Features

After a weekend of bloodshed that left at least 11 people dead, dozens of people injured and disappeared in Carazo, the religious delegation from Managua’s Catholic Church (headed by Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Apostolic Nuncio, Waldemar Stanislaw and Managua’s auxiliary bishop, Silvio Baez) traveled to Diriamba where they were attacked by pro-government mobs and paramilitary groups.

Hundreds of Managua street vendors discovered that the protests were an opportunity to earn some money. Among them was Luis Manuel Ortiz, killed on June 30th during the “March of the Flowers” march, a demonstration protesting the many killings of youth and children.

President Daniel Ortega rejected in Managua on Saturday moving up the 2021 elections as a way out of the worst political crisis in Nicaragua in the last four decades and harshly criticized his opponents, whom he described as “assassins” and “coup seekers.”

Pressure and threats emanating from Nicaragua’s Bank Regulatory Board (Superintendencia) were rejected outright by business owners, producers and lawyers. Banks warn that government “interference” could “generate widespread distrust in the financial system.”

For Janier Garcia, the protests that began in Nicaragua on April 18 have brought him new experiences. It was the first time he ever saw a mob raining blows on people in Managua. He had left Diriamba with some friends to protest against the Social Security reforms, but he never imagined…

In the early hours of Wednesday, July 4th, a group of hooded men set fire to the house of Yubrank Suazo’s parents in Masaya, also destroying the family’s Ramiro Suazo and Son hammock factory. Yubrank is a leader of the 19th of April Movement in Masaya.

The Nicaraguan revolt to oust President Daniel Ortega from office began over two and a half months ago. University students initiated the “civic revolution,” called the April 19th Movement, but campesinos, civil society and several business organizations soon joined in, as well as feminist groups, the LGBQI community, and the indigenous and Afro-descendants peoples.