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The United States said on Wednesday that civil unrest in Nicaragua posed a threat to the region's security, saying the government's crackdown on demonstrations was likely to create a crushing displacement of people related to Venezuela or Syria.
PHOTO: People take photos of a burning police car during a demonstration against the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in Managua, Nicaragua, on September 2, 2018. REUTERS / Oswaldo Rivas / File Photo
More than 300 people were killed and 2,000 injured in the crackdown by Nicaraguan police and armed groups during demonstrations that began in April because of a failed plan by left-wing President Daniel Ortega's government to reduce social benefits.
The protests quickly degenerated into a wider opposition to Ortega, who has been in power since 2007. He was also president during the 1980s, while he was a Cold War antagonist of the United States during the Nicaraguan civil war .
In a speech to the United Nations Security Council, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that if the situation in Nicaragua continues to worsen, it could provoke a skyrocketing of migrants fleeing to the United States. neighboring countries.
"When human rights are denied, the ensuing violence and instability goes beyond borders," she said, comparing Nicaragua to Venezuela.
"Every day, Nicaragua takes a familiar path," said Haley. "It's a path that Syria has taken. This is a path that Venezuela has taken. "
At the Security Council meeting, the Nicaraguan government rejected Haley's statement. Later in the day, Ortega reminded a crowd of supporters that the United States had an "expansionist" history in this Central American country.
"What do we say in the United States? If they want to help the people of Nicaragua, if they want to contribute to peace, the best thing that they can and should do is not to ingest in Nicaragua and to respect Nicaragua, "said Ortega in the capital Managua.
At the meeting in the United States, the representative of Costa Rica said that the country had experienced a "significant increase" in Nicaragua's asylum applications since the beginning of the protests: a total of 12,830 in the first eight months of the year.
This is far from being compared to the estimated 5.5 million war-torn Syrian refugees, a number almost equivalent to the total population of Nicaragua.
"There is a consensus in this (council) that Nicaragua is not a threat to international peace and security," said Nicaragua's Foreign Minister Denis Moncada.
The US Security Council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
The representatives of Russia, Bolivia and Venezuela supported the Nicaraguan Government, arguing that the situation in the country did not jeopardize the stability of the region.
Moncada described Nicaragua as a security model in the region in the fight against organized crime and said its inclusion on the agenda was a violation of international law.
Last week, the US Human Rights delegation released a report on human rights violations in recent months, including the disproportionate use of force.
Shortly thereafter, the Government of Nicaragua ordered the eviction of the delegation.
Report by David Alire Garcia; Edited by Phil Berlowitz
