A Forgotten Country: Nicaragua
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the country of Nicaragua. It seems like in the past 3 months all hell has broken loose there, but the rest of the world somehow doesn’t know about it.
So in case you also haven’t heard, I’ll share the little I do know.
This past April, President Daniel Ortega announced that the pension system was going to be reformed and benefits reduced by 5%. Obviously there was some disagreement with this from the public and many, beginning with students, took to the streets to protest. While it started peacefully, it very quickly became violent between protestors and police. As I read about it a month ago it seemed like The National Autonomous University of Nicaragua – the ‘headquarters’, if you will, of the protests – had turned into the scene in Les Misérables when all of the young people decide to form a barricade and fight a losing fight. The students had even organized themselves using their studies to their advantage. Apparently medical students were tending to those injured by police, engineering students were creating barricades and homemade mortars to defend themselves, and linguistic students, not having a huge need for their specialities, were acting as cooks for the the 100s of students living at the university choosing to fight the government on this decision, and for the unjust treatment of their peers.
At the end of May on Mother’s Day in Nicaragua, mother’s marched peacefully for the loss of their children – by this point almost a hundred lives had been lost. Near the end of the day pro-government gangs opened gunfire, more were injured, and more were killed.
Since then, it’s believed that almost three hundred have been killed while calling President Ortega to not only change his pension plan, but to resign. The people have hosted multiple 24-hour national strikes in the name of change and peace, and ceasefires have been implemented and failed.
Currently, it seems that the violence is continuing. On Sunday, pro-government gangs broke into two churches where protesters had taken refuge, while anti-government groups are calling for more protest marches and strikes.
As I stormed the news for more information over the past couple months, my heart broke every time I asked someone “have you heard about what’s happening in Nicaragua?” with the answer always being “no”. I just can’t seem to conceptualize why the northwest hasn’t heard of all that’s happening there. Had even a single one of these events happened in Canada or the States, I am sure that the news would be endless, that the topic of conversations would rarely steer far from the event, and that Facebook would be filled with “Pray for ___” pictures. But instead, because it’s happened just a little more South than we generally look, we don’t seem to notice.
Of course, my heart has been extra softened towards this country knowing that in just 10 months from now I should be there with the World Race, sharing the hope that only Christ can bring to the beautiful country.
If you’ve made it this far down, I ask that you’d join me in praying for the people and government of Nicaragua.
– Pray that President Ortega and his colleagues would have a renewed love for the country and its people, and the wisdom to then respond to their needs and wishes responsibly
– Pray that peace would rule in the hearts and minds of all those mourning the loss of loved ones or their country
– Pray that violence would be replaced by communication, negotiation, and peace
I’m thankful that while we as broken people may have forgotten the country of Nicaragua, our Papa above has not. And while I don’t know what exactly is happening right now, I’m assured that His gracious love is fighting for Nicaragua and its people.
