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Opposition supporters say the strike was 90% respected across the country while official media reported business as usual in several commercial areas
STRIKE. A man pushes a cart in front of closed stalls during a 24-hour national general strike called by the opposition, at the "Oriental" market of Managua on July 13, 2018. Photo by Inti Ocon / AFP
MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Banks, Markets, petrol stations, schools and shops have closed their doors in deserted streets while Nicaragua's opposition was organizing a 24-hour general strike on Friday, July 13, after five people were killed in the violence against President Daniel Ortega. Opposition supporters claimed that the strike was 90% respected throughout the country while official media reported business in several commercial areas
In cities such as Leon and Granada, only 39 Petronic public gasoline remained open
one of the largest shopping centers in the capital, Managua, with 20,000 businesses, was a real desert, almost all closed.
"I work out of necessity but the strike is a weapon to put pressure on" Adolfo Diaz, a 67-year-old shoe shiner, told Agence France-Presse when he was alone in a room in the market of Huembes, east of In the afternoon, Ortega and his followers started a procession from the capital to the Masaya opposition stronghold, 30 kilometers to the south, to commemorate an important event in the coming of the president. in power in 1979, known as "retirement".
Show of strength
"We want to show the strength, that the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) is not buried, remains strong and represents us the poor majority", told AFP Carlos Lopez, 57, in the caravan of a hundred vehicles and motorcycles.
Ortega is a former leftist guerrilla leader who helped the FSLN to overthrow the right. the dictator of the wing Anastasio Somoza
On June 27, 1979, thousands of guerrillas withdrew from Managua to Masaya to regroup before obtaining the victory on July 19 when Somoza flees the country, thus putting end at 43 years of family dynasty.
But the former revolutionary leader Ortega with FSLN allies in Masaya fighting the dictatorship, the 72-year-old head of state is now the one who is hated in the center of the rebels.
The strike, called by the opposition Civic Group for Justice and Democracy, comes after last bloody episode for three months of anti-government protests in the impoverished country of Central America that made about 270 dead.
Four police officers and a protester died Thursday in clashes between opposition activists and government forces and their paramilitaries. allies in the southeastern city of Morrito
& # 39; Terrorist & # 39; arrested
On Friday, the police arrested the opposition leader Medardo Mairena, accusing him of singing to be a "terrorist" and having "organized" and "ordered" him. "attack" against the police and the demonstrator murdered.
Opposition calls for early elections or the resignation of Ortega and his wife Vice President Rosario Murillo accusing both corruption, despotism and nepotism
While the will was there to support the strike, everyone can not afford to do it
"If I do not work, I do not eat.It is not a matter of not supporting the strike, but to support our families, we need that so that we can work, "said Nestor Larios, a 56-year-old shoemaker.
The strike is one of three days of protests against the government that began on Thursday, July 12 with a blue and blue sea. Protesters dressed in white cross Managua and should end with a caravan in the sensitive neighborhoods of the capital Saturday
in Monimbo, an indigenous suburb of Masaya, opposition demonstrators erected barricades and sworn to 39, prevent the procession of Ortega.
Banners and placards on the barricades are decorated with provocative slogans: "We will never surrender", "Monimbo stands today, tomorrow and forever" and "No to retirement".
The opposition claimed even victory after Ortega's procession was delayed and confined to a caravan that did not plan to walk in Masaya.
Lopez however insisted that it was prudent to avoid a "coup by the far right". He added that Monimbo would be given a large place because the regime's enemies had "financed groups to create chaos and terrorism".
Political tensions have exploded in Nicaragua since protests against a pension reform that is now aborted. It began on April 18 before turning into a general opposition against Ortega and his government.
Thursday's deaths occurred when demonstrators, some armed, were attacked by police and paramilitaries and fired back, said Francisca Ramirez.
Police confirmed the death toll but blamed violence against "terrorist groups" who claimed to be conducting a peaceful march and opened fire on a police station.
Protesters also kidnapped nine policemen and attacked Morrito. City Hall, the police said in a statement. – Rappler.com
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