Nicaraguan Peace Project

April 8, 2020

Our Mission

#SOS-Nicaragua

We are creating a union of national and international Nicaraguan activists, exiles, and migrants to develop an activism and communication strategy that aims to directly impact on the political and social context in Nicaragua

Nicaraguan Refugees

We support Nicaraguan exiles and raise international awareness about the struggles they face.

Corona Care

To support vulnerable Nicaraguan groups affected by COVID-19 with campaigns providing: medical and essential supplies, and media awareness and information

Collaboration

We cooperate with local and grassroot organisations to pursue change for Nicaraguans, by Nicaraguans

Nicaragua today..

Silence at Any Cost

For almost three years, Daniel Ortega’s government has shown time and again that it is willing to do anything to prevent human rights from becoming a reality in Nicaragua.

– Amnesty International

Nicaragua on the Global Peace Index

Nicaragua has plummeted 54 rankings on the Global Peace Index – the biggest deterioration out of the list’s 163 countries.

– Vision of Humanity

Torture and the Abuse of Power

During the crackdown on protests, detainees were subjected to serious abuses, including in some cases: electric shocks, severe beatings, fingernail removal, asphyxiation, and rape.

– Human Rights Watch

Nicaragua is going through one of its most difficult moments in recent history

The people are coming together against dictator Daniel Ortega. Human Rights Defenders and Activists on the ground need your help to bring democracy back to Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan Police uses lethal force against the population

Due to the systematic use of lethal force against unarmed civilians, dictator Daniel Ortega and several high-ranking police officers have been acused of crimes against humanity

As a direct result of the repressive regime of President Daniel Ortega, asylum applications of refugees from Nicaragua have increased dramatically since 2017 (Ref.1). “Nearly two years after Nicaragua was plunged into a serious political and social crisis, more than 100,000 people have fled reported persecution and human rights abuses in the country, seeking asylum abroad. Nicaraguan students, human rights defenders, journalists and farmers continue to flee their country at an average rate of 4,000 people every month. With no resolution to the internal crisis in sight, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, expects these numbers to grow.

The first stop for most Nicaraguan refugees is neighboring Costa Rica, which hosts two-thirds of all Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers, or some 77,000 people. Just over 8,000 have fled to Panama and another 9,000 to Europe while Mexico is sheltering some 3,600 people. An additional 5,100 are hosted in other countries, comprising a total of 103,600 Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers worldwide to date”. (Statistics from 10 March 2020) (Ref.2).

Ref.1 – Development of asylum applications from citizens from Nicaragua 2000 to 2018: https://www.worlddata.info/america/nicaragua/asylum.php

Ref.2 – Two years of political and social crisis in Nicaragua […]: https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2020/3/5e6759934/years-political-social-crisis-nicaragua-force-100000-flee.html

We believe that the Nicaraguan dictatorship must step down and be held accountable

Nicaragua Support

Support #SOSNicaragua

For almost three years, Daniel Ortega’s government has shown time and again that it is willing to do anything to prevent human rights from becoming a reality in Nicaragua.

– Amnesty International

Support the Free Press

In international law, access to information and free expression are two sides of the same coin.

– Human Rights Watch

The Changemakers

“I deeply admire the courage and sacrifice of human rights defenders. These individuals and organizations are our eyes and ears and conscience.”

– UN Secretary General António Guterres

Background..

Nicaragua is a tropical country with sandy beaches filled with stars, amazing warm weather and roaring volcanoes that light up the sky at night with fire. It’s right in the belly of Central America, between Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador. Home of some of the best coffee and cacao in the world, hosts all kinds of rich ecosystems, from thick jungles and fertile lands, to constellation of islands spread in a lake. The vastness of its natural resources including gold and precious wood, has attracted dictators and dirty corporations by the dozen, making it one of the most impoverished countries in Latin America.

Despite the great revolution of ´79 and numerous other previous civil wars and invasions, Nicaraguans have remained a peaceful and friendly population, ready to open their doors and share their food with anyone that visits their homes. Descendants of indigenes, their love for nature, honor and unconquerable free spirit has been kept alive generation after generation, continuously breaking the chains of greed and oppression. Their strong sense of community has made them endure through terrible times in many occasions.

On April 18 of 2018, after decades of blatant corruption and the use of repression and fear to control the population, the National Police started openly shooting young unarmed university students with snipers and AK-47s. They were peacefully protesting for a reform bill on the Social Security System that would reduce benefits to the elderly and extend working periods for the rest of the population; all in order to keep sucking money out the Social Security System. People have had enough and were not going stand down against any amount of bullets or violence. After the first 30 students were shot in the streets; it was not about the Social Security reform anymore, it was about democracy, justice, peace and freedom.

Over a year has passed and the Nicaraguan community all over the world, along with over 60.000 people that had to go in exile, have created an articulated support network of self-directed organizations with the mission of bringing back democracy and peace to Nicaragua. This includes making the dictator Daniel Ortega step down from power and take him, along with the rest of the people accused of crimes against humanity, to justice. This is a worldwide non-violent effort under the name of #SOSNICARAGUA that is being led by hundreds of people that voluntarily have taken the challenge regardless of the consequences for them.

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