The April 20, Rosario Murillo, vice-president of Nicaragua, and wife of president Daniel Ortega, ordered the secretaries to politicians of the Sandinista Front in the public institutions of the country “immediate” by State officials and supporters of the party of the most important points from Managua to counteract the protests that had started two days before and who were demanding the end of eleven years of sandinista Government.
The demonstrations had begun on the 18th of April as a response to the imposition of a reform to Social Security that Ortega had decreed without consensus and that it was rejected by the retirees and by the private company. A group of elders and young people was manifested in Managua and other cities of the country against these reforms, and the Government has sent to the Juventud Sandinista –groups fanatizados under the orders of the FSLN– to crack down on protesters. The images of elderly bloodied, journalists attacked and young people brutally beaten enraged the nation and the next day, the 19th of April, began an uprising citizen is unprecedented in the last 40 years in Nicaragua.
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A series of e-mails that have had Confidential access to Managua –and that have been shared with THE COUNTRY– show that the initial response to the crisis was led by Murillo, who declared himself as secretary general of the FSLN and practically assumes the functions of president. In those early days, was notorious the absence of the president Ortega. This journal has tried to seek the version of Murillo in this regard, but not the vice-president of nicaragua has not responded to the requests.
April 19: “we’re going with the whole”
on April 19, Murillo ordered the secretaries of the political FSLN, through their emails, which met in Managua to plan the strategy to follow against the demonstrations. That meeting was held at the Japanese Park of Managua in the afternoon and was Fidel Moreno, secretary of the Mayor and loyal operator of Murillo. Ligia Gómez, former Economic Research of the Central Bank of Nicaragua and secretary and policy of the FSLN in that institution, said in an exclusive interview with journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro that the order of the vice-president was: “Go with everything”, in relation to bursting the protests. “The guidance that we receive from him (Fidel Moreno) in the meeting was, ‘we’re going with everything, we’re not going to stop us from stealing the revolution,’” explained Gomez.
there it gave off a series of orders that included the permanent mobilization of the workers, public, as well as activate the propaganda of the State. The post Murillo show how the protests were caught by surprise the Government, which tried to convince the public workers and their bases that he maintained control of the situation. Gomez said that Ovidio Reyes, president of the NCB, met with Murillo and next to the ministers of the Cabinet received the order to reassure the bases, assuring them that “here nothing happens, the power is completely safe, you are calm, here, only gave a small mistake, you have touched some young people and some older people, we already know that this should not be done, and the opposition is completely divided, there is no opposition, no one has a Daniel Ortega as we have, so the power is going to be long”.
The work of Gomez was to ensure that it fulfilled the orders came from the Headquarters National of the Sandinista Front. The story of the woman, now in exile in the united States, shows that the Government accepted the error of having attacked the young and the old that the 18 of April, protested in Managua, though not he knew how to handle the situation with pragmatism, and later to unleash a brutal repression that has left 325 dead were identified by the inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
20 April: The “taking” of Managua
That day the violence already claimed 19 dead. The order of Murillo was to require the secretaries of the political Sandinista Front for a mobilization to take control of Managua, given that the State no longer controlled the streets in front of the protests, which had become massive demonstrations of rejection.
“We need to ensure the immediate presence of all our militancy institutional 61 points emblematic of our city, as well as all the required logistics, in coordination with our Secretari@s olic y@s District (sic), we will be Nakitbahis in possession of these points for an indefinite time”, detailing the order. The decision of Managua, however, failed, and Murillo, tireless, he gave new orders to the secretaries of the party.
April 22: to Mobilize the propaganda
After this failure and with the protests spreading at the national level, Murillo directed the 21 of April to all his secretaries politicians to “coordinate actions on the immediate” in all districts of the country, although in that mail did not detail what kind of actions they would take.
Murillo, had recommended to the public employees to organize “prayer chains” and on the 22nd he ordered his children to the front of the powerful media apparatus of the family Ortega Murillo to start a campaign in channels, networks and radios against those who termed “promoters of hate”. She showed tireless in those channels, in which appeared day and night, with speeches that mixed the mystical religious messages of peace. The tone of Murillo’s changed with the days, when he began to accuse the protesters of “vandalism”, “vampires who claim to blood”, “beings mediocre” and “souls mean-spirited”.
The mail was directed to Daniel Edmundo Ortega, Juan Carlos Ortega and Maurice Ortega, those who control the five television channels that are part of the media apparatus of the Ortega family, and Murillo, including the Channel 6, supposedly public, but handled with discretion by the children of Ortega and become a sounding board for the propaganda official.
“Nicaragua live moments painful and tragic, unimaginable a few days ago. Those who paid the evil, manipulating Consciences and Wills, not we will win the game,” wrote Murillo to their children. “We denounce the barbarity, the criminality, the looting, the pillaging that has been taught in Schools, Health Units, Markets, Supermarkets, and Work places of many Families and Households that only want to earn an honest Living, and prosper,” added the woman, who proposed what would be the labels that would move in the media and official social media: #NOALSAQUEO !, #NOALAVIOLENCIACRIMINAL !, #NICARAGUAQUIEREPAZ !, #TRABAJOYPAZ !
“we Denounce every attempt, every threat, every assault on Institutions, Centers of Kgarlic, Health Centers, Study Centers. Denunciémoslos instantly through our Media. This is (sic) the Defense of Life. With the denunciation of the media and Networks, and the courageous actions in each place, we defend Life… we Denounce constantly, and let’s take the Networks to which this Complaint and this claim to National Peace, Dialogue and Unity, settle it down Sanity and trying to Concordia,” said Murillo.
April 23: Convocation of all the bases sandinistas
That day is revealed in one of their emails that they had made a call to what is known as the “historical basis” of the Sandinista Front to join the Government’s strategy in his desperation to quell the demonstrations. Those “boxes” historic exmiembros of the Popular Army Sandinista official in retreat and those who fought the Somoza dictatorship in the late seventies.
“we Continue to work to incorporate tod@s l@s Herman@s (sic) Sandinistas are coming, that are calling, that are provided to the Order of the FSLN and of our Commander Daniel, to work on all Defense Missions of Love, Peace and Life. We woke up Hermanad@s, each time more Hermanad@s, l@s Sandinistas, the Militancy, Historical, Current, Youth, tod@s clar@s-Messages issued by the Right-wing, and increasingly clar@s of what we should defend : The Reconciliation, the Unity and the Fatherland Free of Hate!!!”, wrote Murillo in his accustomed style, respects no rules of spelling and language.
“In every Municipality, County, Community, Department of our Country, we we will convene Conferences and Vigils of Prayer for Dialogue and Peace, as Herman@s nicaraguans, as Families nicaraguans, that we are segur@s of what Nicaragua wants and needs: Work, Peace, Tranquility, Safety.” The vigils that Murillo referred to in attempting to counteract the meetings that hundreds of people stood in the main points of Managua in honor of those killed by the repression, which already amounted to 38 fatalities.
it Was this day that Ortega appeared through an intervention on television to report that withdrew the controversial amendment to the Social Security, which among other measures reduced the pensions by 5%. The representative agreed that their proposals were not “viability” and created a “dramatic situation”, so that gave reverse gear in its implementation.
The decision was made very late. Had unleashed a general indignation by the initial response to the crisis, which led people to erect barricades all over the country. Ortega would be put to the front and respond with more repression. Came then the so-called “Cleansing Operation”, the decision of the rebellious cities, the caravans of hooded men with weapons of war and the imposition of a state of siege. Murillo was detained of their messages through official channels, although analysts in Managua to ensure that decisions are taken at the level of marriage.
Nicaragua met on the 18th of November, seven months of the crisis, which has left hundreds of people dead, more than 400 thousand unemployed, more than 400 prisoners and an exodus of more than 40 thousand nicaraguans sought refuge in Costa Rica. The crisis seems to have no output by the refusal of the Executive to return to a table of negotiation mediated by the Church. The strategy is to maintain power at all costs for that “nothing nor nobody alter once again in this Homeland”, as he said Rosario Murillo Wednesday afternoon.
