Is political freedom in Nicaragua under threat?
3 years, 5 months ago

Is political freedom in Nicaragua under threat?

Al Jazeera  

On Monday, July 12 at 19:30 GMT: The arrest by police of several politicians, student activists, and farming leaders in Nicaragua has human rights groups concerned that the government led by President Daniel Ortega is trying to stifle opposition in the run-up to a general election. Some former allies of Ortega who broke with him during the 1990s have also been apprehended on charges of “inciting foreign interference”, including ex-Sandinista general Hugo Torres and former commander Dora Maria Tellez. Human Rights Watch says Nicaragua’s government is leading an “intensifying campaign of violence and repression against the opposition and civil society”. In this episode of The Stream, we are joined by: Tiziano Breda, @TizBreda Central America analyst, International Crisis Group crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean José Miguel Vivanco @JMVivancoHRW Americas Director, Human Rights Watch hrw.org/americas Leonor Zuniga, @LeonorNica Documentary filmmaker and sociologist

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History of this topic

US officials to investigate labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua
2 weeks ago

US officials to investigate labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is opening an investigation into labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua, impacting relations with a country the U.S. has a free trade deal with amid growing concerns over President Daniel Ortega’s increasingly authoritarian rule. “Numerous reports suggest the Government of Nicaragua is engaging in repressive acts that harm Nicaragua’s own workers and people, undermine …

U.S. secures release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners
3 months, 2 weeks ago

U.S. secures release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners

LA Times  

Freed Nicaraguan prisoners wave from a bus after arriving in Guatemala City on Thursday. The U.S. government announced Thursday that it has secured the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners who have arrived in Guatemala, where they will apply for asylum permits to come to the United States. “The United States again calls on the government of Nicaragua to immediately …

Honduras to build 20,000-inmate ‘megaprison’ as part of gang crackdown
6 months, 1 week ago

Honduras to build 20,000-inmate ‘megaprison’ as part of gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

President Xiomara Castro says new measures including ‘terrorist’ designations for gang members are in response to public complaints about rising violence. In a late-night televised address to the nation, President Xiomara Castro said on Friday the “plan of solutions against crime” was in response to a “security emergency” and public complaints about increasing violence. Flanked by members of Honduras’s National …

Experts report Nicaraguan ‘systematic human rights violations’ to UN council
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Experts report Nicaraguan ‘systematic human rights violations’ to UN council

The Hindu  

Driven by a desire to squelch critical voices, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and his entourage have committed systematic human rights violations “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” a group of UN-mandated experts said on Thursday. In a report presented to the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, they said Mr. Ortega, his Vice President and wife Rosario Murillo, and other high-level …

UN experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’
9 months, 3 weeks ago

UN experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — A panel of U.N.-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Nicaragua ’s government of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” implicating a range of high-ranking officials in the government of President Daniel Ortega. “Serious systematic human rights violations, tantamount to crimes against humanity, continue to be perpetrated by the Nicaraguan government for political reasons,” …

U.N. experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’
9 months, 3 weeks ago

U.N. experts accuse Nicaragua’s government of abuses ‘tantamount to crimes against humanity’

LA Times  

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega poses for a photo during the ALBA Summit at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba, on Dec. 14, 2021. A panel of U.N.-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Nicaragua’s government of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” implicating a range of high-ranking officials in the government of President Daniel Ortega. …

UN says Nicaragua’s human rights violations and persecution of dissidents are on the rise
1 year, 3 months ago

UN says Nicaragua’s human rights violations and persecution of dissidents are on the rise

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua has increased human rights violations and persecution of the opposition as it ratchets up its efforts to stifle dissent, a United Nations group of experts monitoring the country said Tuesday. The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that the government continues increasing pressure on human rights …

UN rights panel warns Nicaragua is being ‘stripped’ of critical voices
1 year, 3 months ago

UN rights panel warns Nicaragua is being ‘stripped’ of critical voices

Al Jazeera  

The panel estimated that 27 private universities have had their legal status revoked under President Daniel Ortega. “Today, the overall human rights situation has aggravated,” Jan-Michael Simon, the panel’s chair, wrote in a statement. “Nicaragua is being stripped of its intellectual capital and critical voices, leaving the country’s prospects and development on hold.” The report comes less than a month …

Nicaragua confiscates properties of 222 opposition exiles
1 year, 6 months ago

Nicaragua confiscates properties of 222 opposition exiles

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — The government of Nicaragua announced Friday it has confiscated properties belonging to 222 opposition figures who were forced into exile in February after being imprisoned by the regime of President Daniel Ortega. Those taken from prison and forced aboard a flight to the United States on Feb. 9 included seven former presidential hopefuls, lawyers, rights activists, journalists …

Five years since a crackdown began, what’s next for Nicaragua?
1 year, 8 months ago

Five years since a crackdown began, what’s next for Nicaragua?

Al Jazeera  

Daniel Ortega is one of Latin America’s great political survivors. The leftist rebel leader who seized power after toppling a right-wing US-backed regime in 1979, accepted defeat in elections in 1990. Demonstrations that began five years ago marked the start of the crackdown on dissent – with more than 300 people killed and tens of thousands leaving the country. Presenter: …

‘Rights crisis’: Amnesty report documents abuses in Nicaragua
1 year, 8 months ago

‘Rights crisis’: Amnesty report documents abuses in Nicaragua

Al Jazeera  

The government of President Daniel Ortega has been criticised for targeting dissidents and consolidating power. The human rights organisation Amnesty International has warned that the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo is deepening repression in the Central American state. “We’ve shown the continuum of repression to which Nicaraguan society has been subjected and the different …

Nicaragua proposes suspending Vatican ties after comments
1 year, 9 months ago

Nicaragua proposes suspending Vatican ties after comments

Associated Press  

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua ’s government said Sunday it has proposed suspending relations with the Vatican days after Pope Francis reportedly compared President Daniel Ortega’s administration to a communist or Nazi dictatorship amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in the Central American country. “It is something from outside of what we are living, as if it were a communist …

UN experts accuse Nicaragua government of crimes against humanity
1 year, 9 months ago

UN experts accuse Nicaragua government of crimes against humanity

Al Jazeera  

Nicaragua’s government has committed serious and systematic violations which amount to crimes against humanity, a United Nations-appointed team of human rights experts has said, calling for international sanctions against the government. “The objective is to eliminate by different means any opposing or dissenting voices in the country,” Jan Simon, chair of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, told …

Nicaragua frees 222 opponents of Ortega, sends them to US
1 year, 10 months ago

Nicaragua frees 222 opponents of Ortega, sends them to US

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — In the middle of the night, political leaders, priests, students and activists languishing inside Nicaragua’s most notorious prisons were awoken, given the clothes they had been arrested in and told to dress. “The release of these individuals, one of whom is a U.S. citizen, by the government of Nicaragua marks a constructive step towards addressing human rights …

Nicaragua frees 222 political prisoners, sends them to US
1 year, 10 months ago

Nicaragua frees 222 political prisoners, sends them to US

Al Jazeera  

Nicaragua has released 222 political prisoners, including leading opposition figures, student activists and other critics of longtime President Daniel Ortega, and sent them to the United States in what Washington described as a “constructive step”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said there was one American citizen among the freed prisoners, welcomed their release on Thursday as a step …

Nicaragua's governing Sandinistas sweep municipal elections
2 years, 1 month ago

Nicaragua's governing Sandinistas sweep municipal elections

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Sandinista National Liberation Front completed its political domination of …

US targets Nicaragua’s gold sector in latest push against Ortega
2 years, 2 months ago

US targets Nicaragua’s gold sector in latest push against Ortega

Al Jazeera  

New sanctions are imposed in response to ‘attacks on democratic actors and members of civil society’, US says. Biden’s executive order gives the US Treasury Department “the authority to target certain persons that operate or have operated in the gold sector of the Nicaraguan economy”, the department said in a statement on Monday. “With President Biden’s new Executive Order, we …

UN rights chief warns of ‘unprecedented’ exodus from Nicaragua
2 years, 6 months ago

UN rights chief warns of ‘unprecedented’ exodus from Nicaragua

Al Jazeera  

Michelle Bachelet says ‘sociopolitical, economic and human rights crises’ are driving thousands out of the country. The United Nations human rights chief has warned that “sociopolitical, economic and human rights crises” in Nicaragua are forcing thousands to leave their homes, in a wave of migration that is growing in “unprecedented numbers”. At a Human Rights Council hearing on Thursday in …

US slaps visa restrictions on 93 Nicaraguan officials
2 years, 6 months ago

US slaps visa restrictions on 93 Nicaraguan officials

Al Jazeera  

The United States has imposed visa restrictions on dozens of Nicaraguan officials, accusing them of having “undermined democracy” in the aftermath of President Daniel Ortega’s successful re-election last year. “The United States remains deeply concerned about the Ortega-Murillo regime’s unjust detentions of political prisoners and ongoing abuses against members of civil society,” Blinken said in a statement. “National Assembly members …

Nicaragua government laying waste to civil society
2 years, 6 months ago

Nicaragua government laying waste to civil society

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled congress has cancelled nearly 200 nongovernmental organizations this week, ranging from a local equestrian center to the 94-year-old Nicaraguan Academy of Letters, in what critics say is President Daniel Ortega’s attempt to eliminate the country’s civil society. “It doesn’t concern only political or defense of human rights associations, but rather artistic, journalistic, educational, scientific, environmental …

Calls grow for Nicaragua to release jailed opposition figures
2 years, 10 months ago

Calls grow for Nicaragua to release jailed opposition figures

Al Jazeera  

Pressure from US, EU and other observers mounts after death of detained opposition leader Hugo Torres on Saturday. They also decried a months-long government crackdown on dissent during which dozens of opposition figures – including seven presidential hopefuls – were detained in what rights groups said was an effort to guarantee Ortega’s re-election. “We reiterate our call for the immediate …

Nicaragua court finds two opposition heads guilty of ‘conspiracy’
2 years, 10 months ago

Nicaragua court finds two opposition heads guilty of ‘conspiracy’

Al Jazeera  

Dora Maria Tellez and Lesther Aleman were among dozens of opposition figures arrested ahead of last year’s election. A court in Nicaragua has found two prominent opposition figures – among dozens arrested by the government of President Daniel Ortega in the lead up to last year’s election – guilty of “conspiracy”. Dora Maria Tellez, a former rebel who fought alongside …

Nicaragua detains former OAS ambassador, critic of Ortega
3 years, 1 month ago

Nicaragua detains former OAS ambassador, critic of Ortega

Al Jazeera  

Edgard Parrales was picked up by unidentified men near his home in Managua, his wife and a rights observer say. Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States – who has been critical of President Daniel Ortega – has been detained in Managua, according to his wife and a human rights observer. Edgard Parrales was picked up by identified …

EXPLAINER: What comes next after Nicaragua’s election
3 years, 1 month ago

EXPLAINER: What comes next after Nicaragua’s election

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega holds a commanding lead in results from Sunday’s election against a field of little-known challengers. The global human rights organization Amnesty International called Ortega’s apparent reelection “frightening.” “Once again, the people of Nicaragua find themselves in a situation where voicing criticism of the government puts them at grave risk,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas …

Nicaragua’s Ortega set to win another term after ‘farce’ election
3 years, 1 month ago

Nicaragua’s Ortega set to win another term after ‘farce’ election

Al Jazeera  

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is on track to win a fourth consecutive term in office, preliminary results show, in an election denounced as “neither free nor fair” that was preceded by a months-long crackdown on opposition figures and candidates. Shortly before the early results were released, US President Joe Biden accused Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, of …

The ‘deep human rights crisis’ hanging over Nicaragua’s elections
3 years, 1 month ago

The ‘deep human rights crisis’ hanging over Nicaragua’s elections

Al Jazeera  

President Daniel Ortega is set to win a fourth straight term, but rights groups say November 7 vote is not free or fair. “These elections are taking place in the context of a deep human rights crisis,” Astrid Valencia, Central America researcher at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera. “The government has charged many with serious crimes without providing substantiating evidence, …

Op-Ed: Daniel Ortega, the freedom fighter-turned-despot in Nicaragua, runs for reelection
3 years, 1 month ago

Op-Ed: Daniel Ortega, the freedom fighter-turned-despot in Nicaragua, runs for reelection

LA Times  

When I left my house in Nicaragua in May to visit my children abroad, a fleeting thought crossed my mind: What if I was never able to return? Although Daniel Ortega’s regime had grown sharply more repressive and dangerous in response to a citizens revolt in 2018, I still didn’t seriously imagine that in a few months I would find …

US Congress targets Nicaragua ahead of controversial polls
3 years, 1 month ago

US Congress targets Nicaragua ahead of controversial polls

Al Jazeera  

The United States Congress has approved legislation to sharply increase diplomatic pressure on the government of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, the latest move by a foreign government towards squeezing Managua ahead of controversial elections this weekend. “We are witnessing the worst authoritarian assault on democracy in Latin America in decades,” Senator Bob Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign …

Nicaragua’s upcoming election ‘has lost all credibility’, US says
3 years, 4 months ago

Nicaragua’s upcoming election ‘has lost all credibility’, US says

Al Jazeera  

US condemns President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on opposition leaders and potential opponents ahead of November 7 polls. The upcoming election in Nicaragua “has lost all credibility”, the United States has said, amid a string of arrests of presidential hopefuls and the disqualification of the main opposition party set to challenge President Daniel Ortega in the November polls. “The United States …

Nicaraguan police detain opposition VP hopeful, party says
3 years, 4 months ago

Nicaraguan police detain opposition VP hopeful, party says

Al Jazeera  

Berenice Quezada is under house arrest, her Citizens Alliance for Liberty party says, as President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown continues. Police in Nicaragua have detained a vice-presidential hopeful seeking to contest the country’s November vote, her party said on Wednesday, as a crackdown by President Daniel Ortega’s government on opposition leaders and presidential challengers continues. “Quezada … is under house arrest …

Nicaragua opposition names presidential ticket to take on Ortega
3 years, 4 months ago

Nicaragua opposition names presidential ticket to take on Ortega

Al Jazeera  

Nicaragua’s main opposition alliance has named a former right-wing fighter and a beauty queen as its candidates to take on President Daniel Ortega in November’s general election. The Citizens Alliance for Liberty’s announcement on Wednesday comes amid a wave of arrests of opposition figures, with more than two dozen people – including seven presidential hopefuls – arrested during the past …

US imposes visa curbs on Nicaraguan officials amid crackdown
3 years, 5 months ago

US imposes visa curbs on Nicaraguan officials amid crackdown

Al Jazeera  

US imposes restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan officials it says are involved in government crackdown on political opponents and rights abuses. The United States has imposed visa restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan officials it accuses of being involved in President Daniel Ortega’s escalating crackdown on political opponents ahead of November elections and other rights abuses. “The gravity and intensification of the Ortega …

Calls for more pressure on Nicaragua as former first lady put under house arrest
3 years, 6 months ago

Calls for more pressure on Nicaragua as former first lady put under house arrest

LA Times  

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega speaks next to Vice President Rosario Murillo, the former first lady, at the inauguration ceremony of a highway overpass in Managua, Nicaragua, in 2019. An international human rights organization is calling for increased pressure on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega as arrests of opposition figures — including the nation’s former first lady — continue ahead of Nov. …

Ambassadors recalled after latest Nicaragua arrest
3 years, 6 months ago

Ambassadors recalled after latest Nicaragua arrest

LA Times  

Nicaraguan journalist Miguel Mora speaks to the press June 11, 2019, after his release from prison, at his home in Managua. The presidential candidate was arrested Sunday, according to police, for alleged crimes against “independence and sovereignty.” Mexico and Argentina recalled their ambassadors to Nicaragua for consultations Monday, a day after President Daniel Ortega’s government arrested yet another presidential contender …

Argentina, Mexico withdraw envoys over Nicaragua crackdown
3 years, 6 months ago

Argentina, Mexico withdraw envoys over Nicaragua crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Mexico and Argentina have recalled their ambassadors to Nicaragua for consultations in response to President Daniel Ortega’s mounting crackdown on the opposition, a joint statement said on Monday. Both countries want to consult their ambassadors about “the worrisome political-legal actions taken by the Nicaraguan government in recent days that have put at risk the well-being and freedom of various opposition …

Nicaraguan banker arrested in widening crackdown
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaraguan banker arrested in widening crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Observers accuse President Daniel Ortega of targeting opposition leaders and other figures in advance of November elections. Police in Nicaragua have arrested a leading banker as a crackdown on opposition political leaders and would-be presidential candidates seeking to challenge President Daniel Ortega continues before a planned election later this year. Luis Rivas Anduray, executive president of the private Banco de …

More opposition leaders arrested in widening Nicaragua crackdown
3 years, 6 months ago

More opposition leaders arrested in widening Nicaragua crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Critics accuse President Daniel Ortega of cracking down on opponents ahead of elections set for later this year. More prominent opposition leaders have been arrested in Nicaragua, as concerns grow over what observers have described as a crackdown on President Daniel Ortega’s opponents ahead of elections set for later this year. On Sunday, Nicaraguan police said Barahona was arrested for …

Nicaragua: Crackdown on Ortega’s potential challengers continues
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaragua: Crackdown on Ortega’s potential challengers continues

Al Jazeera  

US imposes sanctions on Nicaraguan officials after four potential challengers to President Daniel Ortega arrested. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega faces mounting international criticism after four potential presidential contenders were detained during the past week, prompting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday to call for their release. Chamorro Garcia, the cousin of another detained presidential hopeful Cristiana Chamorro – seen …

Nicaragua police detain another opposition presidential hopeful
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaragua police detain another opposition presidential hopeful

Al Jazeera  

Arturo Cruz’s detention comes three days after opposition presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro was placed under house arrest. Police in Nicaragua has taken opposition politician Arturo Cruz into custody, detaining a second presidential hopeful in less than a week and escalating the battle ahead of November elections in which President Daniel Ortega seeks to maintain his grip on power. Cruz’s detention …

Nicaraguan police raid home of opposition presidential hopeful
3 years, 6 months ago

Nicaraguan police raid home of opposition presidential hopeful

Al Jazeera  

Police raid home of Cristiana Chamorro, journalist and would-be presidential candidate, on charges of money laundering. Nicaraguan police have raided the home of opposition leader and potential presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro, escalating a political battle ahead of elections later this year. “Most of the opposition believes this is a way to try to eliminate all of the most prominent opposition …

Nicaragua creates Ministry of Extraterrestrial Space Affairs
3 years, 10 months ago

Nicaragua creates Ministry of Extraterrestrial Space Affairs

LA Times  

Nicaragua has created a new National Ministry for Extraterrestrial Space Affairs, The Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which is drawing amused reactions on social media in a nation that has been struggling since anti-government protests three years ago. The law says the ministry “will promote the development of space activities, with the aim of broadening the country’s capacities in the …

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