Violence in Nicaragua: ‘Nobody here understands’

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A group of Nicaraguan natives living in the Pittsburgh area say the plight of people in their country is worsening, “and nobody here understands,” said Sara Cuadra Berg of Fox Chapel.

Violence against civilians in the Central American country has escalated in recent weeks, with the latest estimates of fatalities topping 200 in addition to thousands injured.

Last week, Human Rights Watch urged the Organization of American States to press Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega “to dismantle pro-government armed gangs and cease abuses.”

Disquiet had been simmering against Mr. Ortega and his vice president wife, Rosaria Murillo, when the government announced in April that the social security system was nearing bankruptcy and that the remedy would be for workers to pay more into it while pensioners would receive cuts in disbursements.

Meanwhile, the Ortegas’ lavish lifestyle has for years rankled Nicaraguans, who see it as contrary to his stated ideals as a young Sandinista revolutionary.

Shirley Berrios Robinson of Shaler said her widowed mother, Jenny Berrios, collects her husband’s social security, “but when it comes time for her to receive it, it is the equivalent of $35 a month.”

Ms. Robinson, Ms. Berg and Patricia Shronce of Shaler are among several Nicaraguans who gathered at the Bergs’ home recently to talk about the crisis. They agreed the tipping point was the announced pension reforms, but a forest fire in a cherished biological reserve had previously activated thousands of environmentalists against the inaction of the government. Ms. Berg said that many people believe the fire was allowed to spread, or even was set, to clear indigenous land for a canal that would cross the country, itself a wildly unpopular $50 billion project that remains unfinanced.

Amid the growing violence, the army is absent, while attackers on motorcycles are dressed in civilian clothes, said Kari Pohl, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Aliquippa who spent several years in Managua, where she worked in community health and education.

No one is sure whether the armed attackers are the police or army personnel in disguise or recruits, said Ms. Shronce, an educator who founded a bilingual academy in La Concepcion, 16 miles south of Managua. “My brother said in the second and third week, buses were driving through small towns picking up youths.”

Ms. Pohl returned from Managua a year and a half ago. “Every day I get news,” she said, “and every day it’s worse than the day before. I am heartbroken this is happening.”

Vatican representatives and the Nicaraguan Conference of Catholic Bishops are calling for discussion to end the violence.

Managua Archbishop Silvio Jose Baez has been on Twitter for the cause. In a recent tweet, he wrote a message that translated reads: “The bishops of Nicaragua are hoping that President Ortega communicates to us his official and formal acceptance of the proposal we made to him on June 7, recognizing the feelings of the majority of Nicaraguans, for early elections by March 2019.”

According to several reports, Nicaragua’s foreign minister, Denis Moncada, fired back that the protesters are the violent ones and part of a coup d’etat to oust Mr. Ortega.

Mr. Ortega served from 1984 to 1990 and, after two successors, was elected again in 2007 and has held power since. Media watchdogs for years have questioned the integrity of Nicaraguan elections.

Ms. Shronce returned from her most recent visit to the country several weeks ago, having to piece together transportation for the 15-mile trip to the airport, including walking, because buses weren’t running and there werenumerous roadblocks.

“I asked myself, ‘Why is this happening?’” she said. “In a video of priests, bishops and cardinals in a bus to Masaya, people were kneeling along the road, saying ‘Please help us.’ You could see in the faces of the bishops [the thought] ‘How could this be happening here?’”

The Pittsburgh-area Nicaraguans — who get their news from relatives and other contacts there — say their country has lost the reputation it had as one of the safest and most stable in Central America.

“When I left a few weeks ago,” Ms. Shronce said, “I think it was the most painful day since the earthquake in 1972.”