In April 2018 a wave of protest sparked by planned pension reforms initiated by the government of Nicaragua, led by President Daniel Ortega, met with a brutal state crackdown that left many peaceful protesters injured, dead or arrested. The repression of civil society forced many left-wing and feminist activists into exile.
LASC, as an organization that came out of the Irish Nicaragua Solidarity Group, a group that was itself founded by former volunteers on Solidarity Brigades to Nicaragua in the 80s, stands in solidarity with our comrades in Nicaragua and has raised our voice in opposition to this latest swing towards authoritarianism by a government that many of us had once supported.
Since October 2018, this solidarity has taken the form of a campaign – including political advocacy, media coverage, public talks, and cultural solidarity events – run by LASC members and staff. Those involved in leading the campaign are former Irish Solidarity Brigade volunteers to Nicaragua, and the Nicaraguan community here in Ireland, including refugees from Nicaragua who have recently arrived in Ireland after fleeing the state repression in their own country – all determined to show our friends and comrades in Nicaragua that the long-standing solidarity links between Ireland and Nicaragua remain firm, and that Ireland continues to stand with the people of Nicaragua against state repression, no matter whether that repression comes from Somoza or Ortega.
______________________________________________________________________OCTOBER 11 2018
LASC Statement: Nicaragua in Crisis
NOVEMBER 20 2018
Donal O’Kelly on 30 years of ‘Bat The Father Rabbit The Son’
Thirty years later the Nicaraguan people are again facing a threat as the former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega tightens his grip on power. The opposition is disparate, more than 40 organisations united in the aim of ending his rule. Since April up to 500 people have been killed, many by Ortega’s so-called “volunteer policemen” – government-backed paramilitaries. Thousands have fled.
DECEMBER 14 2018
Open Letter on Nicaragua to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
FEBRUARY 18 2019
Opinion: Irish people travelled to Nicaragua in solidarity in the 1980s – now it needs our help again
The Nicaraguan people continue to struggle for democracy, justice and fairness – only this time against a surprising enemy. They deserve our solidarity today just as they did in the past.
FEBRUARY 2019
LASC On Nicaragua: Revolution and Repression.
Tune into the panelists at our Nicaragua: Revolution and Repression event!
Publicada por Latin America Solidarity Centre – LASC en Miércoles, 24 de octubre de 2018
#LASCWeds – Nicaragua: Revolution and Repression
Panel at LASCWeds: Nicaragua – Revolution and Repression event.
Publicada por Latin America Solidarity Centre – LASC en Miércoles, 24 de octubre de 2018
FEBRUARY 16 2019
Kinvara Declaration in Solidarity with Nicaragua
APRIL 16 2019
Dublin, Ireland Event Commemorates: “One year of Resistance in Nicaragua”
MAY 29 2019
‘I’ve been working since I was 19. I’m not used to receiving handouts’
“I sat down on the stairs and just started to cry,” remembers Nuñez. “I was in complete shock. They had killed seven or eight young students in the university that day. People were posting on socialmedia to get the students out. It was like watching a horror movie in real time. What must it have been like for those students sitting in the basement, waiting to be assassinated?
