The Alianza Cívica por la Justicia y la Democracia (Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy) called for a 24-hour national strike on Friday, September 7, to demand the release of political prisoners and the resumption of the national dialogue.
The strike will begin at zero hours on Friday and end at midnight on the same day.
“Nicaragua needs an urgent peaceful solution through dialogue. We need to live with security, without kidnappings, without political prisoners, without persecution and without stigmatization for thinking differently and denouncing the human rights violations committed by the government. That is why we are calling for a national strike,” the Civic Alliance said in a statement released this morning.
In July, the campesino movement leader Medardo Mairena Sequeira, was arrested and continues on remand, accused of committing seven crimes, including terrorism, organized crime, kidnapping, murder.
In the letter, the Civic Alliance calls on the owners of small and medium-sized businesses, large entrepreneurs, independent professionals and the self-employed to join this initiative as a measure of pressure against the government of President Daniel Ortega.
“We exhort all citizens to be part of this call for a peaceful and dialogued exit. We urge employers to respect the decision of workers to join this cessation of work. We invite public employees to join us, “the statement said.
This is the third national strike organized by the Civic Alliance since the protests began in Nicaragua.
In the previous two national strikes, the Civic Alliance considered them a success, while the government of Ortega ordered the State to work.
“We reaffirm that dialogue is the only way to live in unity, with the freedom, security, dignity, and respect that all Nicaraguans deserve, we stand for justice, democracy and prosperity,” the Civic Alliance said in the notice.
The first national strike this year occurred on June 14, when plazas and shopping centers closed, as well as gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, car washes and family businesses such as pulperías (corner stores).
On July 13, the second national strike was held. The private sector estimated that 90% of businesses in all of Nicaragua shut down. That day the streets looked desolate.
“There was not a single business open in Managua, that shows that solidarity, that union, that embrace that the business sector and its collaborators have, with what is being done for that justice and democratization that it requires (Nicaragua),” said José Adán Aguerri, president of Cosep, referring to the national strike of July 13.
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