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HAVANA TIMES – The negotiations between the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship and the Civic Alliance ended last Wednesday without any agreement on the two most important items on the national agenda, endorsed by hundreds of thousands of citizens during the April Rebellion: democratization and justice. For the second time in just one year, President Daniel Ortega dug in his heels, relying on repression. He refused to accept an electoral and constitutional reform to convoke early elections to shorten his period of governing. He also stubbornly denied the petition for an independent investigation of the massacre of at least 327 persons, and that the perpetrators be brought to justice. By torpedoing this latest attempt at a national dialogue with the goal of staying in power until after 2021, and thus guaranteeing impunity for crimes of lesser humanity, Ortega is provoking strong international condemnation that could accelerate the collapse of the economy and of his government. When all is said and done, this could mean a new political and social dynamic, which will be nothing like the hoped for “soft landing,” and in which neither he nor anyone else will be able to control the conditions by which he exits from power. According to the Central Bank, in 2018 the economy shrank by 3.8%. But without a political accord, economic projections for this year range from an 11 to a 20% shrinkage, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and the productive infrastructure for the agricultural cycle hanging by a thread for lack of financing. Read more: https://havanatimes.org/?p=151621

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, dijo este lunes que la gente en Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela espera democracia y reconoció nuevamente a Juan Guaidó como presidente interino de Venezuela, mientras tachó al dictador Nicolás Maduro como una “marioneta de Cuba”. Trump aseguró además que “los días del socialismo están contados no solamente en Venezuela, pero en Nicaragua y en Cuba también”. https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2019/02/18/politica/2525489-presidente-donald-trump-la-transicion-pacifica-a-la-democracia-en-venezuela-ayudara-a-promover-la-democracia-en-nicaragua

Security camera footage shows law enforcement walking inside the TV station Friday night. (CNN)Nicaraguan police shut down operations at a major TV network and arrested the owner, accusing him of instigating hate and violence in the country, officials said. Law enforcement raided the headquarters of 100% Noticias in Nicaragua's capital of Managua late Friday night and took several people in custody, including the broadcaster's owner and director, Miguel Mora, and news director Lucia Pineda, colleagues said. Mora appeared in court Saturday morning where he was formally accused of "fostering and instigating hate and violence" in the country, according to an attorney with the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights representing Mora. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/23/americas/nicaragua-tv-station-police-raid/index.html

After the Nicaraguan Government announced that it has asked two key human rights institutions to leave the country, the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, said on Friday that she was “extremely alarmed” by a decision that means, in effect, there will be “no functioning independent human rights bodies left in Nicaragua”. According to High Commissioner Bachelet, the two non-profit human rights organisations were set up by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), “in full cooperation with the Government after the violence and unrest earlier this year”. One of them is MESENI, a follow-up mechanism from IACHR set up specifically for Nicaragua, and the other is known as GIEI – the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts. “After the earlier cancellation of the registration and confiscation of properties of national NGOs working on human rights, the de facto expulsion of the two IACHR organizations means there are now virtually no functioning independent human rights bodies left in Nicaragua,” said Ms. Bachelet, who added that “the Government has said it will no longer accept visits by the IACHR itself”. https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1029111

HAVANA TIMES – Daniel Ortega has achieved what neither Putin, nor climate change, nor China, nor the immigration problem, nor Maduro nor Syria could do: he inspired nothing more and nothing less than the adoption of a bipartisan consensus between the US Republican and Democratic parties regarding his regime. What’s more, he managed to become a point of consensus between the US Executive branch, headed by Trump, and the US Congress. It may seem a lie or an exaggeration, but no other topic during Trump’s administration has been resolved with this level of consensus. In reacting to the decisions adopted by the organs of United States power, Ortega momentarily dusted off the old speeches that he had kept filed away these eleven years and spoke once again of interventionism, of imperialism and other expressions of the like. Then, he fell silent. He’ll likely speak about it again once he’s assimilated the blow and has designed the course he’ll follow. Meanwhile, it’s important to recall that Nicaragua’s economic dependence with respect to the United States has broadened and deepened during this “antiimperialist” regime of Ortega’s. Read more: https://havanatimes.org/?p=145130

Ortega profundiza su aislamiento internacional al no asistir a la Cumbre Iberoamericana Jefes de Estado y representantes iberoamericanos en la Cumbre. LAVANDEIRA JR. EFE Todas las miradas estaban puestas en él. Daniel Ortega había confirmado su asistencia la Cumbre Iberoamericana de La Antigua (Guatemala) en un intento de lavar su imagen tras la represión emprendida en abril contra sus opositores, que ha dejado más de 300 muertos y 400 encarcelados. Una muestra de que no tenía nada que ocultar. De dar una sensación de normalidad en su país que no es tal. Era el primer encuentro multilateral al que el presidente de Nicaragua iba a asistir desde que se iniciaran las protestas, después de declinar su participación en la Asamblea General de la ONU. En el último momento, Ortega canceló su viaje y profundiza el aislamiento internacional del país centroamericano. https://elpais.com/internacional/2018/11/16/actualidad/1542405677_373969.html?utm_medium=40digest.intl.carousel&utm_source=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=campaign

There is a lot of turmoil in Gonzalez's country of Nicaragua. And the local hero has become a villain to some fans back home, because of his support for the Nicaraguan President. Fuentes plans to show his support for the people of Nicaragua by carrying the country's flag to the ring on fight night. "I have heard that that there is no money and no employment, that there is tyranny in Nicaragua, in the same manner that it was present in Mexico at a certain moment. It was difficult here, that is why I understand the people of Nicaragua. I know there are killings. How hard it must be for a country with six million inhabitants and so many have disappeared. I hope to God to win the fight and dedicate the triumph to the people of Nicaragua," Fuentes said. "I know they are having a hard time, that the government is hard. I understand the situation that they are now living in, that's why I'm with Nicaragua. Roman comes from the bottom, he knows what the shortcomings are and despite that he does not support the people of Nicaragua, but instead he's in favor of the President and the (para) military that is mistreating the people. I think Roman is a Christian and I think God is going to charge him the bill. "God gives you a talent, offers opportunities and accommodates fights, but when you do wrong God scolds you, because he knows how to reprimand. I think Roman has done wrong with turning away from his people and instead being in favor of the Government for their personal benefits. I accumulated 600 messages in the last two days. People [from Nicaragua] are writing to me: 'Moses we are with you,' 'Moses do not leave us alone, put the flag of Nicaragua up high.' https://www.boxingscene.com/fuentes-backed-by-nicaragua-fans-chocolatito-tabbed-villain--130805

WASHINGTON. Washington condenó este lunes los ataques de la policía paramilitar contra estudiantes universitarios, periodistas y religiosos en toda Nicaragua, dijo el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos. En un comunicado, el departamento pidió al gobierno del presidente Daniel Ortega que preste atención al llamado de su pueblo para realizar reformas democráticas de inmediato y celebrar elecciones. Cada víctima adicional de esta campaña de violencia e intimidación mina aún más la legitimidad de Ortega. Instamos a Ortega a que cese de inmediato su represión contra el pueblo de Nicaragua", dijo en un comunicado la portavoz del Departamento de Estado, Heather Nauert. El Departamento de Estado dijo que impuso restricciones de visa a personas responsables de abusos a los derechos humanos o que socaven la democracia en Nicaragua, así como a los miembros de sus familias. http://www.excelsior.com.mx/global/eu-condena-ataques-de-policia-a-estudiantes-nicaraguenses/1252677

El secretario general de la ONU, Antonio Guterres, condenó el viernes la violencia en Nicaragua y “en particular el asesinato de varios manifestantes” en protestas antigubernamentales en Managua el 30 de mayo. Las protestas del miércoles contra el gobierno de Daniel Ortega dejaron al menos 16 muertos, y los fallecidos alcanzan ya más de un centenar desde las primeras manifestaciones del 18 de abril. Decenas de miles de nicaragüenses que marchaban el miércoles de noche en apoyo a a las madres que han perdido a sus hijos en las protestas fueron emboscados por francotiradores, mientras hombres armados trataban de dispersarlos a balazos. La matanza motivó una enérgica respuesta internacional. Guterres instó al gobierno de Ortega “a garantizar la protección y la libertad de expresión de los manifestantes pacíficos”. Leer más: https://www.24matins.es/traf/america/jefe-de-la-onu-condena-matanza-de-manifestantes-en-nicaragua-75380