Nearshore Americas
Laura Chinchilla nicaragua protests

Ex-President of Costa Rica: “Mafia Has Taken Over” in Nicaragua and Venezuela

Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica, has urged the United Nations to intervene in Nicaragua and Venezuela, saying that “the mafia has taken control” of both countries.

Commenting about each country’s president in an interview with CNN, she said: “The intention of Daniel Ortega and Nicolas Maduro is the same: To buy time and make fun of people.”

In her interview, Chinchilla also insisted that Ortega must invite the protesters for a dialogue, else the international community must impose serious economic and political sanctions on the Nicaraguan leader.

Nicaragua, in particular, has been in a precarious situation for the last few months, with protesters of the Ortega government fighting ongoing battles with police and the paramilitary forces.

In a latest development, government forces violently retook the Western city of Masaya leading to the deaths of three people. Nearly 300 people have been killed since protests began.

The government has continued to violently crack down on protesters despite repeated calls by international leaders not to use lethal force on its own people.

Francisco Palmieri, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, said via Twitter that the US strongly urges Ortega not to attack Masaya. “Continued gov’t-instigated violence and bloodshed in #Nicaragua must end immediately. The world is watching.”

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Both Palmieri and Chinchilla were keynote speakers at Nearshore Americas’ Nexus event, the former in 2015, and the latter in 2016.

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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