Nicaragua Update 2

photo courtesy BBC News

Today has been an interesting day. It is extraordinarily quiet. Not many folks in the streets. Schools are open but few children are attending. The fear is still palpable, like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Last night there was to be an emergency meeting of the national assembly and the President. Surprise, surprise. It didn’t happen. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last that emergency meetings are scheduled and cancelled. The people were hoping that there would be a meeting and something would happen to prevent further unrest.

Today, just before noon, there was a meeting of all the religious leaders here in Nicaragua. Rumours flew about the Pope having called the President, pleading for calm and an end to the violence.

The leaders have made it clear that the violence has to stop as well as the deceit and corruption that has plagued the country in recent years. They demanded the resignation of the President, Vice-President and their entire cabinet, effective immediately. A tall order for this President and Vice-President.

They also want the police commissioner to resign along with other top officials. Many of these positions were appointments of people that were with Commendante Ortega during the last revolution (political patronage anyone?).

We have heard no response from the Casa Presidncial. The military is still out in the streets to “protect” the citizens. The airport is open for flights, for how long, who knows. The border with Costa Rica remains close as does the border with Honduras.

Some stores and pharmacies are open as are gas stations but the prices have doubled, and in some cases such as gasoline and medicines have tripled. There is no guarantee that the stores or pharmacies have been restocked since the looting last week.

The police have released dozens of the students and professors that they had arrested during the protests. Some said they had been beaten with metal pipes and electrical cords while in police custody. These are unverified reports.

Videos on social media (FB and Youtube) show students being released with their heads shaved. They looked visibly distressed. The unofficial death toll stands at 30. Among the dead are two journalists. 100’s have been injured. The ban on the 4 independent media stations have been lifted for now.

Why has the President backtracked? One, he was not in the country when a lot of those orders were being given. Two, one million protesters in front of the Casa Presidecial sends a strong message. Three, the message being sent by the heads of the churches, country wide is another strong message.

This is not the only pressure being applied, the US., UK and European Union have all sent word that sanctions will be forth coming. The UN has promised an investigation into Human Rights violations.

The President has blamed right-wing agitators for inciting the violence against his left-wing government.

I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers for the people caught up in this violent situation. I would like to close with a quote from Matthew 7:18:

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.