Warning: Some Photos are Graphic in Nature! Viewer Discretion is Advised
Last week there was one final effort to talk with Ortega. He refused to have the media present and few hours later there was a press release that stated he was taking two days to "reflect" on the talks. No word from Ortega since then but the violence has stepped up another notch.
US Embassy in Nicaragua has reported that Senator Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee), the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, was sent to Nicaragua on June 9 along with Caleb McCarry, who is an official of his team with the purpose of addressing the severe democratic crisis with the participants of the National Dialogue.
McCarry and Ambassador Laura Dogu met with the Episcopal Conference and Ortega in an attempt to support the proposals of the Episcopal Conference to end the violence and be able to advance the negotiations.
"The United States respects the sovereignty of Nicaragua and understands that the definitive solution to the current conflict must come from the Nicaraguans. It is the desire of the United States to respectfully support the National Dialogue guided by the Episcopal Conference in a manner that is useful and acceptable to all parties, in order to find a peaceful solution to the democratic crisis in Nicaragua, "says the press release of the American Embassy.
Kevin's funeral was held in Managua on Suday. During the funeral the family and mourners were attacked.
It has been three days since President Daniel Ortega requested time to the bishops to "reflect" on whether he agrees to the "democratization" of the country in a national dialogue. The Nicas had hoped that Ortega would respond to a letter that the bishops gave him on Thursday. He has shown by his actions that he has no intentions of backing down or leaving.
The attacks by the National Police, the Para-military Antimontines and Ortega's paid mobs continue. At 6:00 am this morning the eastern neighborhoods of Managua awoke under the attack of riot police and mobs firing firearms against protesters who had erected more barricades yesterday afternoon.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Amnesty International have called these groups "para-vigilantes", and accused these groups of carrying out "extrajudicial executions".
The number of barricades have more than doubled to 146 with the aim of avoiding attacks by police and mobs, as well as to pressure Ortega to resign as president .
All major cities are being attacked. The worst hit have been Jinotega, Masaya and Managua. Other cities will be hit in the future. More on this in the next post.
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The Director of Institutional Relations of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters, Fanny D. Estrada, has reported that more than 4 thousand trucks are stranded at the borders of Nicaragua. He states the situation is urgent. The cargoes are spoiling as they can't be delivered to Costa Rica and Panama.
The vehicles are stranded on the border with Honduras in the north and in Costa Rica in the south. He described this as "very serious" problem, since Central American exports are "key" for trade for the region.
Fanny D. Estrada added that they are already studying other solutions. Air or sea, are options although it is more expensive. The present situation is unsustainable and there seems to be no possible solution in the short term.
"What we are already thinking about doing is finding alternatives so that the goods can move, even if Nicaragua is isolated," he summarized.
Today marks 54 days of the bloodiest sociopolitical crisis since the 1980s.