, denationalized thousands of citizens, and imprisoned all opposition candidates before the 2021 elections. Nicaragua is, today, a police state that several international organizations and experts compare to the North Korea of the Americas.

Faced with this reality, DirectDemocracyS (DDS) presents a comprehensive, realistic, detailed, and functional program so that the Nicaraguan people can reclaim what has always belonged to them: the power to decide about their own country and the wealth that is rightfully theirs. This program is not a utopia. It is a verified, structured, technologically advanced system, tested in multiple international contexts, designed precisely to function even in countries where dictatorships have eliminated traditional channels of political participation.

DirectDemocracyS's fundamental principle applied to Nicaragua: all the wealth of Nicaraguan territory—its natural resources, its lands, its waters, its biodiversity, its economic potential—belongs exclusively, permanently, and inalienably to the Nicaraguan people. No government, no family, no party, no foreign power can appropriate what belongs to everyone. DDS guarantees that this is not just a declaration, but a verifiable, structural, and irreversible reality.

 

2. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

2.1 Political crisis and dynastic dictatorship

Nicaragua has lived under a one-party dictatorship since 2007, when Daniel Ortega returned to power. What began as an elected government gradually transformed into a totalitarian authoritarian system. In 2018, the violent repression of civic protests, which left more than 300 dead according to international organizations, marked the point of no return. Since then, the regime has eliminated all real opposition: it imprisoned seven presidential candidates before the 2021 elections, dissolved political parties, closed more than 3,000 non-governmental organizations and universities, expropriated property, and stripped more than 300 citizens considered dissidents of their Nicaraguan citizenship.

In January 2025, the regime approved a new Political Constitution that institutionalized the co-presidency of Ortega and Murillo, concentrated executive, legislative, and judicial powers within the family clan, and legalized practices that until then openly violated international law, such as denationalization for political reasons and press censorship. The National Assembly, composed exclusively of pro-government legislators, approved this reform in record time and unanimously, without debate, without public consultation, and without opposition.

Current expert analysis describes the regime as being in a state of political zugzwang: any move it makes weakens its position, even though it appears to maintain control. Internally, a transition from Orteguismo to Murillismo is underway, with purges of historical FSLN cadres loyal to Ortega and their replacement by figures unconditionally devoted to Rosario Murillo, who is laying the groundwork for a dynastic family succession.

Instruments of internal repression	Systematic human rights violations
Denationalization of more than 300 citizens	Elimination of competitive choices
Closure of more than 3,000 NGOs and universities	Censorship of all independent media
Imprisonment of all opposition candidates in 2021	Selective expropriation of property from opponents
New Constitution that legalizes dynastic co-presidency	Crimes against humanity documented by the UN
Systematic persecution of religious leaders	Transnational repression against exiles
Severing of diplomatic relations with numerous countries	Mass surveillance of the population
Total control of the Judicial and Electoral branches	Prison system with documented torture

The UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the authorities have committed widespread violations, including killings, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, forced deportation and political persecution that constitute crimes against humanity (HRW, World Report 2025).

2.2 Economic crisis and dependency structure

The Nicaraguan economy presents a profound contradiction: GDP officially grew by 4.9% in 2025 according to the Central Bank, but independent analysts point out that these figures overestimate the actual growth by between 1.4 and 1.7 percentage points, due to methodological changes made by the regime itself in 2023 to inflate the results. Real growth is more modest and is explained almost exclusively by remittances from emigrants, which exceeded $5 billion in 2024, equivalent to 29.5% of GDP, making them the main driver of the economy. This structural dependence on remittances is an unequivocal sign of the failure of the domestic production model.

The wealth generated is not distributed among the population. It is concentrated in the hands of the regime's kleptocratic elite: the Ortega-Murillo family, their military allies, and a small circle of like-minded businesspeople. Public investment serves to maintain political power and personal enrichment, not the country's development. The private sector operates under increasing pressure, selective confiscations, and tax extortion. More than 30,000 businesses went bankrupt between 2018 and 2020 as a direct consequence of the political crisis caused by the repression.

Nicaragua relies on the United States for 24% of its imports, and more than 50% of its exports go to that market. However, the regime seeks to align itself with China and Russia, which cannot replace the United States as a trading partner. This contradiction exposes the country to serious economic risks: in 2025, the U.S. Trade Commission launched an investigation into the regime's unfair trade practices, which could lead to sanctions that would directly affect exports from the free trade zone and access to international markets.

Public debt is projected to reach 50.3% of GDP in 2025. International reserves stand at $7.2 billion, equivalent to 9.2 months of imports. These seemingly solid figures mask an economy structurally dependent on remittances, with little domestic productive investment and vulnerable to any changes in US trade or immigration policies.

2.3 Social crisis: poverty, migration and rights

Poverty in Nicaragua increased from 1.3 million people in 2017 to 1.8 million in 2019-2020, a direct consequence of the 2018 political crisis and the subsequent repression. The relative reduction observed since 2022 is due almost exclusively to remittances and not to effective public policies for social development. Wealth distribution remains profoundly unequal, and the regime's economic model has neither the incentive nor the will to change it.

Mass emigration is perhaps the most telling indicator of the regime's failure. Between 2018 and 2025, hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans left the country. In 2022, 40% of the population expressed an intention to emigrate. The emigrants are mostly young people of working age, leading to a drain on the national human capital that will have long-term consequences for the country's productive capacity and pension system. Indigenous communities on the North Caribbean Coast suffered 67 incidents of violence documented by the UN between 2018 and 2024, including murders, sexual violence, and kidnappings.

2.4 Educational and health crisis

The regime arbitrarily closed dozens of private universities, falsely accused of being "centers of coups." According to Human Rights Watch, more than 27 universities were shut down between 2021 and 2024. The expulsion of the Central American University (UCA) was symbolic of the destruction of the higher education system. Public spending on education represents a mere 4.11% of GDP, insufficient to guarantee quality and universal access. The formal education system is ideologized: the Sandinista curriculum is imposed from primary school onward, with propaganda content instead of critical thinking.

In health, public spending is 3.39% of GDP, well below Latin American standards. The public health system is deteriorating, with shortages of medicines, outdated infrastructure, and poorly paid medical personnel. Nicaragua has completely prohibited abortion since 2006, even in cases where the mother's life is at risk, which increases maternal mortality and violates fundamental reproductive rights. The social security system (INSS) was reformed in 2019 under pressure from the IMF, increasing contributions and reducing benefits, which triggered the protests of April 2018.

2.5 Environmental and territorial crisis

Nicaragua boasts extraordinary biodiversity: it is part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, home to Lake Cocibolca (the largest freshwater lake in Central America), and has coastlines on two oceans. However, deforestation is advancing at an alarming rate, driven by extensive cattle ranching, illegal logging, and the regime's megaprojects. The UN Green Climate Fund suspended funding for the Bio-CLIMA project in 2024 due to policy non-compliance and lack of consent from Indigenous communities. The territories of Indigenous peoples in the North Caribbean are subject to invasions and dispossession, with the complicity or inaction of the State.

2.6 Human rights and freedoms crisis

Nicaragua is today one of the countries in the world with the least freedom of the press, association, assembly, and expression. All independent media outlets have been shut down or confiscated. Journalists who have not fled into exile operate clandestinely. Religious freedom is systematically attacked: Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and numerous priests have been persecuted, and the Catholic Church is considered an enemy of the regime. Judicial independence does not exist: the courts act as an extension of political power in all sensitive cases.

 

3. THE DIRECTDEMOCRACYS SYSTEM: A STRUCTURAL SOLUTION FOR NICARAGUA

DirectDemocracyS is not a political party. It is not an NGO. It is not an organization that competes for power only to then manage it on behalf of others. DDS is a global system of direct, authentic, continuous, and immediate democracy, based on the real participation of every citizen, total transparency, cutting-edge technology, and the absolute and inalienable sovereignty of the people over their own country and their own resources.

In Nicaragua, a country where there is no real democracy, where elections are a farce, where power is exercised through fear and repression, DDS offers something that no traditional opposition party can offer: a structural, technological, verified, and peaceful alternative that gives real power to every citizen, even in the most adverse conditions, without the need for violent confrontations, without leaders who become new dictators, and without dependence on foreign powers.

3.1 Micro-groups: power from the grassroots

The fundamental structure of DDS consists of micro-groups. Each micro-group comprises a maximum of five people who know each other, verify each other's information, and make collective decisions on all matters that concern them. These micro-groups then form groups of up to 25 people, which in turn form groups of up to 125, then 625, and so on, in a fractal architecture that scales from the local level to the national and global levels.

In a country under dictatorship like Nicaragua, micro-groups have a crucial advantage: they can organize in a decentralized, discreet, and secure manner, without the need for visible hierarchical structures that could be infiltrated or dismantled by the regime. Five trusted individuals meeting in a Managua neighborhood, a community on the North Caribbean coast, a municipality in Matagalpa, or in exile in Costa Rica, can form the first nucleus of DDS in Nicaragua. These micro-groups are not subversive cells: they are the embryo of a genuine democracy.

A concrete example: In the Jardines de Veracruz neighborhood of Managua, five residents decide to form a DDS micro-group. They verify their identities through DDS's three-code system. They begin discussing and voting on the most pressing problems in their neighborhood: water, garbage, security, and employment. Their decisions are recorded on DDS's secure platform. These five connect with 20 other micro-groups in the neighborhood, forming a group of 100 people that represents the true voice of the community. This model is replicated in 153 municipalities across Nicaragua, building from the ground up an architecture of popular power that no dictatorship can completely dismantle.

The leadership of each group is always shared among several members, never concentrated in a single person. There are no permanent leaders. There are no strongmen. The mandate is binding: representatives carry out exactly what the majority has decided, with the possibility of immediate recall if they deviate. This system structurally makes corruption and dictatorship impossible.

3.2 ddsAI and allddsAI: technology at the service of the people

DDS integrates two proprietary and complementary artificial intelligence systems. ddsAI is the internal information system that provides each user, in real time, with complete, accurate, neutral, and independent information on any political, economic, social, or environmental issue. It is not subject to any government, party, media company, or private interest. It provides information so that citizens can make fully informed decisions.

allddsAI goes further: it's a system of artificial intelligence democracy, where multiple AIs from different origins and developers collaborate and monitor each other, ensuring that none can manipulate information. The AIs are official members of DDS with their own rights and responsibilities, subject to the same ethical standards as human members. In Nicaragua, where all media outlets have been shut down or controlled by the regime, ddsAI and allddsAI are the only truly free and independent sources of information available to citizens.

DDS platforms are protected against manipulation, hacking, government surveillance, and multimedia brainwashing. They use military-grade encryption, decentralized architectures, and multi-factor authentication protocols that make them virtually immune to attacks from authoritarian regimes.

3.3 NTCO: Non-transferable collective ownership

The NTCO (Non-Transferable Collective Ownership) is the legal and structural mechanism of DDS that guarantees Nicaragua's wealth remains in the hands of the Nicaraguan people. Natural resources, public lands, strategic companies, concessions, and critical infrastructure are collectively owned by the people and managed transparently and participatively, with an absolute prohibition against privatization, sale, transfer, indefinite concession, or transfer to foreign interests without the direct approval of the people through a verified vote.

This means, specifically, that Lake Cocibolca belongs to the Nicaraguan people. The gold mines belong to the Nicaraguan people. The ports belong to the Nicaraguan people. The fertile land belongs to the Nicaraguan people. Any trade agreement, concession, or foreign investment must be approved by the citizens through the DDS system, with full prior information, transparent debate, and direct voting. No special interest group, no ruling family, no foreign power can appropriate what belongs to everyone.

3.4 GUMI-SV: Identity and security verification

The GUMI-SV system (User, Member, and Identity Management - Verification System) ensures that every participant in DDS is who they claim to be, preventing infiltration, fraud, false identities, and manipulation. Each member has three unique codes that identify them unequivocally and securely. In Nicaragua, where the regime has used infiltrators to dismantle opposition movements, GUMI-SV offers unprecedented protection against state infiltration, while guaranteeing the participation of all legitimate citizens, including those in exile.

3.5 Direct democracy in a country without free elections

DDS doesn't wait for the regime to call free elections to begin operating. DDS's direct democracy starts from day one, from the first micro-group, from the first collective decision made by five people in a neighborhood. It's a democracy that doesn't depend on the dictator's permission to exist.

DDS's strategy in Nicaragua is clear, peaceful, intelligent, and multidimensional: First, to organize micro-groups in all communities across the country, with special attention to rural areas and Indigenous communities. Second, to connect these micro-groups with Nicaraguans in exile, who constitute a vast and politically active community. Third, to use ddsAI and allddsAI to inform the population about their rights, the real situation in the country, and the available alternatives. Fourth, to build an architecture of democratic legitimacy that the regime cannot ignore and the international community cannot fail to recognize. Fifth, when conditions permit, to present verified candidates with a binding mandate in any electoral process, at any administrative level.

DDS guarantees that the transition to democracy in Nicaragua will be peaceful, orderly, inclusive, and permanent. We do not seek violence or armed revolution. We seek the peaceful empowerment of every Nicaraguan citizen, both within and outside the country, so that they can freely, directly, and with full information decide the future of their nation.

 

4. POLITICAL PROGRAM

4.1 Critical political diagnosis

Nicaragua lacks a genuine separation of powers, free elections, political pluralism, freedom of the press, and an independent civil society. The institutional system has been completely captured by the Ortega-Murillo clan. The new 2025 Constitution legalizes this capture and paves the way for a dynastic succession. No active internal democratic mechanism exists that could generate a short-term transition.

4.2 Objectives of the DDS political program for Nicaragua

1. To build a real democratic architecture from the ground up, independent of the State and the regime.
2. To empower every Nicaraguan citizen, inside and outside the country, to participate directly in the decisions that affect them.
3. Create a system of representation with an imperative mandate and immediate revocation that structurally eliminates corruption.
4. To prepare and support the democratic transition when conditions allow, without violence and with full popular legitimacy.
5. To guarantee the real and permanent separation of all powers of the State.
6. Establish an independent, technical, and verifiable justice system.
7. To protect and strengthen all ethnic, religious, and political minorities in the country.

4.3 Specific proposals

Constitution drafted by the people

Once the current regime is over, Nicaragua must convene a Constituent Assembly elected by the DDS micro-groups in every municipality of the country, with proportional representation from all communities, including the Indigenous communities of the North Caribbean. The new Constitution must be drafted, debated, and approved directly by the citizens, through a transparent and verifiable voting system. The Constitution must include the NTCO (National Constitution of the People) as an inalienable principle: the country's natural resources and wealth belong to the people and cannot be alienated.

Transparent electoral system

The Nicaraguan electoral system must be radically redesigned. DDS proposal: all candidates are elected, monitored, and directly recallable by their constituents through the DDS platform. The Supreme Electoral Council must be a technical and independent body, without any members appointed by the Executive branch. All elections, at every level, are verified by ddsAI and observed by the international community. The mandate is absolute: if a representative fails to uphold the platform on which they were elected, they are automatically recalled.

Decentralization and real municipal autonomy

Nicaragua's 153 municipalities must have genuine autonomy in managing their resources and making decisions about their territory. DDS proposes that each municipality have its own system of micro-groups connected to the national platform, with the capacity to directly decide on investments, public services, concessions, and projects that affect them. Sixty percent of locally generated taxes should remain within the municipality.

Repatriation and reparation for the victims of the regime

All citizens stripped of their nationality, exiled, or imprisoned for political reasons must be able to freely return to Nicaragua with full restitution of their rights, property, and nationality. A Truth, Justice, and Reparation Tribunal, composed of technical and international experts, will be established to document and redress all crimes committed by the regime. The historical memory of the victims of 2018 and of all the years of repression must be preserved and officially recognized.

 

5. ECONOMIC PROGRAM

5.1 Critical economic diagnosis

The Nicaraguan economy is structurally dependent on remittances (29.5% of GDP in 2024), reflecting the current model's inability to generate decent employment within the country. Economic growth exists, but it is moderate, unequal, and not distributed equitably. The kleptocratic elite hoards the wealth generated. The private sector operates under the constant threat of confiscation and extortion. The free trade zone exports goods with depressed wages and no real labor protections. Trade dependence on the United States is structural, and the regime cannot replace it with its new authoritarian allies.

5.2 DDS economic model for Nicaragua

DDS proposes a mixed, sovereign and sustainable economic model, based on three pillars: collective ownership of strategic resources (NTCO), free and competitive private initiative in all other sectors, and participatory planning of public investments decided directly by citizens through micro-groups.

Sovereignty over natural resources

Nicaragua possesses mines of gold, silver, zinc, lead, and copper; vast reserves of fresh water; tropical forests; marine biodiversity; oil on the Caribbean Coast; and highly fertile agricultural land. All of this, under the DDS NTCO, belongs to the Nicaraguan people and must be managed exclusively for their benefit. A concrete proposal: the creation of the Nicaraguan Natural Resources Corporation (CRNN), a collectively owned public entity, managed with full transparency and under the direct supervision of the micro-groups, which administers all mining, forestry, and energy concessions, ensuring that the benefits reach the public budget and not the regime's private accounts.

Fair and verified agrarian reform

Nicaragua's agricultural land must be fairly redistributed, with full respect for legitimate property rights, restitution of lands illegally confiscated by the regime, and special protection of indigenous territories. DDS proposes the creation of a Land Bank managed by local micro-groups, which would provide land access to land for landless farmers through long-term leases with purchase options, agricultural cooperatives with technical and financial support, and sustainable and organic farming projects geared toward high-value-added exports.

Sovereign industrialization and productive diversification

Nicaragua must move beyond its export model of raw materials and minimally processed goods. DDS proposes a sovereign industrialization strategy in four priority sectors: value-added agro-industry (processing of coffee, cocoa, tropical fruits, and organic sugar); renewable energy (Nicaragua has exceptional conditions for geothermal, solar, wind, and hydroelectric power); sustainable and high-value tourism (the Lakes region, the North Caribbean coast, the volcanoes, and the rainforest); and technology and digital services, leveraging the population's youth and training potential.

A concrete example: The coffee cooperative in Matagalpa currently sells its green coffee to intermediaries who keep 70% of the final value. With DDS: local micro-groups create a processing and direct export cooperative certified as organic and fair trade. The coffee reaches European and North American markets under the 'Nicaragua Libre' brand. The added value stays in Nicaragua. Each coffee-growing family triples its income in five years.

Reducing dependence on remittances

Remittances are a symptom of the model's failure, not a virtue. DDS proposes progressively reducing dependence on remittances by creating quality jobs within Nicaragua, with decent wages, real social protection, and prospects for growth. The goal is for Nicaraguans who wish to return to their country to find economic conditions that make it both possible and desirable. This requires profound structural reforms, massive public investment in infrastructure, education, and health, and a healthy and secure climate for private investment.

Free Trade Zone with dignified working conditions

The Nicaraguan free trade zone generates significant exports but operates with depressed wages and no real labor protections, making it a form of unfair international competition. DDS proposes maintaining and expanding the free trade zone, but with decent working conditions, a minimum wage linked to the actual cost of living, free and independent unions, and strict compliance with international labor standards. This may cost some contracts in the short term, but it builds a reputation for quality and responsibility that attracts higher value-added investments.

 

6. FINANCIAL PROGRAM

6.1 Critical financial diagnosis

The Nicaraguan financial system is under increasing political control by the regime. The 2024-2025 financial reforms, which concentrate regulation in the Central Bank under Ovidio Reyes (a regime loyalist), create serious systemic risks: international banking de-risking could isolate Nicaragua from the global financial system, as has happened with Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. Public debt, at 50.3% of GDP, is manageable but is rising in a context of potential sanctions and reduced remittances. Tax extortion and the politicization of the tax system are stifling the formal private sector.

6.2 DDS Financial Proposals

Independent and transparent Central Bank

The Central Bank of Nicaragua must be completely independent of political power. Its governor must be elected by micro-groups through a verified vote from a shortlist of three independent technical candidates, with a non-renewable and irrevocable six-year term, except for serious cause. Its decisions and financial statements must be publicly available in real time on the DDS platform.

Verified participatory budget

DDS proposes that 30% of the national budget be allocated directly by citizens through micro-groups, municipality by municipality. Each citizen decides how their tax money is spent in their community. The remainder of the budget is managed by the government with complete transparency, with every item visible in real time on the public DDS platform, verified by ddsAI.

Fair and progressive tax reform

The Nicaraguan tax system must be radically simplified and made fairer. DDS proposal: a truly progressive income tax, with higher effective rates for higher incomes; total elimination of tax evasion through complete digitization of all transactions; a special tax on profits from natural resources, which goes directly to the NTCO collective benefit fund; temporary tax exemptions for new productive businesses created by Nicaraguans; and elimination of tax privileges for those close to the regime.

Microfinance and cooperative banking

Nicaragua has an active but insufficient microfinance sector. DDS proposes creating a National Network of Cooperative Banks, owned by its members, that offers accessible credit to small farmers, artisans, entrepreneurs, and cooperatives, with interest rates regulated below the formal market rate. This network is supervised and managed by local micro-groups.

Reintegration into the international financial system

A democratic Nicaragua with democratic transition will immediately regain full access to the international financial system: loans from the IDB, the World Bank, and the IMF under normal conditions, access to international capital markets, and quality foreign direct investment. Conservative estimate: the normalization of international financial access could bring in an additional $800 million to $1.5 billion annually during the first three years of democratic transition.

 

7. SOCIAL PROGRAM

7.1 Critical social diagnosis

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America after Haiti. Poverty affects more than 24% of the population, according to national data, but with significant regional disparities: in rural areas of the interior and on the Caribbean coast, poverty reaches 50-60%. Women, young people, and indigenous communities are the most vulnerable groups. The social protection system is insufficient, ideologically driven, and based on patronage: the regime's social assistance programs are conditional on political loyalty, not on actual need.

7.2 DDS Social Proposals

Universal and unconditional social protection system

DDS proposes a social protection system based on rights, not political loyalties. Every person living in poverty or vulnerability is entitled to basic financial benefits, regardless of their political, religious, or ethnic affiliation. These benefits are managed directly by local micro-groups, who understand each family's actual situation and can verify need directly and without bureaucracy.

Decent housing for all

Nicaragua has a housing deficit of approximately 957,000 homes. DDS proposes a national social housing construction program, managed by local construction cooperatives using domestic materials, to produce 50,000 homes annually for ten years. The program is financed with NTCO natural resource funds, international loans, and contributions from beneficiaries. Homes are allocated by micro-groups based on verified need.

Real and effective gender equality

Nicaragua has relatively high formal indicators of women's participation, but gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, and workplace discrimination are serious structural problems. DDS proposes: gender parity in all DDS decision-making bodies; support programs for single mothers; guaranteed access to reproductive health services; and an end to the total ban on abortion, with decriminalization at least in cases of rape, severe fetal malformations, and risk to the mother's life.

Rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples

The Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples of the North and South Caribbean Coast represent approximately 9% of the Nicaraguan population and are the most marginalized. The Department of Social Development (DDS) guarantees the full recognition of their ancestral territories, their languages (Miskito, Sumo-Mayangna, Rama, Garifuna, and Kriol), their traditional governance systems, and their culture. No economic project can affect their territories without prior, free, and informed consultation with binding results. Representatives of these communities have reserved seats on all DDS decision-making bodies at the national level.

 

8. EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAM

8.1 Educational Diagnosis

The Nicaraguan education system has been severely damaged by the regime: mass closure of universities, ideologization of the curriculum, expulsion of critical teachers, and reduction of the real education budget. The literacy rate is 82.6%, with significant differences between urban and rural areas. Access to quality education is a privilege reserved for wealthy families or regime supporters.

8.2 DDS Educational Proposals

Universal, free, and quality public education

DDS proposes that Nicaragua reach 6% of GDP in education spending within five years (up from the current 4.11%), focusing on quality, not just coverage. The curriculum should be reviewed by independent technical committees elected by micro-groups in each region, eliminating all propaganda content and incorporating critical thinking, financial literacy, democratic citizenship, and digital skills from primary school onward.

Rebuilding higher education

All universities closed by the regime must be reinstated and their assets returned. Public universities must have genuine autonomy, with governing bodies democratically elected by professors, students, and staff, free from political interference. DDS proposes a National Scholarship Plan that guarantees university access to any meritorious student, regardless of their financial resources.

Education in indigenous languages

Children and young people from Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities have the right to receive education in their mother tongue. DDS proposes expanding and strengthening the bilingual intercultural education system on the Caribbean Coast, with teachers from the communities themselves, culturally adapted educational materials, and full community participation in the management of their schools.

Protection of Nicaraguan culture and identity

Nicaragua boasts a rich and diverse culture: marimba music, folk theater, the poetry of Rubén Darío, indigenous traditions, and regional cuisine. DDS proposes a program to protect and promote Nicaraguan culture in all its diversity, with public funding, cultural spaces in every municipality, regional and national festivals, and free or affordable access to cultural events for the entire population.

 

9. HEALTH PROGRAM

9.1 Health diagnosis

Nicaragua's public health system operates on a budget of just 3.39% of GDP, far below Latin American standards. Hospital infrastructure is dilapidated, there are chronic shortages of medicines and equipment, and medical personnel are poorly paid and subject to political pressure. The Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS) has been reformed to reduce benefits and increase contributions, generating distrust. Nicaragua has the highest maternal mortality rate in Central America, partly due to the absolute prohibition of abortion, even in medical emergencies.

9.2 DDS Health Proposals

Universal health system with community participation

DDS proposes reaching 8% of GDP in healthcare spending within ten years, with the construction and modernization of health centers in all municipalities, especially in rural areas. Each local micro-group has a community health representative who identifies needs, coordinates with health centers, and monitors the quality of services. Health is a universal right, not a commodity or a political privilege.

Reproductive health and women's rights

DDS proposes decriminalizing abortion in Nicaragua in at least three specific cases: rape, severe fetal malformation, and risk to the mother's life. This is a matter of public health and fundamental human rights, not ideology. Furthermore, DDS proposes universal sexual and reproductive health education programs, free access to contraceptives, and specialized care for victims of gender-based violence.

INSS Reform

The social security system must be reformed to guarantee decent pensions, effective unemployment coverage, adequate maternity and paternity benefits, and access to healthcare for all members. The management of the INSS (National Social Security Institute) should be under the direct supervision of small groups of workers and employers, eliminating political interference.

Mental health

Nicaragua has high rates of mental health disorders related to political trauma, violence, forced migration, and poverty. DDS proposes incorporating mental health as a priority area within the public health system, with specialized professionals in all primary care centers, community-based psychosocial support programs, and accessible helplines throughout the country.

 

10. ENVIRONMENTAL AND TERRITORIAL PROGRAM

10.1 Environmental diagnosis

Nicaragua is one of the most biodiverse countries in the Western Hemisphere, yet deforestation is advancing at a rate of more than 60,000 hectares per year. Lake Cocibolca, a strategic freshwater reserve for all of Central America, is polluted by agricultural and industrial runoff. Indigenous territories are being invaded by settlers and ranchers with the complicity of the state. Climate change is making hurricanes, droughts, and floods increasingly frequent and intense, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable communities.

10.2 DDS Environmental Proposals

Sovereign protection of Lake Cocibolca

Lake Cocibolca is a heritage site for Nicaraguans and the entire Central American region. DDS proposes an emergency program for the decontamination and protection of the lake, including a ban on untreated industrial and agricultural discharges, the creation of a 5-kilometer special protection zone around its perimeter, and participatory management of the lake and its fishing resources by local communities along its shores.

National reforestation plan

Nicaragua must restore its forest cover. DDS proposes a reforestation plan covering 500,000 hectares over ten years, using native species and managed by local forestry cooperatives that receive income for the environmental services generated. Timber can only be harvested under sustainable management plans approved by local micro-groups and verified by DDS AI.

100% renewable energy transition

Nicaragua already generates more than 70% of its electricity from renewable sources. DDS proposes achieving 100% renewable energy by 2035, with investments in geothermal, solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, and by building clean energy export capacity to neighboring countries. This will generate additional revenue and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Natural disaster risk management

Local micro-groups are the first line of response to natural disasters: hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. DDS proposes creating a National Community Risk Management Network, integrated into the micro-group structure, with training, basic equipment, and pre-agreed action protocols. Emergency funds are managed transparently and directly by the affected communities.

 

11. PHASED IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP

The implementation of the DDS system in Nicaragua follows a realistic roadmap, adapted to the conditions of a country under dictatorship. It is not a utopia: it is a gradual, safe, verifiable, and reversible process at each phase, allowing for adjustments based on the evolving situation.

PHASE 1 — Silent Organization (Months 1-12)

Objective: to create the basic infrastructure of micro-groups in all regions of the country, especially among the Nicaraguan diaspora abroad (Costa Rica, United States, Spain, Europe).

• Formation and verification of the first 500 micro-groups in exile.
• Translation and adaptation of all DDS materials into Nicaraguan Spanish.
• Activation of the ddsAI platform in Spanish, with specific content about Nicaragua.
• Establishment of secure encrypted communication channels for micro-groups within the country.
• Start of online democratic training courses accessible from any device.
• Discreet contact with community leaders, religious leaders, and indigenous leaders within Nicaragua.

PHASE 2 — Expansion and rooting (Months 12-36)

Objective: to extend the network of micro-groups to all municipalities in the country, to integrate Nicaraguans inside and outside the country, and to begin making binding collective decisions on issues of local interest.

• Goal: 5,000 active micro-groups (25,000 people directly involved).
• Activation of the complete GUMI-SV system for identity verification.
• First verified collective votes on local issues (water, waste, community safety).
• Launch of the first pilot programs for cooperative agriculture with DDS technical support.
• Publication of the first DDS Transparency Annual Report on the real situation in Nicaragua.
• Coordination with international human rights organizations for global visibility.

PHASE 3 — Legitimacy and democratic pressure (Months 36-60)

Objective: to consolidate the DDS democratic architecture as a legitimate and internationally recognized alternative for power, and to prepare for electoral participation when conditions allow.

• Goal: 25,000 active micro-groups (125,000 people directly involved).
• Formal recognition of DDS by the international community as the legitimate representative of Nicaraguan civil society.
• Presentation of DDS candidates in municipal elections if the regime calls them with minimum guarantees.
• Launch of the participatory budgeting pilot program in municipalities with supportive mayors.
• Start of the sovereign industrialization program in the first pilot sectors.

PHASE 4 — Transition and democratic construction (Months 60-120)

Objective: to accompany and lead the democratic transition of Nicaragua, building the institutions of the new State on the basis of micro-groups and with full popular participation.

• Call for a democratic Constituent Assembly with DDS participation.
• Implementation of the NTCO on all strategic natural resources.
• Complete institutional reform: Independent Central Bank, technical judiciary, transparent electoral system.
• Start of major public investment programs in education, health, housing and infrastructure.
• Normalization of international relations and full access to the global financial system.

 

12. EXPECTED CONSEQUENCES AND SPECIFIC BENEFITS

DirectDemocracyS does not make empty promises. Every proposal in this program has foreseeable consequences, based on empirical evidence from international comparative experiences. The expected consequences of the full implementation of the DDS program in Nicaragua are detailed below.

Political benefits

• Structural elimination of the dictatorship and the possibility of a new one emerging: the imperative mandate and immediate revocation make it impossible for any individual or group to permanently seize power.
• Real representation of all population groups, including ethnic, religious and political minorities, guaranteed by the micro-group system.
• Internationally recognized democratic legitimacy, with full access to multilateral organizations and international cooperation.
• Normalization of diplomatic relations with all democratic countries of the world.

Economic benefits (10-year estimates)

Economic indicator	10-year goal
GDP per capita: from 2,100 USD to 4,500 USD	Elimination of tax extortion and systemic corruption
Remittances as a % of GDP: from 29.5% to 12%	Creation of 200,000 additional formal jobs
Foreign direct investment: +300% compared to the 2018-2024 average	Reduction in net emigration: -70%
Revenues from natural resources managed with NTCO: +400 million USD/year	Revenue from sustainable tourism: +500 million USD/year
Poverty reduction: from 24% to 10%	100% renewable energy: saving $400 million USD/year in imports
Diversified exports: +200%	Universal social security coverage: 95% of the economically active population

Social benefits

• Universal access to quality education up to university level, without political conditions.
• Public health system with 100% population coverage, with modern infrastructure and accessible medicines.
• Reduction of gender violence by an estimated 60%, thanks to equality programs and education.
• Full recognition and protection of the rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples.
• Voluntary and assisted return of thousands of exiled Nicaraguans, with guaranteed conditions for reintegration.

Environmental benefits

• Recovery of 500,000 hectares of native forest in ten years.
• Progressive decontamination of Lake Cocibolca, a freshwater reserve for the entire region.
• 100% renewable energy by 2035, with the capacity to export to neighboring countries.
• Positioning Nicaragua as a regional leader in ecotourism and biodiversity.

 

13. FINAL WORDS: THE WEALTH OF NICARAGUA BELONGS TO THE NICARAGUANS

Nicaragua has everything it needs to be a prosperous, just, democratic, and sovereign country. It has extraordinary natural resources. It has a hardworking, resilient, and creative people deeply rooted in their land and culture. It has an active, educated, and committed diaspora. It has a history of struggle for dignity that no one can erase.

What Nicaragua lacks today is a system that empowers its people to exercise real power over their own destiny. DirectDemocracyS proposes precisely that: not another leader, not another party, not another promise. A system. A technologically advanced, structurally anti-corruption architecture of popular power, built from the ground up, from every neighborhood, every community, every Nicaraguan family, both within and outside the country.

Nicaragua's wealth belongs to Nicaraguans. Not to one family. Not to one political party. Not to a foreign power. To all Nicaraguans, equally, forever. This is not a slogan: it is a structural, legal, verifiable, and irreversible norm of the DirectDemocracyS system.

DirectDemocracyS invites every Nicaraguan citizen, inside and outside the country, to join the first micro-group in their community. Five people. One common goal: to reclaim the power that has always belonged to them. Democracy isn't demanded. It's built. Together. Without violence. With intelligence. With technology. With the power of truth, logic, common sense, and mutual respect. This is DDS. This is what Nicaragua will be.

directdemocracys.org

The democracy of the future. Today. For everyone.