OrMu Cracks Down on #ALaCalle

March 16, 2019

Nicaragua

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This is a collection of tweets, gathered during the #ALaCalle protest, on March 16 in Managua. Since this was done as a live blog (sort of), the post is arranged in reverse-chronological order. Click the links to access other sections.

11:30 pm (Managua Time) – Final Update on #ALaCalle

While the OrMu Propaganda Media continued the carnival of banality, journalists and citizens alike documented a historic day. Nicaraguans took to the streets, in spite of police threats of incarceration and acts of violence. At the end, between 107 (the official tally) and 160 citizens were illegally detained  and then released. Here are the final images from today.

First, Juan Sebastian Chamorro  explained how his pick up was stopped. It’s because he wasn’t in it. Here’s the video of the abduction.

Chamorro tweeted, “We made several trips using my pick up, so that we could evacuate people. During the first trip, [the police] stopped the truck and they took a young man off before we could get there to ensure that they could continue on their way. On the following trips, I came with the protesters.”

Chamorro confirmed later that the young man was released. “He was beaten, but he’s save with his mom and his aunt.”

Protesters were taken to the new Chipote, but instead of sitting down quietly and crestfallen, they decided to play a game. It’s called “If you don’t jump, you’re a toad”.

If you don’t know this already, a toad (sapo) is what we used to call Somoza sympathizers in Nicaragua. Now, the same name is used to refer to OrMu sycophants.

Fr. Juan Domingo Gutierrez, smilling in El Chipote.

In another act of quiet resistance, someone stuck a subversive message to Commissioner Fernando Borge’s shirt. He walked around with a sticker that reads “Cuando la NICA se encachimba, no hay dictador que la detenga” (When a Nicaraguan woman gets pissed off, there’s no dictator that can hold her back)

It’s even better when you realize there was another policeman behind him.

Rey Mapache, Nicaragua’s premier Azul y Blanco meme producer, made this gem.

Bart Simpson made an appearance, with chair

A new logo for the National Police (aka, la polisilla; please don’t ask me to translate, as it would just lose its punch)

And Andres Castro throws a chair (this is the famous painting, depicting Andres Castro. As the story goes, when Castro’s rifle misfired during the Battle of San Jacinto, he picked up a rock and killed an American invader.)

Juan Sebastian Chamorro and Jose Adan Aguerri (Alianza) escorted three buses carrying over 160 people out of El Chipote.

Cheering as they go by.

Protesters singing the national anthem, as they’re being transported to FAGANIC.

People greeting the protesters, with chants of “the people united, will never be defeated.”

Sofia Montenegro was among those released tonight. “It was an absurd situation” — she said. Montenegro said several people were beaten, and that no one told them why they had been detained. When asked how she was feeling, she said, “I could kill these carbines!”

And here is Azahalea Solis (Alianza), defiant as ever.

Max Jerez, of the Coalicion Universitaria, is also in high spirits.

Max Jerez and Mildred Rayo were among the protesters who were beaten and required medical attention.

In Leon, there are reports that protesters are being released. Fr. Berrios of the Laborio church mediated.

This might be the one picture that encapsulates everything that Nicaraguans marched for today, constitutional rights.

If OrMu wanted to make people cower in fear, I’d say he failed stupendously. Unfortunately, there’s tomorrow to think about, and I would not be surprised if police start raiding homes and abducting more people.

Tonight, though, we can rejoice on this moral victory of the Azul y Blanco people of Nicaragua. Enjoy this tune, by Leche Burra.

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7 PM (Managua Time)

Mons. Jorge Solorzano (Granada) condemns “repression inflicted today by police on citizens and journalists.” Sends his “prayers for those detained and attacked. May God be our strength”

Mons. Silvio Brenes does likewise. “My prayers for all those who were detained today by the Police in Managua, for exercising their constitutional right to protest. I especially send my solidarity to Fr. Jose Domingo Gutierrez, detained while peacefully carrying the flag of the Catholic Church.”

More images from around Managua.

Police fire against protesters who got a hold of a fire hose and used it against riot police. Video shows police officer carrying a long rifle.

And as this officer beat up on a protester, someone else came from behind and smacked him with a folding chair. Unfortunately, he could not rescue the victim.

The stand off between peaceful protesters in Metrocentro and police gave us dramatic images. Dozens of young men and women form a human chain.

Workers at Metrocentro offered refuge to protesters under siege.

Then, commissioner Francisco Borge shows up; tells protesters that they can leave “without problems.”

Alianza Civica members came to Metrocentro to negotiate safe passage for protesters. Among them Jose Adan Aguerri (white shirt; glasses) and Juan Sebastian Chamorro, who came with a pick up truck (on video).

First group leaving Metrocentro

Soon after, the police intercepted Chamorro’s pick up truck and dragged protesters out.

As of 5:30 pm, the Comité Pro Liberation de Presos Políticos has documented at least 80 abductions. They include a fourteen-year-old boy (Juan Diego Amador), a priest (Juan Domingo Gutierrez), one US citizen (Elizabeth Diaz), and several members of the Alianza Civica.

It’s not just Managua. In Leon, four members of the same family were taken.

At around 7 pm, local time, the police released a statement, announcing the “capture” of 107 people this afternoon. They came out “in spite of all formal warnings about engaging in unauthorized activities that disrupted public order and commerce.” The police then added that they were  “forced to capture 107 people,” but has agreed to release them, due to the intervention of the Apostolic Nuncio, Mons. Sommertag. Also named as mediators on behalf of protesters are the Human Rights Ombdusman, Corina Centeno, and members of the Truth, Justice, and Peace Commission (aka, the Porras Commission) of the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, in the alternate universe I choose to call the OrMu-Sphere, the OrMu Propagandists interrupted their ceaseless stream of banality to inform the population that “The Police was forced to capture 107 people”. The police “ensured security from these violent groups.”

That is the first report of today’s events that OrMu propagandists have issued. OrMu media spent the afternoon reporting on cooking competitions, bull fights, ball games, and something call the “Plan Summer of Love”.

El 19 Digital shows a bunch op people in San Jorge, participating in the “Plan Summer of Love”

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4 PM (Managua Time)

Protesters taken to the new “El Chipote” (OrMu’s newly opened prison). Women praying. Surprisingly, police did not confiscate phones.

Yesterday, OrMu excarcelated 50. Today, the preliminary list is already closing on 40.

 

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3 pm (Managua Time)

Paulo Abrao (IACHR), condemns the “repression by the National Police in Managua and other parts of Nicaragua. The State must cease the attack against protesters who peacefully expressed their demands for the release of political prisoners, and must provide information about those detained and wounded.”

So does Antonia Urrejola

More wounded reported (La Centroamerica) and Metrocentro.

Police fired warning shots around La Fise. Lolo Blandino hit the ground, trying to protect himself.

Karen Celebertti, director of the Ms. Nicaragua pageant, taken along with her husband. They were protesting too

Also taken…

Alianza Civica calls for everyone to “take note of the terrible violations of constitutional rights to free mobilization, free assembly, and public protest. There are over 10 citizens who have been arrested, and over 60 are surrounded.”

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2 pm (Managua Time)

This afternoon, in Managua, Daniel Ortega’s police forces have kept their promise to crack down on protesters. Here are some of the images and video circulating on social media as of approximately 2 pm, local time.

On going coverage, via Facebook Live, from LaFise (Canal 10). Protesters, bystanders, and media were pushed back into LaFise’s parking log.

Ana Margarita Vijil, of the MRS, went on Facebook Live and documented how riot police pushed against protesters gathering around the LaFise bank. The police abducted her.

Police surround a group of mostly journalists, at La Fise

Jose Pallais and Juan Sebastian Chamorro, both negotiators for the Alianza Civica, took refuge inside a gas station, near LaFise.

According to Wilfredo Miranda (Confidencial), there are around 66 people taking refuge at the same gas station.

Cinthya Torres, a journalist for La Prensa, was manhandled as she was reporting on the march. This happened in the area of La Centroamerica

Feminist activist Marlen Chow is arrested at Metrocentro.

Video of Max Jerez, as he was forcefully grabbed and kidnapped by riot police. Jerez is one of the Alianza’s alternates at the negotiation.

Jerez and other members of the University Coalition, being transported.

 

According to Julio Montenegro, of the CPDH, the police have detained at least 10 people. Among them, Max Jerez (not Jimenez), Monica Baltodano, Humberto Belli, Sandra Ramos, and Azahalea Solis. Solis is Carlos Tunnerman’s alternate at the negotiations. Humberto Belli is former minister for education, and brother of poet Gioconda Belli. Monica Baltodano is an erstwhile “comandante” for the FSLN, and now a member of the MRS. Sandra Ramos is a member of the Alianza, and a women’s rights activist.

Here’s Humberto Belli (white shirt), as he’s taken away in a police vehicle.

UNAB has a preliminary list of people who have been grabbed by the police. So far, 23 confirmed.

Azahalea Solis and Sofia Montenegro are being held on the side of the road, close to Metrocentro. No reason for the detention.

In spite of it all, many Nicaraguans are still mobilizing.

Justina Orozco (Coalicion Universitaria-UNAB) and Lolo Blandino (UNAB), protest. Lolo Blandino has the dubious honor of being Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo’s father-in-law.

But there are reports of wounded. This is from the Centroamerica area.

People are taking refuge inside a mall (Centroamerica). Two wounded have been reported.

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