The barricades have been dismantled or cleared by force, the paramilitaries have disappeared from the streets of Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega has launched a media offensive with several interviews for international TV stations. Three and a half months after the start of the protests against him and his autocratic government with more than 300 dead and 2,000 injured, the Sandinista leader feels victorious.
The government is now acting against its critics by other means than brute force. In León, the second largest city in the country, about 40 hospital doctors and nurses were dismissed over the weekend for providing medical treatment to opponents of the government in protest against Ortega's express orders. The doctors are to be replaced by Cuban doctors. In addition, the "Operation Purge" continues: Opposition and intellectuals are intimidated by arrest warrants or death threats, while security forces arrest entire families they suspect of involvement in the protests.
Meanwhile, the "National Dialogue", which wants to negotiate a solution to the worst crisis in Nicaragua for decades, is stalling. Talks on the opposition side involving students, entrepreneurs, farmers, the church and civil society representatives began on 16 May. Meanwhile, they are suspended because Ortega categorically rejects the call for early presidential elections next year and calls it "preparation for a coup d'état."
A tense silence lies since then about Nicaragua. While Ortega assures that the Central American country is returning to "normalcy," political observers regard the silence as the result of a tactical withdrawal by the opposition. "The government opponents are working out plans for the next phase of the protest," says sociologist Oscar René Vargas. Almost every day somewhere in the country a protest event takes place. On Saturday, tens of thousands marched in Managua in support of the bishops of Nicaragua. The clergy have taken on a mediation function in the crisis, but are referred by Ortega as partisan and subversive.
SPIEGEL ONLINE has asked citizens of Nicaragua why they want to continue to protest against their government.
Faces of resistance
Edwin Román Calderón, 58, pastor in the municipality of San Miguel, Masaya
"Masaya was the hardest-hit city during the armed conflict, and we had more than 30 dead, and here in the San Miguel neighborhood there were barricades all around us, it was like a war, fires were fired, incendiaries flew, my church was a retreat This is not an armed uprising against then-dictator Somoza, as in 1979. These are boys with slingshots, stones, and sometimes homemade weapons against upgraded soldiers, police, and paramilitaries shooting without regard for casualties. The people are mad at the government for lack of work, the institutions are in line, the corruption is great, I had been in Managua for six weeks, came to Masaya just for Mass. Today it is a crime to be a cleric in Nicaragua. But Nicaragua is far from being defeated, it is a retreat, a phase of reorientation of the struggle hurry the repression goes on. Whole families are locked up, houses burned down. But the people will not allow the president to govern for another three years. "
Rosa Angelina, 16, high school student
My grandfather fought against Somoza, but this has nothing to do with his ideals, those up there are war on youth, that's our fight now, and the red and black flag of Sandinista is there For me, it is like any other, and with our mortars, the Morteros, we defend ourselves, filling the pipes with gunpowder, gypsum, sometimes shards and nails, and then wrapping them up with cords and hanging them We want a new government and a new system, that's what we stand for in our lives - the government has nothing to offer us boys. "
Haydee Castillo, 56, human rights activist in Ocotal, Nueva Segovia
"I am a Sandinistin, and I will not let that take away from the government, I come from Ocotal, in the north of Nicaragua, and I represent the interests of farmers who oppose the government, but they say we are terrorists because We are representing the interests of those who feel left out and overrun by the government, and we and the peasants are fighting, above all, against government projects and licensing to multinationals, for which they have smeared my house, threatened me, they are trying But saving lives and standing up for people whose rights are violated is not a crime, but the government sees our work as being against us. "
Hugo Torres, 70, ex-Comandante Sandinista and ex-General of the Army
"I'm on the streets to fight a president who's long since turned into a dictator, Daniel Ortega stands for all the bad things in this country, for the total grip on power, the systematic violation of human rights Forty years on the side of Ortega fought for a free Nicaragua when we chased away a tyrant, and I do it again today, because Ortega is worse than Anastasio Somoza ever was, he's a neater Revenant of Somoza I'm on the demo because I can not deny my dream and my ideals of a free, democratic and just Nicaragua, I never thought that would blossom again. "
Karina (33) and Nelson (30) Lorío, parents of Teyler
"On the morning of June 23, around 6:30 am, we wanted to bring our children to our grandparents when we saw policemen behind us, and suddenly shots were fired from somewhere, I did not notice anything, but then I see that she's my boy Teyler A sharpshooter, hiding somewhere, we're going to the hospital immediately, but it was too late, the boy was dead At just 14 months old, his seven-year-old sister still does not understand it, I feel such pain and pain And every time I see a policeman, I almost lose my mind, we've been at every demonstration ever since, because it can not be that the young people are oppressed and shot at with heavy weapons just as innocent as my son, I just want the government to get rid of it. "
Lesther Alemán, 20, Underground Student Leader
"I have been rewarded with my head since I urged President Ortega to stop the violence and negotiate his retreat in May, and I live underground, but only a few hours later the first threats came in. But that is It's a new Nicaragua, our country has changed since the beginning of the protests, and we will continue to struggle, seeking new forms of pressure on the government and civil disobedience : The presidential term has expired, but the price is high, so many dead, so many people in exile, even my parents have left the country, I do not want them to suffer for my sake, but there is no way back, even if I sometimes frighten myself with how fast my life changes. "