The protests began on 16 April when students in Managua started a protest after a failure of government to adequately respond to forest fires in the Indio Maiz Nature Reserve, which contains some of Nicaragua’s most protected rainforest. The incident was described by a Nicaraguan ecologist as being ‘the most dramatic ecological disaster ever experienced by Nicaragua’.
Two days later new protests took place as the government announced plans to cut state pensions and social security contributions. The new law meant that employees would now have to contribute 7 per cent of their salary to social security, up from a current 6.25 per cent, and employers now had to contribute 22.5 per cent of salaries, an increase from the previous 19 per cent. Pensioners also faced having 5 per cent of their pension deducted for medical expenses.
Armed pro-government groups worked to suppress the demonstrations, but their efforts resulted in the loss of three lives.
Excessive force and human rights violations
Protestors have described the use of excessive force, sharpshooters and live bullets against them. The Nicaraguan government continues to deny these claims, stating that the protestors are ‘terrorists’. However, most human rights organisations agree that the use of force has been excessive. The UN have issued a statement on the use of excessive force and the loss of life at the hands of Nicaraguan security forces.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated:
“the use of lethal force is not only unacceptable but is also in itself an obstacle to obtaining a political solution to the current crisis.”
Condemnation has come from far and wide in the international community including statements from the new Spanish government, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and officials of the US, Brazil and Chile.
Of the 300 plus victims the youngest victim of the crisis so far is a three-year-old boy who was killed when his home was allegedly set on fire by paramilitaries. A teenage altar boy was also allegedly shot in the chest by paramilitaries. The vice president of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, who controversially is also the first-lady, responded by saying that ‘perverse and abominable vandals were responsible’.
Ortega’s downward spiral
When Ortega stood for election in 2006 he was known as a left-wing Sandinista. Elected democratically in 2006, he was at that time was seen as a revolutionary hero and voice of the people. However, increasingly he has been ruling in an authoritarian way ever since. He has made a number of moves that appear to have been a firm effort to shore up his flailing power. First, in 2009 the Supreme Court lifted a ban on re-election which allowed him to re-run for election in 2011. Second, in 2014 the Nicaraguan government issued a bill scrapping laws on presidential term limits, thus permitting Ortega to stay in power indefinitely.
Ortega has blamed the unrest on criminals and terrorists that he described as conspiring to seize power from him.
“Nicaragua had been progressing, had been advancing, had been growing economically, with peace and security,’ Ortega told followers. ‘These crimes must be stopped.”
His sentiments appear to echo the thoughts of a fearful man under immense pressure to maintain his desperate hold on the power which he has had held for 11 years.
The future of Nicaraguan democracy
Protesters are now calling for elections scheduled for 2021 to be brought forward to next year. However, this is by no means guaranteed, with the leader and his ministers contradicting themselves at every turn.
Other protesters are calling for the immediate resignation of Ortega. Earlier this month Paul Oquist, the minister for national policies, stated that Ortega would consider stepping down if there was a halt to the protests. This was soon revealed to merely be a tactic to stop the dissent, as Ortega himself delivered a speech just days later saying that stepping down would be unconstitutional:
“Here the rules are set by the constitution of the republic … You can’t just change them overnight because the idea occurred to a group of coup-mongers.”
His constant contradictions have contributed to the Nicaraguan people’s declining faith in him as a leader, and in the ailing democratic system of the Nicaraguan government.