Amnesty Alleges 'Rights Crisis' in Nicaragua

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Facts

  • On Tuesday, Amnesty International released a report alleging that the government of Nicaragua, led by Pres. Daniel Ortega, is consistently engaging in acts of repression and human rights violations.1
  • The report claims that the government, which pushed through reforms to its social security system in 2018, has deployed arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, amongst other tactics against dissidents.2
  • The report comes in tandem with an EU statement calling for a 'return to the rule of law' in the nation, as Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of nationwide protests against the 2018 reforms.3
  • On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department echoed similar sentiments by imposing sanctions on three Nicaraguan judicial officials it claims were involved in revoking the citizenships of over 300 people opposed to Ortega's government.4
  • It's estimated that a consequent clampdown after the 2018 protests has led to more than 350 deaths, hundreds imprisoned, and more than 100K exiled, resulting in a UN Human Rights Council probe.5
  • In response to the claims, Nicaragua has banned the EU's envoy to the country, Fernando Ponz, from entering the state this week, calling the bloc's statements 'interventionist, bold, and insolent communiqué.' The Nicaraguan government claims that the nationwide protests in 2018 were part of a failed coup backed by the US.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Amnesty international, 3Reuters, 4Voa, 5Barrons and 6Presstv.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Latino rebels. There is a continued, systematic persecution of anyone who attempts to criticize the Nicaraguan government. Many of those who have fled were lucky to have any form of travel documentation intact, while others continue to be subjected to human rights horrors. The law no longer exists in Nicaragua, as the state continues to create a regime reminiscent of an Orwellian 'Nineteen Eighty-four.'
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The diplomatinspain. The West is only interested in human rights in Global South countries that don't bend to its will. To this day, Washington hasn't forgiven Nicaragua for being the first Latin American country to free itself from US hegemony through the Sandinista Revolution. It's purely geostrategic interests that prompt Washington and the EU to demand so-called 'democracy' for Nicaragua.