Nicaraguans Keep Protests in Hospitals
Radicalization of the strike in the health sector to demand a salary rise continues in Nicaragua, with the closing of private areas in public hospitals, and street protests to pressure the government.

According to Health Workers" Federation (FETSALUD) leader Gustacvo Porras, the strike will have four stages, the first of which includes sits-in in front of the health centers.

There will be protests later, in front of the local headquarters of financial organizations as the International Monetary Fund (FMI) and the World Bank, behind which the government hides to deny satisfaction of the social sectors´ demands, Porras explained.

The union leader said the mobilizations will reach the neighborhoods in the third week, to explain the health workers´s demands.

If these measures are not effective, the sector, which counts on more than 20,000 affiliates, will carry out a huge national march.

The protest by more than 3,000 doctors was declared illegal by the Nicaraguan Labor Ministry, after health professionals decreed emergency wards closed to pressure the government to grant a salary rise.

The Health Ministry and the Treasury have reiterated there is no money to raise the salaries, because if they exceed the budget top imposed by the IMF, Nicaragua will be left out of the financial organization´s credit and loan programs.