Monday 13 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Panama Readies 2009
Elections
Police Raids
Provoke Outcry In Nicaragua
Venezuelan President
Accuses Opposition Of
Engineering Crisis
Fidel Castro Warns
Of "Dramatic" Consequences From
Financial Crisis
Bolivia March for New
Constitution
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Police Raids Provoke
Outcry In Nicaragua
MANAGUA -Police raids of
two non-governmental
organizations critical
of Nicaragua's leftist
government provoked an
outcry Sunday from
opposition leaders who
called them a throwback
to dictatorship.
National Police broke
down the doors of the
two offices Friday night
and Saturday morning and
seized documents and
computers. A judge
ordered the raids as
part of an investigation
against the two groups
for "crimes against the
state," prosecutor Jose
Abraham Rojas told
reporters.
The Center of Media
Investigations, known as
Cinco, and the
Autonomous Movement for
Women are one of 16
groups being
investigated for money
laundering. Critics have
called the
investigations an
attempt to silence
dissent.
The government of
President Daniel Ortega
is "imposing a new
dictatorship," said
former President Arnoldo
Aleman, who has been
convicted of money
laundering and
embezzlement during his
1998-2002 presidency but
is free on parole.
"Abuses against
opponents to the
Sandinista government
are increasing and
intensifying," Aleman
added. "It's one thing
to regulate
non-governmental
organizations and it's
another to persecute
them for political
reasons."
The government's
Department of
Information did not
return a request for
comment Sunday. Edwin
Castro, a congressional
leader of Ortega's
Sandinista party, hung
up on a reporter seeking
comment.
Cinco is led by Carlos
Fernando Chamorro, the
son of former President
Violeta Chamorro and
Pedro Joaquin Chamorro,
the editor of the La
Prensa newspaper killed
in 1978 during the
dictatorship of
Anastasio Somoza. Many
consider that
assassination the
catalyst for the final
phase of the revolution
that ended Somoza's
40-year reign a year
later and brought
Ortega's first
Sandinista government to
power.
La Prensa continued to
be heavily censored
under Ortega's first
1985-1990 government,
which was mired in a
civil war against
U.S.-backed Contra
rebels. The newspaper
was then run by Violeta
Chamorro, who defeated
Ortega in a 1990
election.
Her son accused the
Ortega government of
trying to intimidate
opponents. He said the
investigation against
Cinco intends to
"fabricate political
crimes, and this type of
proceedings only occur
during dictatorships."
Ortega has insisted that
his government fully
respects press freedoms.
The government claims
that Chamorro is
illegally channeling
money from foreign
governments to civil
organizations not
legally allowed to
receive such funds. |
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