Dear Friends,
Please be praying for Nicaragua. You may not have heard, as our news media does not cover much of international events, that there have been tens of thousands of protestors demanding the restoration of democracy and that President Ortega step down.
This started about two months ago in April when President Ortega announced plans to reduce the meager pensions paid to older people. The elders began to protest and he rolled back most of the proposed cut.
Shortly thereafter, many college age students and other young people started protests in Managua and other cities, such as Masaya. They began calling for President Ortega to step down and that true democratic elections be held. Daniel Ortega changed the Nicaraguan Constitution a few years ago to provide that he could continue to run for unlimited terms. This is the same move that Hugo Chavez had done in Venezuela.
The number and size of the protests have increased and there have now been about 175 deaths and about 1,000 people injured. Estimates are that there has also been something like 1,000 people unjustly jailed and many people are missing. The police have started to operate with government supporters like “paramilitary gangs”.
All of this has devastated the economy as tourism has stalled and normal commerce and trade have slowed dramatically.
The latest event last weekend was that 6 people from a Christian family were killed when the police wanted to use the top floor of the house to house snipers. The police then found out that the family had provided supplies to student protesters and then lit the house on fire. Apparently, some family members were shoot and some were burned in the fire.
Our Nicaraguan associate Arturo Castro, informed us of this event this weekend. He and many others are concerned that this could become a genocide as Ortega clings to power. One of the teams scheduled to leave soon to work in Nicaragua and be at the Susie Syke Clinic has understandably felt they should cancel the trip at this time.
We are praying that Nicaragua would become a truly free country to the glory of God and that the love, joy and peace of the Lord would be spread across that country.
In Christ’s Name,
Cameron