Protests against state sponsored violence in Nicaragua. Source: Wikimedia Commons. All Rights Reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n
The
\nrepression of Daniel Ortega\u2019s government against students and the unarmed
\ncivilian population that keep on protesting in the streets has left so far more
\nthan 300 dead, and the number of wounded and missing is rising daily. The trend
\nhas not slowed despite the establishment of the so-called National Dialogue
\nTable, which shows that Ortega is just buying time.<\/p>\n
In
\naddition to the mass marches in Managua and other regions of the country, people
\nerected barricades and put up blocks on highways and city streets. The first to
\nentrench themselves were the inhabitants of the combative indigenous
\nneighborhood of Monimb\u00f3 in Masaya. They were also trying to contain the burning
\nand looting spree sponsored by the regime. <\/p>\n
The campesinos<\/em>, led by Francisca Ram\u00edrez, began putting up blocks in Women, youth and townspeople, assisted by their neighborhood communities, On Towards the end of the march, snipers and policemen The Episcopal The As long as Ortega remains in power, all the institutions under his control will conspire against the efficacy of their [IACHR] investigations. In the case of the GIEI, it must work alongside the Public Prosecutor, an institution which is totally controlled by Ortega.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s The President On June 22, the Inter-American "The The Unfortunately, To this day, no case has been opened against the The Until Washington has started to express its "concern" over what is On Since June 11, the government has increased repression through the launching of a so-called "cleansing operation". It consists of combination of regular police forces, riot police and hooded, heavily armed civilians. On June 16, these combined forces set fire to a house with a whole family inside, which resulted in 4 adults and 2 children, one two-year old and one three-month old, dead.<\/p>\n Additionally, before the meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS, Since In addition to firing On The survivors reported that the fire was caused by these groups linked to These The Nicaraguans are determined to throw the In But The The Coordination has outlined that any road to The This article is published in the framework of our editorial alliance with Revista Nueva Sociedad. See the original here.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Protests against state sponsored violence in Nicaragua. Source: Wikimedia Commons. All Rights Reserved. The repression of Daniel Ortega\u2019s government against students and the unarmed civilian population that keep on protesting in the streets has left so far more than 300 dead, and the number of wounded and missing is rising daily. The trend has not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNueva Guinea but the blocks quickly multiplied throughout the country. The blocks
\nare a defense mechanism against repression, but they are also an instrument of
\npressure before the employers\u2019 hesitation to carry out an indefinite national
\nstrike. <\/p>\n
\nstand guard at the blocks and barricades armed only with homemade mortars. The
\nmass of citizens participating was such that, in several places, they came to surround
\npolice stations and forced the agents to flee.<\/p>\n
\nMay 30, Nicaragua\u2019s traditional Mother\u2019s Day, simultaneous marches were held in
\na large number of cities. More than 300,000 Nicaraguans paraded in Managua
\nheaded by the Mothers of April Movement, which groups the relatives of the
\nvictims of the massacres. <\/p>\n
\nfired into the crowd: 20 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured. The
\npopulation responded with more trenches. At the beginning of June, more than
\n160 street blocks and hundreds of barricades went up.<\/p>\nThe
\nNational Dialogue<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nConference of Nicaragua (CEN) chose the
\nparticipants who were to sit at the Dialogue Table before the government. They
\nwere big businessmen from the High Council of Private Initiatives (COSEP) and
\nthe American Chamber of Commerce of Nicaragua, a delegation of students and
\nmembers of civil society (a representative of the peasant movement, one of the
\nCosta Caribe autonomous region, and another one of the autonomous trade union
\nmovement).<\/p>\n
\nDialogue\u2019s inaugural session was held on May 16. Since then, progress has been
\nslow because repression has not stopped and the government is refusing to
\naddress the Roadmap to Democracy which the Episcopal Conference has put forward.
\nThis document proposes early elections on March 31, 2019, a prior reform of the
\nElectoral Law and the appointment of new electoral authorities.<\/p>\n
\noption is to impose the timetable it has been working on since 2017 with the
\nSecretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro,
\nwho was already accused of being biased in favor of the government during the
\nlast elections. The timetable would lead to Ortega finishing his spurious term
\nin 2021.<\/p>\n
\ndisregards this demand for his early departure as a "coup" and
\npresents himself as the victim of an international plot to oust him. Some
\nleft-wing parties in Latin America, unable to make a distinction between Ortega\u2019s
\npseudo-revolutionary rhetoric and his neoliberal practices, have joined him in this
\ndiscourse. Moreover, they adopt an ethically reproachable position by justifying
\nthe massacre of more than 300 Nicaraguans.<\/p>\nHuman
\nrights<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nCommission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented the final report from its visit to
\nNicaragua before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States
\n(OAS). The devastating report was
\nrejected outright by the Ortega government, which was supported by Venezuela. Most
\nother countries demanded an end to repression. What follows is an excerpt from
\nthe report:<\/p>\n
\nfindings of the visit show that State violence has been used with the aim of
\ndiscouraging participation in demonstrations and that it has followed a common
\npattern characterized by: an excessive and arbitrary use of police force,
\nincluding deliberate and systematic use of lethal force, the use of vigilante
\ngroups with the acquiescence and tolerance of State authorities, interfering
\naccess of the wounded to emergency medical care in retaliation to their participation
\nin the demonstrations, a pattern of arbitrary illegal detentions of young
\npeople and teenagers who participated peacefully in protests and people passing
\nthrough areas where incidents took place, the use of cruel, inhumane and
\ndegrading treatment against the majority of those arrested (bordering \u00a0on torture in some cases), the launching of
\npropaganda and stigmatization campaigns, measures of direct and indirect
\ncensorship, intimidation of and threats directed to leaders of social
\nmovements, and the lack of diligence in investigating the murders and injuries reported
\nin this context. "<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIACHR made fifteen recommendations, but the government has refused to comply
\nwith them. In fact, it has only consented to the establishment of a Special
\nFollow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI), and has accepted the
\nInterdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI-Nicaragua) and an invitation
\nto the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.<\/p>\n
\nwe cannot be too optimistic about the results of these activities, for as long
\nas Ortega remains in power, all the institutions under his control will
\nconspire against the efficacy of their investigations. In the case of the GIEI,
\nit must work alongside the Public Prosecutor, an institution which is totally
\ncontrolled by Ortega. <\/p>\n
\nperpetrators of government crimes – on the contrary, innocent people are being prosecuted
\nas "scapegoats" and proceedings against social fighters keep growing.<\/p>\n
\nIACHR\u2019s most important recommendation, the dismantling of para-police groups has
\nbeen unaccomplished, and Ortega has even expanded their impact by deploying a
\nlethal irregular army which operates in complicity with the police.<\/p>\nThe
\nrole of the United States<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nquite recently, the US government maintained a close relationship with the
\nOrtega government. The Nicaraguan president was seen to deliver "peace and
\nstability" in the region. However, the relationship has changed now.\n<\/p>\n
\nhappening in the country and, above all, about the consequences of the current crisis.
\nThe US is thus pushing for a "soft" exit which would not weaken its position
\nin the region. It is not worried about human and civil rights or corruption,
\nbut about its own interests.<\/p>\n
\nJune 9, Caleb McCarry, an expert on transition-related conditions who used to work
\nunder George W. Bush\u2019s administration, visited Nicaragua as an envoy of the
\npowerful president of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker.<\/p>\n
\nAmbassador Carlos Trujillo, permanent representative of the United States
\nbefore that organization, made a 24-hour visit to Nicaragua and met with the Nicaragua
\nEpiscopal Conference (CEN), with members of the Dialogue and with Daniel
\nOrtega. It has been leaked that the United States is trying to pressure Ortega to
\ncall for early elections in exchange for immunity (i.e. impunity) for him and
\nhis family.<\/p>\nRepression intensifies and is
\nextended<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nJune 11, the government has increased repression through the launching of a so-called
\n"cleansing operation". It consists of combination of regular police
\nforces, riot police and hooded, heavily armed civilians. <\/p>\n
\nindiscriminately and destroying the barricades, they conduct house searches and
\narrest young people who have been listed by the so-called Councils of Citizen
\nPower (CPC) – pro-government groups which are part of the official structures
\ndeveloped by the government.<\/p>\n
\nJune 16, these combined forces set fire to a house with a whole family inside, which
\nresulted in 4 adults and 2 children, one two-year old and one three-month old,
\ndead. <\/p>\n
\nthe government, because the owner of the house, which was also a mattress
\nfactory, would not give permission for a sniper to take up position on the third
\nfloor. A security camera of a neighbouring business recorded images of the policemen
\nand pro-government hitmen involved in the event.<\/p>\n
\ngroups have also dismantled street blocks and barricades by gunning down their
\ndefenders, causing many deaths and injuries. De facto, a curfew and suspended constitutional
\nguarantees prevail today in the cities. The hooded groups appear anywhere, at
\nany time to raid premises, arrest people and terrorize citizens.<\/p>\nThe
\nbalance of power and the people\u2019s fight<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nNovember 2016 elections were clearly fraudulent. Voter turnout was less than
\n40%. The government\u2019s lack of legitimacy was confirmed by a survey conducted by
\nthe CID Gallup consultancy between May 5 and 15, 2018, showing that 63% of the
\npopulation think Ortega should leave power, and 67% think the same about his
\nwife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. <\/p>\n
\ncouple out and are paying a high cost for it in terms of lives and sacrifices.
\nThe impact of the crisis on the economy is devastating. A large number of businesses
\nhave closed down and more than 200.000 jobs have been lost so far.<\/p>\n
\nthe midst of the repressive build-up, several civic organizations have launched
\nthe proposal of carrying out civil disobedience, particularly in the case of
\nmajor taxpayers. The business community, however, hesitates. On June 14, the
\nbusiness chambers finally called a successful 24-hour national strike. People are
\nnow pressing for an indefinite strike combined with civil disobedience and
\nstreet fighting to force the Ortega couple to resign.<\/p>\n
\nthe popular explosion against repression finds the people in Nicaragua
\ndisjointed and disorganized. The social fabric has been torn apart by
\nneoliberal policies and Ortega\u2019s open or underhanded persecution. Political
\nparties have been weakened and discredited. The challenge now is how to restore
\nthe damaged social fabric.<\/p>\n
\nDialogue delegation has grouped itself under the name of Civic Alliance for
\nJustice and Democracy. A Coordination of Social Movements has also been formed,
\nbringing together self-convened students, territorial expressions of the April
\n19 Movement, the people mobilized in manning blocks and barricades, women movements,
\npeasant movements, human rights organizations, indigenous peoples and African
\ndescendant communities, environmentalists, movements defending sexual diversity
\nand the media, among others. <\/p>\n
\ndemocratization should start with the immediate exit from power of the
\npresidential couple and the establishment of a transition government responsible
\nfor fixing the necessary steps to elect a Constituent Assembly and a new
\ngovernment as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\ndie is cast. There is no going back: "Ortega lost the people and the
\npeople lost their fear" \u2013 as the so often repeated slogan has it. However,
\nthere is still a long way to go before the tormented Nicaraguan people can see this
\nconflict resolved in their favor.<\/p>\n