Nicaragua: Violent operation against Masaya rebel city, at least two dead

At least two people were killed in an attack by pro-government forces against Masaya, Nicaragua's most rebellious city, shaken for months by violent protests that left hundreds dead

A thousand men from heavily armed riot and paramilitary forces on board some forty pickups entered the early morning in Masaya, about thirty kilometers from the capital, Managua, according to the inhabitants.

The access to the city was blocked and the journalists prevented from pbading: targeted by the shots, an AFP team was forced to turn around on the outskirts of this city.

"They attack Monimbo ( Masaya neighborhood)! The bullets reach the Maria Magdalena church, where the priest has taken refuge, "Twitteran Managua's auxiliary bishop, Silvio Baez, told Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to" stop this mbadacre "

On videos and recordings published on social networks, we can hear heavy fire and shouting. Locals and local journalists report the presence of hooded men equipped with Kalashnikov and M16 badault rifles and sniper rifles.

"Two dead, one elderly woman and a policeman", said to AFP the president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), Vilma Núñez. "The situation in Monimbo is terrible," she said.

"An indiscriminate hunt has been launched against the people, raids on houses, sinking doors, throwing people and their business in the street, "denounced Mrs. Núñez, according to which 40 people were arrested.

" Message of terror "

This incursion, renamed by the opposition" operation cleaning ", targets the indigenous district of Monimbo , where the population is strongly mobilized against the government. Barricades of up to two meters were erected in this city of 100,000 inhabitants.

The sound of the gusts, coming from the different entrances to the city, was mixed with that of the bells of the churches in order to alert the population, according to locals

"They are strafing houses irresponsibly, the message is + the one who takes out his head, we kill him +, it's a message of terror What worries me the most, these are children, pregnant women and the elderly, "said the secretary of the Nicaraguan Association of Human Rights (ANPDH), Alvaro Leiva.

" We are attacked with heavy weapons, it is is one of the most violent operations launched against Masaya, we hear detonations and machine gun fire, "told AFP the leader of the student movement of" April 19 ", Cristian Fajardo.

Residents resist "with homemade mortars and stones," he added.

The young people of Monimbo district say they are ready to die for a "free Nicaragua". "We're not going to let them in here, if we have to die for our country, we're going to die," they said in a video shot in the middle of the attack.

Anti-Terrorism Act

Vice President Rosario Murillo, also the head of state's wife, celebrated the "liberation" of the rebel town, saying the protesters were "a hateful minority".

"The good news from Nicaragua is that the coup failed, that is, the coup attempt in Nicaragua has already been defeated," Paul Oquist said Tuesday in Brussels. , the Nicaraguan Minister for National Policies, in an interview with AFP.

"There are no more roadblocks", "students can return to clbad," he said. The government described the protesters as "putschists" and "delinquents."

Meanwhile, the parliament, controlled by the ruling camp, pbaded a law punishing 15 to 20 years in prison for acts of terrorism. Particularly targeted are the perpetrators of acts aimed at "altering the constitutional order", which, according to the opposition, could concern the demonstrators.

This new clash comes at a time when the international community insists of repression.

The United States "strongly" urged Tuesday the President of Nicaragua to stop "violence and bloodshed."

The European Union also called Tuesday for the "immediate end" of violence in Nicaragua and demanded the dismantling of irregular armed groups. The day before, 13 Latin American countries and the United Nations had called for the immediate cessation of violence.

Nicaragua, the poorest country in Central America, has been shaken for three months by violence that has made more than 280 dead and some 2,000 wounded.

A protest movement, spearheaded by students, was launched on April 18 against the government of Daniel Ortega, 72-year-old former guerrilla leader, of Nicaragua since 2007. after having directed it from 1979 to 1990.

He is accused of having set up with his wife Rosario Murillo, a "dictatorship" marked by corruption and nepotism. His opponents demand early elections or his departure.

18/07/2018 01:47:44 –
Masaya (Nicaragua) (AFP) –
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