Nicaragua: Government, Opposition Groups Agree to Truce After Dialogue

The Nicaraguan government and the opposition agreed Friday to hold a two-day truce with the short-term goal of returning the country to calm after opposition groups used public concerns over social security reforms to generate violent protest in the Central American nation.

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Government representatives, private business sectors, students, universities, urban and rural workers, and Indigenous and Afro communities took part in the ongoing dialogue overseen by Nicaragua’s Episcopal Conference's (CEN).

According to an official statement from the CEN, the groups involved agreed on “the urgency of stopping all acts of violence and commit to a truce, on Saturday 19 and Sunday, May 20.”

To honor the truce, the government will recall all security forces and call on all supporters of the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party to abandon pro-reform protest; opposition groups will also leave the streets allowing traffic to flow with normalcy.

All sectors also agreed on the need to respect the right to assembly and peaceful protest and thanked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for participating in clarifying the events that led to an unconfirmed number of deaths, including that of Angel Gahona, a Nicaraguan journalist who was covering the events.

Two young protesters have been indicted for murder and for bearing arms in Gahona’s case. The 18 and 20-year-olds will face trial on June 12.

Nicaragua’s Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo highlighted president Daniel Ortega’s commitment “to security and peace in our country.” She also expressed her support for dialogue as a way to overcome violence.

Murillo lamented the loss of human lives caused by violent protesters who used homemade weapons and burned down several public buildings.

Protests in Nicaragua began as a response to social security reforms. However, in recent weeks protests shifted from discontent on policy matters, since the president had agreed to repeal the reform, to demanding members of the government to step down.

On May 3, the CEN had called on the government to crack down on violent acts carried out by rogue forces and allow the entry of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate deaths that occurred during the protests.