EU Urges Nicaragua's Ortega to Release Prisoners Jailed Amid Protests - Reports

11:31 GMT, 27 January 2019

More than 500 people have been arrested in Nicaragua as a result of the worst political tensions to engulf the country since the 1980s, Reuters cited the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights as saying; the Center itself was banned in the country last month at the behest of the Interior Ministry.

Sputnik

A European Parliament delegation has requested that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega free the country's political prisoners, rescind prohibitions on certain government-targeted human rights groups, and start talks with the opposition amid ongoing political turmoil, Reuters said.

The Latin American country is witnessing its worst political turmoil since the 1980's Contra War.

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Earlier this month, Nicaraguan Central Bank President Ovidio Reyes said that the nation had suffered losses amounting to some $1.1 billion since the mass protests started and that some 130,000 workers had lost their jobs in the Central American country of approximately 6.2 million people.

Nicaragua has been in the international spotlight since April, when people took to the streets to protest the unpopular social security reforms announced by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. After several days of protests, Ortega cancelled the reforms, but the protests, which were accompanied by violence and clashes, have continued nevertheless.