{"id":1687,"date":"2018-05-11T11:50:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T11:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=1687"},"modified":"2018-05-11T11:50:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T11:50:03","slug":"nicaragua-sets-up-commission-after-protest-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2018\/05\/11\/nicaragua-sets-up-commission-after-protest-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicaragua sets up commission after protest deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nicaragua’s congress has set up a commission to look into the deaths of dozens of anti-government demonstrators.<\/p>\n

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The protesters, mostly students, died during violent demonstrations over the last few weeks.<\/p>\n

The unrest was sparked by President Daniel Ortega’s pension reforms but changed into anger against the government.<\/p>\n

Mr Ortega has agreed to talks.<\/p>\n

Rights groups said 45 people died but officials stopped updating their toll after counting 10 deaths in the first three days.<\/p>\n

The speaker of the Congress, Gustavo Porras, said the five-member panel of investigators would act independently of the legislature and be free to research where they wanted.<\/p>\n

The panel has a three-month deadline by which to report back.<\/p>\n

Student organisations have demanded an independent commission be set up with the participation of international bodies to investigate the deaths.<\/p>\n

The students and other government critics say the congressional commission will not be independent since Congress is largely pro-government.<\/p>\n

They accuse them of concentrating power in their hands and acting undemocratically.<\/p>\n

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights asked the Nicaraguan government to be allowed to enter the country and investigate the violent but was told to “wait for developments in internal processes”.<\/p>\n

President Ortega has agreed to talks with the protestors brokered by the church but is yet to set a date for the discussions to begin.<\/p>\n

The protests have been the worst Daniel Ortega has faced in over a decade since the former left-wing Sandinista rebel returned to power after a long period in opposition.<\/p>\n

His party has an absolute majority in the one-chamber national congress.<\/p>\n

Mr Ortega has blamed right-wing agitators for much of the violence, saying they have infiltrated the protests in order to discredit his left-wing government.<\/p>\n

But the US said on Tuesday that it held the government responsible for the bloodshed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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