Nicaragua is becoming a bloodbath, thanks to the machinations of long-time dictator Daniel Ortega.

It all started in April, when Ortega, who’s been at Nicaragua’s helm since 2007, announced changes to social security. Protests resulted, but a Central American strongman is gonna strongman. And he does so with help from his paramilitary thugs.

As of this writing, 273 people have died and another 2000 injured. Most recently Ortega’s forces killed two people among a group of student protestors who had barricaded themselves inside a church. Authorities finally released the students.

What is especially ominous is that two student protest leaders, who were imprisoned and tortured, report that they heard some Spanish accents that weren’t homegrown Nicaraguan accents. They were accents from Cuba and Venezuela.

So what does that mean? It means that Ortega may be enlisting the help of Cuban and Venezuelan agents to shut down protests.

As student Víctor Cuadras said:

“Castro copied his recipe for repression and harassment in Venezuela, and now they are doing it in Nicaragua. There are many people who, while being tortured, heard the accents of Venezuela and Cuba in the clandestine prisons.”

This should come as no surprise. Daniel Ortega, who governs Nicaragua along with his wife Rosario Murillo, first ran Nicaragua from 1979 – 1990 as a Marxist-Leninist after his Sandinistas came to power. Later removed from office, Ortega won re-election in 2006, and he still condemns the ‘evils’ of capitalism. However, what he says and what he does in real life are two different things. He now owns multi-million dollar businesses, and is personally worth more than $50 million.

Not only that, but Ortega also partnered with the late Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. And when in 2007 Castro and Chavez created the trade group ALBA — the Bolivian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Ortega hopped right on board.

But the people of Nicaragua can go pound sand.

Do the events in Nicaragua surprise you? After all, socialists turning into tyrants is nothing new. It seems to be their default setting.

However, should we care?

Yes we should. Because while those of us who grew up as Cold War kids learned from the knee about the evils of communism and socialism, a lot of millennials think that socialism is just peachy. In fact, about 43% of them think that socialism is better than capitalism.

As Michelle Diggles, a policy analyst at the liberal think tank Third Way, says:

“The oldest millennials were 8 years old when the Berlin Wall fell. They have never known a world where the Soviet Union exists. … The connotations associated with the word ‘socialism’ just don’t exist with millennials.”

Which leads me to these two:

Credit: Bustle.com

Yes, that’s the newest Democratic sweetheart, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. And she’s teaming up with fellow socialist Bernie Sanders to spread the message of socialism to Kansas.

Kansas? Yep, they’re hitting the Heartland. They’ll stop on Friday in Wichita to campaign for progressive candidate James Thompson in Kansas’s 4th district.

Who recently held that US House seat? None other than now-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

As promised, YUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Our next campaign rally is at the Orpheum on July 20th.

We are excited to welcome (drumroll, please) @Ocasio2018 and @BernieSanders to WICHITA, KS! Let's kick this up a notch and #flipthe4th! Sign up here! https://t.co/NzsXHwkLou #UnitedWeStand pic.twitter.com/w2f9M6Ui6Y

— James Thompson (@JamesThompsonKS) July 13, 2018

After Wichita, the socialist duo are heading to Kansas City, Kansas, to campaign for former Sanders delegate Brent Welder.

Bernie. Alexandria. One amazing rally.

Friday, July 20 @ the Reardon. Doors open at 5pm. Get your free tickets now at https://t.co/GO5BOIWGEC. Get ready for one epic event to support our bold, progressive, winning campaign! https://t.co/jH8bU9a9c9

— Brent Welder (@BrentWelder) July 13, 2018

Republicans currently hold both these seats; moreover, Kansas went big for Trump. So why do these two think they’ll make a difference here?

Here’s what Sanders says:

“All over this country, you have people who understand that we need to [change] the minimum wage to a living wage; that health care is a right; that we need to rebuild our infrastructure.”

And that’s just the type of agenda Welder and Thompson are promoting in Kansas: universal Medicare, free tuition, and eliminating ‘economic inequality.’ Oh, and changing the climate back, too.

Because socialism is working so well in Nicaragua, isn’t it? Just like it’s been so beneficial for the people of Cuba and Venezuela.

Instead those nations are plagued with tyranny, death, oppression, and poverty. Not only that, but they’re run by tinpot dictators who are only out to gain wealth and power for life, and they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way.

It. Never. Fails.

And yet here we have two much-ballyhooed socialists touring Kansas — the Heartland, Red State America — promoting the very thing that’s sending Nicaragua over the brink and down the same path as Venezuela.

Nicaragua may not be happening in your backyard, and in may not be affecting anyone you know. But take a look at Ocasio-Cortez, her wingman Bernie Sanders, and all the millennials who fall for the promise of Free Stuff. Yes, you should care.