Nicaragua's Parliament Thursday stripped five Non Government Organisations from their legal status on the grounds that a report from the Ministry of the Interior said they were part of a group behind the failed coup attempt against President Daniel Ortega, to bring the total number of NGOs to have received the same treatment over the past two weeks to nine.
United States president Donald Trump on Tuesday sanctioned the wife of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega and one of his aides under a new executive order allowing Washington to target Nicaraguan officials for a crackdown on anti-government protests.
United States imposed new sanctions Thursday on Venezuela and Cuba and promised additional penalties against Nicaragua as the Trump administration laid out a hard-line policy toward countries the White House branded a troika of tyranny.
The World Medical Association has appealed to the Nicaraguan Government to stop criminalizing doctors for delivering medical care to protesters during the country’s continuing wave of violence.
United States declared Nicaragua’s civil unrest a threat to the region’s security, saying government repression of protests risked creating an overwhelming displacement of people akin to Venezuela or Syria. More than 300 people have been killed and 2,000 injured in crackdowns by Nicaraguan police and armed groups in protests that began in April over an abortive plan by leftist President Daniel Ortega’s government to reduce welfare benefits.
During the conference entitled The democratic challenge to the autocracies of the 21st century in Latin America, organized by the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) on Tuesday at the Senate of Uruguay, the Government of Venezuela was described as a dictatorship and it was exhorted that the democratic governments of the region, especially the Uruguayan government, not be indifferent or accomplices against today’s Latin America’s autocratic governments.
Nicaragua's veteran leader Daniel Ortega defended brutal action by his forces against anti-government protesters, as the United States warned he and his wife were ultimately responsible for deaths and rights violations.
The United States is revoking visas for Nicaraguan officials responsible for violence against anti-government protesters, saying these are just the start of what could be more sanctions.
Nicaragua's protracted political crisis, which has lasted well over three months, is impairing economic growth, according to the central bank. Central bank chief Ovidio Reyes said the initial 4.9% growth forecast in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2018 could fall as low as 1% if ongoing protests continue to disrupt daily life.
The killing of a medical student in Nicaragua has been condemned by the World Medical Association. Brazilian student Rayneia Lima was shot this week while driving home from her hospital shift in Managua, Nicaragua's capital city.