The United States expresses its "concern" for police violence in Nicaragua
The United States on Saturday expressed its "concern" about the police violence in Nicaragua, which left more than 60 people in detention, in attacks against civilians who tried to demand the release of hundreds of "political prisoners", in the midst of the crisis affecting to the Central American country.
"The United States Government expresses its concern over reports of police violence against demonstrators today," the US Embassy in Nicaragua reported in a public message.
In an attempt to avoid the anti-government demonstration, the Nicaraguan Police captured and beat more than 60 people, including some notables, and stripped a photojournalist from the AFP news agency of their equipment, according to human rights organizations. humans.
"We call on the Nicaraguan authorities to cease the use of excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and journalists who exercise their right to freedom of expression and the press," the US embassy said.
The Directorate of Special Operations (DOE), an elite body of the police, invaded private properties, including several shopping centers and gas stations, to execute their operations, in which they fired weapons of war, in order to avoid a protest to demand the freedom of hundreds of prisoners for protesting against President Daniel Ortega.
The violence took place in the context of a crisis that in 11 months has left 325 dead, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), although some local humanitarian groups raise to 561 the fatalities, while Ortega only recognizes 199 and denounces an attempted coup d'état.
Last Thursday the head of Central America in the US Department of State, Todd Robinson, said that Washington has "frank and sincere" talks with Ortega, to which he has asked for an advance of the elections of 2021.
The Government of Nicaragua also has negotiations with the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy to overcome the crisis, but it has complained that the government delegation avoids addressing the central issues while Ortega does not comply with creating the conditions for look for a solution
At least 762 people remain with some type of prison regime in Nicaragua after participating in anti-government protests, according to the Committee for the Release of Prisoners and Political Prisoners.
The IACHR has insisted that the Ortega government has committed crimes "against humanity", while the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter (CDI) is underway in the Organization of American States (OAS), which could culminate in the suspension of the Central American country of the continental organism.
