The Story
The UN has some thoughts on what's been going on in Nicaragua. Spoiler: it's not good.
Remind me.
For months, Nicaragua has been in crisis mode. Earlier this year, the gov said it was making some big cuts to social security benefits. People said 'eff that' and protested. It worked – President Daniel Ortega scrapped the plan. But the gov cracked down hard on the opposition, with some help from police and armed pro-gov forces. Hundreds have been killed, thousands have fled, and people have been calling on the prez to step down.
Yikes.
Yup. Now the UN's calling the gov out. Yesterday, it released a new report that puts the blame on Ortega's government, and says it need to quit the repression and persecution of protesters. That it's created an environment where no one has the right to freedom of expression. And that anyone who does protest is at risk of losing their job, getting arrested, or being killed. It says this has led to around 300 deaths and 2,000 injuries in a four-month period.
What's the Nicaraguan gov saying?
'This is BS.' It apparently says that the UN report is "slanted, prejudiced and notoriously biased." That the opposition is to blame for all the violence. It also reportedly said that people should be happy that protests have calmed down, so everyone can just chill out already.
theSkimm
Nicaragua is on a slippery slope to becoming the next country with a gov that uses violence to repress its people...like Venezuela. Now, the UN is calling on the international community to take "concrete action" to help stop that from happening.
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