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MIAMI – In April, while a national protest demanding the ousting of President Daniel Ortega took control of Nicaragua and that students began to occupy the National University, four friends of Miami formed a non-profit group to provide mattresses to students. the students were tired. They slept on the floor, "said Ana, one of the group's co-founders, the Nicaraguan Center for Democracy, who did not want her real name to be used to protect the safety of her family in Nicaragua.
Human rights groups claim that at least 275 people have been killed since protests began two months ago on Thursday, marking the 39th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution
. Ana's group soon realized that there was a need for coffins.Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere and many relatives of those killed can not not pay $ 200 for a coffin.
This week, the group has covered 40 coffins for families to bury the dead.This weekend, police and paramilitary groups attacked roadblocks erected by protesters anti-government [19659002Ana43wholeftNicaraguaforMiami11yearsagosaidshewasneverpreparedforthiskindofbrutalityDealingwiththelevelofatrocities"shesaidfightingtears
Tensions in Nicaragua began after the government announced cuts to social security. 39, he quickly retreated on the cuts, the protests extended in the requests for resignation of Ortega.
Opponents characterize Ortega, who was elected in 2006 and whose wife is vice-president, as Dictator and accuser of nepotism.The rights groups have accused security forces and government-loyal groups of using a "lethal force" against their opponents.The government says the protesters are trying to launch a coup against Ortega as they attempt to quell demonstrations.
The latest attack took place on Tuesday when Nicaraguan police and pro-government armed civilians stormed the neighborhood of Mo nimbó de Masaya, which has been a center of opposition since the beginning of the demonstrations. They demolished barricades erected by the opposition during a clash that lasted for hours. It is unclear whether deaths resulted from clashes in the largely indigenous city.
Francisco Palmieri, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, tweeted on Tuesday: "We urge President Ortega not to attack Masaya." The government must instigate violence and violence. bloodshed in Nicaragua and must cease immediately. "
Coincidentally, Masaya was a bastion of the Sandinista movement, of which Ortega was a part, during the Nicaraguan revolution that overthrew US- supported the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in the 1970s. The Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN, is a leftist political party in Nicaragua and its members are known as Sandinista Ortega was in power from 1979 to 1990.
"The regime is ready to go very, very far to stay in power," said Frank Mora, a former Pentagon official who heads the Latin America and Caribbean Center in Washington. Florida International University. 19659002] Mora says that the Nicaraguan army is "an institution to watch." The military has remained largely neutral until now, but they have political, corporate and economic interests that could be threatened by political instability in the country, according to Mora.
"So how it works and the calculations that the army makes to turn against the Nicaraguan government is curious to see," he said.
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International pressure is mounting on Ortega to end the violence, including the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization of American States, the Department of Justice. State issued a statement Monday condemning "the ongoing attacks of paratrooper Daniel Ortega against students, journalists and clergy across the country."
The statement was published after a bloody weekend that sparked indignation around the world. On Sunday, 10 people were shot dead and 20 wounded when police and paramilitary groups attacked demonstrators' dams
On Friday night, two students were killed when more than 200 students found shelter in a local church. the national university they had occupied during the last two months of protests. The students were released after a 16-hour test. The United States Center for Democracy in Nicaragua provided coffins for the two students killed.
A Catholic bishop, Abelardo Mata, was attacked while he was driving to a funeral. He sought refuge in a nearby house and was not injured. But it was the second time in a week that a Catholic agent was attacked. Catholic leaders held talks to find a peaceful solution to the stalemate and criticized the Ortega government for these murders.
Mora says that although international pressure is important, it is only secondary to the will of the opposition.
He said that despite the "grotesque" violence, "the Nicaraguan people are still there to fight, confront, occupy, refuse to return home, and that's an important part of that." [19659002WhileAnaandhergroupraisemoneytoprovidecoffinstovictimsofviolencetheyarealreadyplanningthefutureofthecountrytheyhaveleftbehind
Presidential elections because, as Ana said, "We have never had democracy."
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