Nicaragua: New Law To Support Victims of Right-Wing Violence

Nicaragua's government has passed a law that will provide compensation and other forms of support to victims of the right-wing violence that took place during the nation's failed coup d'état attempt between April and June of last year.

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The law, “The Plan For Integral Support To The Victims of Terrorism,” was passed Wednesday by the National Assembly. The initiative comes as part of the government's plans for “peace and reconciliation" that includes ongoing peace talks with the opposition.

Lawmakers hope that this legislation will provide a legal framework for providing holistic support to the victims of the right-wing protests last year. The ministries of health, education, labor and social affairs will be cooperating to implement the compensation and support to victims.

Many of the United States-backed right-wing protests, known as ‘tranques’, descended into violence as these factions attempted to topple the leftist Sandinista government led by President Daniel Ortega. Some of the victims of that violence include journalists at the Radio Ya! media station whose offices were burnt down in May 2018 by opposition protesters while many employees were inside working.

Other possible beneficiaries may include the family of Bismarck Martinez, a high-profile elderly Sandinista supporter who was disappeared and murdered by opposition supporters last year. On Monday, the family identified the remains of their deceased relative who they had been searching for a year.

Peace talks are ongoing between the government and the opposition coalition known as ‘Alianza Civica’ who have been accused of accepting funding from the U.S. government via the ‘National Endowment for Democracy’. Progress has arguably been slow and the administration has repeatedly accused the opposition of negotiating in bad faith for their refusal to condemn U.S. economic sanctions on the country.