An intense controversy erupted in Nicaragua following renewed accusations by the government against Catholic bishop Silvio Baez, whom they accuse of leading a “terrorist conspiracy” to overthrow President Daniel Ortega. Former Sandinista guerrilla Eden Pastora, considered a leader of Ortega’s paramilitary forces, warned recently that the priests should be careful because “the bullets also go through the cassocks”.
Read MoreIllegal detentions, witnesses that contradict each other, prisoners presented to the court after the legal deadline, and officials that have no evidence to present; these are just some of the irregularities that have been accepted by the judges in charge of processing 300 political prisoners, arrested for participating in civic protests against the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Read MoreSince the civic protests against the Nicaraguan government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo began in April, official media outlets have disqualified the demonstrations as an “attempted coup d’état by the right.” “Anyone who opposes the Sandinista Front or Daniel Ortega, is (categorized) as a rightist,” assures Mikel Espinosa, the former editor of the leading government website 19 Digital. He is now exiled in Costa Rica.
Read More“The President should reconsider and sit down to think how not to take the country on the path to an economic debacle. An open political dialogue should be instituted, in which all the bases to provide stability to the country could be presented,” said Sergio Maltez.
Read MoreAfter first seeing its previously blossoming tourism industry collapse for the foreseeable future starting six months ago, now Ometepe Island’s other main traditional economic activity, the harvest and export of plantains, is at risk because the Central American truck buyers will think twice of traveling to the island where the paramilitaries have created a state of lawlessness.
Read MoreOn Oct. 19th, Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, addressed the organization’s Permanent Council. He said that “something terrible is happening” in Nicaragua and that a continuation of the repressive policies of Daniel Ortega’s regime will obligate the organization to initiate “the proceedings of Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.”
Read MoreWith shouts demanding the departure of Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo from power, thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets to express their repudiation of the regime through social networks. These are the stories of three popular characters of the ongoing civic rebellion in Nicaragua.
Read MoreSources linked to four banking institutions confirmed to Confidencial the change in the rules in the currency market. But, they excuse themselves from showing an official document from the Central Bank, because until now it is non-existent: “We have nothing in writing, we were only notified through a telephone call,” they stated.
Read More#YoSoyPicoRojo [I’m redlips] is the new form of protest that’s united hundreds of internet users in solidarity with the political prisoners. This initiative was born from activist Marlen Chow’s response to the National Police officials during the interrogation she was subjected to in the cells of the El Chipote jail last Sunday, Oct. 14, when she told her insistent interrogators that she belonged to the Pico Rojo Association.
Read MoreLuis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OEA), asserted that the Nicaraguan government has adopted the “Cuban model of repression”, and that during the past six months of sociopolitical crisis they’ve practiced the same forms of state abuse against critics and opposition figures as those that are common on the island.
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