Nicaraguans Seeking to Oust Ortega Head for OAS General Assembly

The session begins on Monday in Washington, D.C.

Managua, May 30, 2018, at the massive march in support of the mothers whose children have been killed in the government repression of peaceful protests.  Photo: Jader Flores/ LA PRENSA

HAVANA TIMES – A group of representatives of the Civic Alliance, which is leading the protests against the Government of Nicaragua, traveled Saturday to the United States to raise awareness of the situation in the Central American country at the OAS General Assembly that begins on Monday, reported dpa news.

Ernesto Medina, advisor to the student movement that is part of the Alliance, told dpa that nine leaders of the Alliance that emerged with the protests, who demand the resignation of President Daniel Ortega, are scheduled to meet in Washington with delegates from member countries of the Organization of American States.

The delegation will be supported by activists from the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil), whose director for Central America, Maria Aguiluz, said that the crisis of Nicaragua is on the agenda of the continental body.

“We are going with human rights defenders who have been on the front lines documenting the current situation in Nicaragua, we will present the background of this crisis so that the States participating in the General Assembly take a position and add the country’s situation to the agenda,” said Aguiluz in a telephone communication with dpa.

The Nicaraguan delegation is made up of members of the student April 19th Movement, representatives of civil society and well-known human rights activists, such as Marcos Carmona and Vilma Nunez.

Medina, rector of the American University (UAM, private), told dpa that the envoys of the Alliance arranged private meetings “to raise the serious crisis” that the country is experiencing. They will also try to ensure that the situation in Nicaragua is included in the agenda of the General Assembly, dominated by the Venezuelan issue, he added.

Ernest Medina, advisor to the student 19th of April Movement, part of the Civic Alliance.

The students Víctor Cuadras, Sayda Hernandez and Fernando Sánchez are part of the group of Nicaraguans, also composed by Félix Maradiaga, Azalea Solís and Elvira Cuadra, representing civil society, as well as Migueliuth Sandoval, wife of the murdered journalist Angel Gahona, one of the victims of the violence. Medina said he will travel tomorrow.

The OAS General Assembly is the most important annual meeting of the Pan American organization that brings together the foreign ministers of its 34 members. The United States and the Lima Group seek the approval of a harsh resolution condemning Venezuela and the government of Nicolas Maduro.

The crisis in Nicaragua began on April 17 with a student protest against a Social Security reform that negatively affected active workers and retirees. The protests extended quickly after the deadly action of the police and paramilitary forces against unarmed demonstrators.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an autonomous body of the OAS, records 97 deaths, mostly students and other young people protesting against the government and there have been around a thousand injured.