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News > Latin America

Nicaragua Launches Formal Investigation Into Protest Deaths

  • Nicaraguans hold a candlelit vigil for the state-media journalist killed during last week's violent social-reform protests.

    Nicaraguans hold a candlelit vigil for the state-media journalist killed during last week's violent social-reform protests. | Photo: Reuters

Published 27 April 2018
Opinion

"We will start a formal and responsible investigation into the loss of life of students and national police," Prosecutor Ines Miranda said.

Nicaragua's Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into recent violent protests that followed the announcement of proposed social security reforms and killed at least 10 people.

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"We will start a formal and responsible investigation into the loss of life of students and national police," Prosecutor Ines Miranda said.

She has also requested the help of the public in clarifying the crimes committed and ensuring justice, asking people to submit any relevant complaints or evidence they may have.

On April 22, President Daniel Ortega called on the opposition to engage in dialogue with the government in order to stop the violence.  

Former combatants and guerrilla commanders also called on Thursday for order to be restored, expressing strong support for the Sandinista government.

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Religious leaders are also advocating for peace: the Catholic Church has agreed to mediate talks between the government and the private business sector, while the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua brought students from the April 19 University Movement to the dialogue.

The business sector, however, is continuing to call for more street protests. 

Ortega's advisor denied there had been any state-sponsored repression of the riots. In an interview with Univision, Bayardo Arce said: "I wouldn't say there was repression; in the police there was a situation like it tends to happen during these phenomena, in which you lose control."

He also highlighted the role of the media, citing the fatal shooting of journalist Angel Gahona, who worked for state television and was portrayed as part of the opposition.

And he referred to "the case of a boy whose picture was being shown as if he was dead when he has been in Spain for over a year."

Arce concluded by offering his condolences to the victims' families and saying that "part of the results of the dialogue is the possibility of launching an investigation that will help the nation learn."

The proposed government reforms would increase workers' monthly contributions to the social security system by 0.75 percent and employers' contributions by 3.5 percent over two years.

The measures were announced as an alternative to reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund, which included increasing the retirement age, currently set at 60, and the duration of mandatory contributions, currently set at just over 15 years.

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