José Miguel Vivanco, Human Rights Watch’s Americas director, said that by attacking such well-known organisations Nicaragua’s president was making clear his intention “to rule by terror and intimidation”. He said: “This is a deliberate decision by Ortega to stay in power through brutal repression. Photograph: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty ImagesNicaraguan human rights defender Bianca Jagger rejected claims the targeted groups were part of a rightwing US-backed conspiracy to topple Ortega as “a complete and total fallacy”. In November the US national security adviser, John Bolton, branded Nicaragua part of a Latin American “troika of terror” alongside Venezuela and Cuba. This should be an issue of human rights.

Source: The Guardian December 16, 2018 16:09 UTC