President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega denied in an exclusive interview with EFE in Managua that his government has used repressive measures to suppress protests and said he does not feel responsible for the deaths that have resulted from the confrontations on the streets between the civil and the authorities that began back in April this year; Ortega, instead, blames the United States and international drug trafficking for “financing, backing and arming” violent groups.

“Nicaragua has been punished because the US does not consider the Sandinista National Liberation Front (the FSLN is Ortega’s political party) to be democratic and hence they immediately began to organize armed groups against us,” Ortega said to EFE.

When asked who gives this groups the firearms, President Ortega responded:

“There was an activity that originates from the extreme right in Florida. It has been an umbilical cord that has persisted since the early days of the Contra war. There is a close relationship between Florida’s American politicians and the Contras. This became a friendship. For this iteration of the right, with its considerable political power in Congress, it was very painful for the Front to return to government. They have spearheaded and fueled these armed groups and they began to be linked to narco-activity groups. Activity related to the cultivation of marijuana was found during some actions we have taken against them”.

In the interview Ortega also denied that there are Sandinista paramilitaries and affirmed that the only armed groups were those that protest against his government, he also says that his Government has been respectful of human rights and they do not have political prisoners, “Those who are detained are being held for crimes they have committed against the people and are being subjected to the corresponding due processes. No one is arrested because of their ideas or their political activism”.

According to the Nicaraguan Pro Human Rights Association (ANPDH in Spanish), the number of deaths now has grown to at least 481, this report was disclosed Tuesday and includes data through July 27, 2018; the report also details that of the 481 deaths 455 were murders, 410 a result of gunfire. The remaining 26 deaths resulted from “unattended natural causes” and accidents related to the protests.

ANPDH also affirms that 1,338 people have been kidnapped by paramilitary forces, out of which so far only 123 have turned up thanks to the work of the organization and the Catholic Church, they have reported being victims of torture.
The total number of injured is estimated in 3.962.