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Bus and empty streets, closed shops: Nicaragua was paralyzed Friday by a general strike called by the opposition to demand the departure of President Daniel Ortega, who, in response, mobilized his supporters to march on Masaya, the city most rebel of the country.
On social networks one could see images of empty streets and buses as well as closed shops and shopping centers. Banks and private schools also, AFP found. The fear of looters also drove traders to lower their curtain, in a country where a wave of violence left 264 dead in three months, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
"I work by But the strike is a weapon to put pressure on the government, because this situation seems endless.It is we, the poor, who are dying, "told AFP Adolfo Diaz, polisher of 67-year-old shoes, lost amidst the iron curtains of Huembes' vast market, which gathers 4,500 stalls in eastern Managua.
This second 24-hour general strike began on the night of Thursday to Friday, at 00:00 local time (0600 GMT), at the call of the Civic Alliance for Democracy and Justice, an opposition coalition that includes sectors of civil society. A first social movement identical had blocked the country on June 14, making four deaths.
– "Let's clear the streets" –
"Let's clear the streets to show that we do not want more repression and that we want them go away, "said the opposition at the beginning of the mobilization in reference to the presidential couple Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, also vice-president.
The strike is part of a series of three-day actions launched by the anti-Ortega camp to reinforce the pressure on the government.
The day before, a blue and white tide, the colors of Nicaragua, invaded the streets of the capital and other cities. Clashes during a march in Morrito, in the south-east of the country, left five dead: four policemen and a demonstrator.
On Saturday, a convoy of opponents in vehicles must travel through the eastern neighborhoods of the capital, where the police and paramilitary groups have carried out violent operations to dismantle the barricades of the demonstrators.
The opponents of Ortega ask for justice, early elections or the departure of the president, accused of having harshly repressed demonstrations and set up with his wife a "dictatorship" marked by corruption and nepotism.
The poorest country in Central America is shaken by protests of historic magnitude against Daniel Ortega, ex-guerrilla 72 years in power since 2007 after having already been from 1979 to 1990.
– "March to victory" –
In the middle of a general strike, the head of the left-wing state must take the lead on Friday. memory of the Sandinista revolution of 1979, Friday towards Masaya about thirty kilometers from Managua.
The "withdrawal", of the name of this historical episode, took place on June 27, 1979: thousands of guerrillas of Managua s were then withdrawn to Masaya to gather their forces before overthrowing the dictator Anastasio Somoza
"All the walkers of peace, of the future, of love, to (the march of) withdrawal with Daniel (. ..) because we are making the peace, "said Rosario Murillo mobilizing the faithful of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN, left), the ruling party.
" The march to victory does not do not stop, "Murillo added.
Masaya, the native Monimbo neighborhood, was on the alert. "No to retreat", "we will never surrender", "Monimbo resists today, tomorrow and always", could we read on the walls and barricades.
Faced with the worsening of the situation, Organization of American States (OAS) convened a special session Friday on Nicaragua
Very influential in Nicaragua, the Catholic Church plays the role of mediator between the government and the opposition, demanding in particular early elections, but without success: President Ortega rejected this possibility on Saturday
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