Nicaragua: Thousands of Ortega Paramilitaries Sworn In
The masked men are called “volunteer police”
They wear white T-shirts, black pants, black shoes, and identical black polyester masks to conceal their faces.
HAVANA TIMES – Nearly three thousand so-called “volunteer police,” with their faces covered by balaclavas, have been sworn in across the departments of Estelí and Madriz in under 48 hours. These supposed volunteer police officers, labeled as “paramilitaries” by opposition groups and human rights organizations, swore an oath on a copy of Nicaragua’s Constitution, despite their creation being unconstitutional since the article establishing them is still in the process of being approved.
Images released by the National Police and Ortega-aligned media show thousands of men and women standing in formation, dressed in white T-shirts, black pants, black shoes, and identical black balaclavas made of polyester to cover their faces. Some also wear glasses to hide their eyes.
Part of Article 97 of the newly reformed Constitution, tailored by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to enforce their family dynasty, states that Nicaragua “establishes the Volunteer Police as an auxiliary and support body to the National Police, comprised of Nicaraguan citizens offering their services voluntarily.”
Opposition figures, activists, and legal experts from national and international organizations have warned that creating this “Volunteer Police” is a way to institutionalize the paramilitary groups that worked alongside the National Police during the so-called “Operation Cleanup.” This undertaking, aimed at dismantling citizen protests and roadblocks across Nicaragua during the April Rebellion, left hundreds of dead, wounded and imprisoned between June and July of 2018.
The Swearing-In of the Volunteer Police
The swearing-in of these masked volunteer police was overseen by Francisco Diaz, director of the National Police and Ortega and Murillo’s in-law. Diaz is set to continue in his role, which he will renew in January 2025.
On January 15, Diaz swore in 1,204 “volunteer police”, 360 National Police officers, and 90 Ministry of Interior members in Madriz, totaling 1,654. This masked unit has been named the “Comandante Julio Buitrago Urroz Volunteer Police” by official police and government media. Meanwhile, in Estelí, another 1,500 paramilitary members were sworn in as part of the group. In the coming days, thousands more are expected to be sworn in across Nicaragua.
In November 2024, Ortega submitted a proposed “partial reform” to the National Assembly, which is effectively a new constitution. This proposal seeks to alter Nicaragua’s political system by reducing state powers to organs and establishing a “co-presidency” with his wife, Rosario Murillo. The constitution also establishes the “Volunteer Police” as an auxiliary body supporting the National Police.
Although the “Volunteer Police” are not yet constitutionally recognized, they are mentioned in the Law on the Organization, Functions, Career, and Special Social Security Regime of the National Police. Article 23 of this law states: “As a modality of community participation, the Volunteer Police are created as an auxiliary body to support the National Police, comprised of Nicaraguan citizens offering their services voluntarily and temporarily.” It also specifies that they are subordinate to respective police delegations, which are responsible for their oversight.
Previously, in 2018, Ortega also referred to the paramilitary groups that carried out repression and massacres as “volunteer police,” a term he has repeated on multiple occasions. For example, in September 2022, he claimed that the military, police, and “volunteer police” helped restore “peace” in Nicaragua.
“It was then that we said: now is the moment. We acted; there was no need for major battles. The police, accompanied by the volunteer police, quickly dismantled the roadblocks,” Ortega reiterated in May 2023.
On December 16, 2024, during a graduation of National Police Cadets, Ortega once again praised the paramilitaries, shouting: “Long live the Volunteer Police!” after swearing in new officers.
In December 2018, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) documented the participation of paramilitaries in the repression and massacres against citizen protests.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.