The White House said Tuesday it is monitoring government-led attacks on citizen protesters in Nicaragua and the deaths of nearly 30 people who have taken to the streets to call for the resignation of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and reforms to the nation’s social security system.
“The repugnant political violence by police and pro-government thugs against the people of Nicaragua, particularly university students, has shocked the democratic international community. As a nation that supports free speech as a human and civil rights, the United States condemns the violence and repression propagated by the government of Nicaragua and any closing of media,” the White House press secretary’s office said in a statement about the situation in Central America.
“The administration joins the international community in calls for broad-based dialogue and support for the people of Nicaragua, who yearn for the political freedom of expression and true democratic reforms they so richly deserve,” the White House added.
Tens of thousands of people are demonstrating in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital city.
The State Department on Monday ordered relatives and family members of U.S. government employees to leave the country.
The initial calls to change the national social security system were rescinded following initial protests, but angry and defiant citizens have remained in the streets since last Wednesday.
