6:17 am – Nicaragua: new Ortega-opposition showdown, general strike on Thursday

The Nicaraguan opposition puts pressure on President Daniel Ortega by organizing a general strike on Thursday along with a demonstration, the government preparing in response a march in memory of the Sandinista revolution in Masaya, the The most rebel city in the country.Masaya "is besieged by a force of more than 1,000 paramilitaries, policemen and heavy weapons," reported the head of the Nicaraguan Association of Human Rights (ANPDH) Masaya, Danilo Martinez. The presence of security forces at the gates of the city fears violent raids on their part before the celebrations of the government, during which Daniel Ortega parades each year, at the head of the procession, in memory of the revolution of 1979 In Masaya the protest is particularly intense in the district of Monimbó, south of the city, where the barricades are still standing, despite the strengthening of the "cleaning operation", ordered by the government in recent weeks. Since April 18, anti-government protesters have been demanding the departure of Daniel Ortega, who has been in power for 11 years, accused of establishing a dictatorship in Nicaragua with his wife, Rosario Murillo, the vice president. The situation in Nicaragua is critical, said Wednesday the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, with 264 deaths caused by the wave of violence of the three months of protest. Nicaragua's Minister of Foreign Affairs Denis Moncada said the IACHR report was "biased and lacking in objectivity". "One can not confuse a peaceful protest movement with terrorist acts," he said. The Catholic Church is very influential in Nicaragua and mediates between the government and the opposition, but without success. Last weekend, 14 people died and several priests were targeted as a result of violent police raids in the cities of Diriamba and Jinotepe in the south-west of the country. (Belga)

© 2018 Belga. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. All information reproduced in this section (news, photos, logos) is protected by intellectual property rights held by Belga. Therefore, none of this information may be reproduced, modified, reposted, translated, exploited commercially or reused in any way whatsoever without the prior written consent of Belga.