- Title: Nicaraguan opposition denounces Ortega government as OAS group meets
- Date: 2nd October 2019
- Summary: ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NICARAGUAN OPPOSITION PROTEST LEADER, IRLANDA JEREZ, HOLDING NICARAGUAN FLAG JEREZ SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTEST LEADER IRLANDA JEREZ SAYING: "Organized crime and a transnational mafia exist in Nicaragua. (Nicaraguan President) Daniel Ortega and (Nicaraguan Vice President and First Lady) Rosario Murillo are criminals allied with Venezuela, with Cuba, with Bolivia. This isn't just a problem for Nicaragua as we have previously said, and it's not just (a problem) for Central America, it goes beyond that, because it attacks this whole continent." VARIOUS, JEREZ SIGNING DOCUMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEMBER OF 'BLUE AND WHITE NATIONAL UNITY' OPPOSITION PARTY, FELIX MADARIAGA, SAYING: "Also accompanying us at this table are delegates from the Civic Alliance, independent groups, the rural workers movement, (and) we have full agreement that the solution to Nicaragua's crisis has to be a civic, non-violent solution, and that's what we've come to reiterate to the (Organization of American States) high-level commission." PEOPLE CHANTING (Spanish) "JUSTICE"
- Embargoed: 17th October 2019 00:06
- Keywords: political crisis opposition President Daniel Ortega Organization of American States Nicaragua meeting OAS El Salvador group
- Location: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR & MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
- City: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR & MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
- Country: Nicaragua
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003AZEPMIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:As a high-level commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) met in El Salvador's capital on Wednesday (October 02) to discuss a solution to Nicaragua's political crisis, political opposition leaders and others rallied just outside the doors to oppose the government of President Daniel Ortega.
The OAS commission is tasked with finding a solution to the political crisis in Nicaragua and is in El Salvador for talks with Nicaragua's political opposition after the Nicaraguan government rejected their request to do so within the country.
Irlanda Jerez, a leader of the protest movement that sprang up in opposition to Ortega, was in San Salvador on Wednesday where she said, "organized crime and a transnational mafia exist in Nicaragua," and accused Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo of being criminals.
Jerez reportedly spent 329 days in prison before being released under an "amnesty" law that frees people who were arrested in recent anti-government protests.
Nicaragua has been gripped by a political crisis since demonstrations broke out against the Ortega government in April 2018 over planned cuts to welfare benefits.
The demonstrations spread into broader protests against Ortega, and subsequent clashes between pro-government forces and protesters have claimed more than 300 lives and prompted thousands of Nicaraguans to go into exile, rights groups say.
(Production: Wilfredo Pineda, Manuel Carrillo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
