Ortega in check as rebellion continues in Nicaragua

MANAGUA - With the largest demonstration ever held since the end of the civil war in 1990, tens of thousands of people challenged the government in Nicaragua on April 23, a protest showing that the people were not appeased with the withdrawal of the controversial social security reform.

The massive mobilization confirms, for participants and analysts, that for the first time in 11 years in power, President Daniel Ortega has lost control of the streets and the course of the country, which he controlled with an increasingly authoritarian hand, while growing discontent now puts him in check.

The protests, which began on April 17, have so far resulted in at least 28 deaths according to humanitarian organizations, in addition to dozens of injured and hundreds of arrests in Managua and other cities in the country, a battle in which university students are on the front lines.

But the two major rallies that occurred on Monday 23 in Managua and 35 other cities in the country ran without major incidents, partly due to the lack of police and military presence, at least until the evening.

The trigger for the rebellion was a social security reform, adopted in an executive and unilateral manner, which forced employers and workers to increase contributions to the system, reduced their benefits and cut pension benefits by five percent.

The measure, which harmed 22 percent of the 6.3 million inhabitants of this Central American country, was only discussed with trade unions and pro-government workers' associations and ignored even the one who has been their closest employer until now, the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP).

The violent repression by the police and government shock forces against the university students who went out to protest against the reform served only to fuel the demonstrations.

Ortega, a 73-year-old Sandinista ex-guerrilla and president of the country between 1985 and 1990, remained absent from the scene as the repression increased and the Army went out to patrol the streets after the protests stretched across at least 84 large plazas of the 15 departments of the country.

Gonzalo Carrión, of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, placed the dead of the protests at 28, as of April 23, all by firearms, most of them young university students and two police officers. A total of 64 wounded, also shot, and at least 200 arrested were added to the deaths.

On Sunday 22, Ortega finally appeared on radio and television to announce the withdrawal of the reform and to propose a dialogue on the matter, calling for a meeting of businessmen united in COSEP and the Catholic Church.

But for social analyst Humberto Meza, the repeal of the decree came too late "and now the demand for the protection of human rights and the end of repression is urgent," he told IPS.

The sociologist Elvira Cuadra thought the same of the dialogue, "so many deaths later," because now the issue is not only the reform of social security, but accumulated demands have accumulated since 2007 when Ortega took power, hand in hand with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

Cuadra told IPS among the concerns are the lack of transparency in elections, the absence of institutions, the deterioration of public and political freedoms, the violation of human rights, the corruption of the powers of the State and the quality of life in the second poorest country in Latin America. (IPS)