began in April, 2018. They are the dead that Ortega has tried to hide.
Illustration: Juan Garcia / Confidencial
Over the 11 years that the Sandinistas were in power during the 80s, the government of
Daniel Ortega granted an amnesty every fifteen months.
From that time on, Daniel Ortega prescribed to us – and continues to prescribe –
a profound amnesia, so that once more we forget the crimes that he,
his wife and their allies have committed
HAVANA TIMES –
Recent history has witnessed tragic crimes against humanity: those that occurred in
Stalin’s Russia, Mao Zedong’s China, and in Cambodia under Pol Pot to
name some of the most infamous.
Of course, one of the most tragic events occurred under the Nazi regime during the
Second World War, when Hitler had at least six million Jews murdered, the
greatest holocaust in the history of humanity.
We Nicaraguans don’t like to remember – we prefer to forget.
We’re a society where, due to trauma or decrees, we’ve forgotten and stopped talking.
Until now.
The word “amnesty” comes from a Greek word that means “without memory (or recall),
or mutual and general forgetting of past things.”
It’s been a common thread in our political history.
In 1829, the first amnesty granted by a government was reported.
Over the next 138 years until 1967, there were 41 different amnesties granted, an
average of ONE EVERY 40 MONTHS!!
Over the 11 years that the Sandinistas were in power during the 80s, the
government of Daniel Ortega granted an amnesty every fifteen months.
From that time on, Daniel Ortega prescribed to us – and continues to prescribe –
a profound amnesia, so that once more we forget the crimes that he,
his wife and their allies have committed.
Amnesty #42, the first one decreed by Daniel Ortega in 1983, was to make
us forget the massacre committed against 42 indigenous Miskito communities
during the so-called Red Christmas.
During this period, a great number of indigenous people – the exact number
was never established – were killed when they opposed the transfer to
new settlements, far from their communities, to avoid having these communities
serve as bases of support for the Contra.
The last amnesty of that era was number 49, signed by Sergio Ramirez in 1990,
immediately after Ortega lost the elections to Violet Barrios de Chamorro.
That decree granted amnesty to the public employees who had been involved
in misappropriation of the public wealth.
With this measure, they ordered us to forget everything that had been stolen and
divided up during the famous pinata, in the interests of a supposed
peace and reconciliation.
Afterwards, under the government of Mrs. Barrios, Amnesty #50 was decreed,
confirming once again the pardon for all the political and common crimes
committed up until this date by anyone.
image Foto: Carlos Herrera / Confidencial
us forget the massacre committed against 42 indigenous Miskito communities
during the so-called Red Christmas.
During this period, a great number of indigenous people – the exact number
was never established – were killed when they opposed the transfer to
new settlements, far from their communities, to avoid having these communities
serve as bases of support for the Contra.
The last amnesty of that era was number 49, signed by Sergio Ramirez in 1990,
immediately after Ortega lost the elections to Violet Barrios de Chamorro.
That decree granted amnesty to the public employees who had been involved
in misappropriation of the public wealth.
With this measure, they ordered us to forget everything that had been stolen and
divided up during the famous pinata, in the interests of a supposed
peace and reconciliation.
Afterwards, under the government of Mrs. Barrios, Amnesty #50 was decreed,
confirming once again the pardon for all the political and common crimes
committed up until this date by anyone.
image Foto: Carlos Herrera / Confidencial
