The revolution of Nicaragua

Regardless of who is behind of the mass killings during the protests, it is necessary that the Nicaraguan government guarantee the right to protest as a basic right to its people. Furthermore, it is necessary that the government end the repression, because this is exactly the window that external actors will use to cause even more harm.

    Since 18^th April 2018, Nicaragua has been experiencing a revolution led by university students, and the general population also decided to join them. In response, the government has reacted with a terrible repression that has left 170 dead people as of June 17. To this number, we can add dozens of injured, imprisoned, and even tortured and disappeared people. Everything began when people protested against a legislative decree that intended to reform the social welfare system by increasing the fees for workers and companies while reducing the pension by 5%. Even though the government decided in the end not to enforce the decree, the repression was already so indiscriminate that changed the political scene.

   Daniel Ortega, the Nicaraguan president, was elected in 2007 for the second time. He was first elected in 1985. Since 2007, he has not left the government because continuous changes in the Nicaraguan constitution have been used to his convenience in order to stay in power again and again. Ortega did not only change the constitution, but he also reformed the police, the military and the electoral institutions in order to achieve his permanence in power. He also controls the legislative power and the judiciary. He and his family are also the owners of most of the media companies, which gives him a great control. During the first days of protests, three independent media companies were suspended and a radio station was burned down.

   Even though international organizations, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Amnesty International, have repeatedly demanded to the government to end the repression, violence does not end. The government has denied that the deaths of protesters were perpetrated by them, even though government forces have been filmed and photographed by people and the media.

   A national dialogue was established on May 16 organized by the episcopal conference of the country, and where several actors of the Nicaraguan society took part, such as the students, farmers, women organizations, private sector, and the government. The actors expected to reach an agreement with the government in order to end the repression. It did not work out. While these actors were negotiating on the table, repression got worse on the streets. The negotiation ended up as a result of this lack of compromise from the government. Up until now, protests are spreading across the country, while the international media has been covering the situation and reporting it to the world.

   A comparison should be made regarding the international public opinion and the point of view from where these type things are being talked about. First of all, all peoples are free to protest for what they believe is a right cause. People in Honduras protested for several months after the last presidential elections because the winner, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was reelected as the president of the country even after having violated the constitution in order to stay in power. What was the international response? Nothing. The mass protests in Guatemala did not receive much attention either. On the other hand, when later last year Evo Morales, current Bolivian president changed the constitution in order to be reelected, the international response was overwhelming. And it is the same response towards Venezuela and Nicaragua. The question is: why? Does it depend on the ideology of the government? Does it depend on how close is the government to the United States?

   Some international specialists argue that the protests in Nicaragua and Venezuela are similar and speculate that they are part of an orchestrated plan of destabilization from the United States. It would not be the first time, given the United States’ history of interventionism in Latin America in order to provoke what is known as “soft coup”, after which a right wing government that would make things easier for the United States, is put in place. It has been also speculated that Ortega is negotiating stepping down as President in exchange of personal concessions.

  Regardless of who is behind of the mass killings during the protests, it is necessary that the Nicaraguan government guarantee the right to protest as a basic right to its people. Furthermore, it is necessary that the government end the repression, because this is exactly the window that external actors will use to cause even more harm.

Dott.ssa Ana Figueroa