Nicaraguan forces storm barrio, destroy churches; ‘it is a genocide,’ says priest

July 19, 2018

Nicaraguan police and pro-regime paramilitary forces stormed the indigenous community of Monimbó, a center of opposition to the President Daniel Ortega’s repressive regime.

“This is a barrio of humble people, an indigenous barrio of working people,” Father Augusto Gutiérrez, who ministers in Monimbó, told a Spanish radio station.

“The paramilitaries entered the barrio,” he continued. “There have been four hours of attack with heavy military weapons, destroying the churches … It is a genocide. It has no other name.”

Noting that the people were using homemade weapons to defend themselves, Father Gutiérrez appealed to the Spanish government and the international community for help.

He pleaded, “Do not let us die!”

 

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Further information:

• El grito de auxilio de un sacerdote nicaragüense: “¡No nos dejen morir!” (COPE)
• Il nunzio apostolico in Nicaragua chiede la ripresa del dialogo (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 1)
• Nicaraguan police storm anti-government stronghold (Reuters)
• Nicaraguan Forces Violently Retake Symbolic City After Bloody Anti-Government Protests (Time)