In the midst of the crisis, Nicaragua's economy recorded the largest decline in 30 years

Faced with the new decline of the economy of Nicaragua In the thirty years that followed the collapse of Venezuela, his allied government, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, is back at the negotiating table. The president, who is in his fourth five-year term, will meet Wednesday with an alliance of businessmen, civil society groups and student movements, the first time the two parties have met since the beginning of the talks in May. Past goal is to restore stability and security, said Ortega.

The The Nicaraguan economy contracted by 4% last year, the largest decline since the civil war in the 1980s, after months of violent clashes between protesters and security forces. The protests began in the beginning because of the government's desire to increase social security contributions and reduce benefits, but quickly became more widespread protests against Ortega.

More than 300 people have died and nearly 700 have been arrestedaccording to human rights groups, and 80,000 Nicaraguans have reportedly fled to neighboring Costa Rica. Venezuela's aid has almost disappeared because of the country's deep crisis, deeper than that of Nicaragua. Similarly, multilateral institutions are reluctant to lend to Nicaragua.

Counted days

The so-called Civic Alliance, which will meet Ortega on Wednesday, will send a 12-member bargaining team comprised of academics, businessmen and economists, including Mario Arana, former minister Finance and Chief of the Central Bank. The group criticized the Recent convictions of anti-government protesters, including a sentence of 216 years imprisonment for the leader of Medardo Mairena demonstrations, according to a law on terrorism pbaded last year. Independent journalists have been imprisoned, while Congress eliminates the legal status of civil society groups critical of the government.

US President Donald Trump said in a speech this month that "the days of socialism and communism are numbered" in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Ortega, 73 years old, was distinguished in the 1970s as a guerrilla of the Sandinista National Liberation Front., a group that overthrew the dictator Anastasio Somoza. He remains a fierce opponent of the United States, which he has accused of helping to finance a coup attempt against his government.