Friends in Solidarity,

We have lived a month full of tragedy in our country. The peace we achieved as a people, so fragile and at the cost of so many lives, is in immanent danger of disappearing irreparably.

There are now two sizeable camps of the population with dangerously contrary positions. On one side, there is a combination of university students (with leadership from private universities), media outlets with rightwing owners representing the oligarchy, Catholic Church bishops close to Opus Dei, the private sector and, of course, the US Embassy, working together to create a situation of chaos in the country in order to remove president Daniel Ortega. This group of actors accuses the National Police of having killed dozens of protestors in the riots that reached all Nicaraguan cities, ostensibly against a reform—since revoked—to the system of social security.

As we have described, the reality is more complex, and the violence was generalized and explosive, involving protestors with homemade firearms that often misfired, as well as counter-protestors, paid pickets, street gangs, and unknown gunmen. The truth is that we do know or understand everything that happened, because the violence from the first moment was something beyond our experience and took place simultaneously throughout the country, resembling the surprise opening of a war more than protest.

Based on what our membership has been able to report, the National Police was really a minor actor in the violence, using tear gas and rubber bullets to clear crowds in a few hot spots following their protocol, but not involved in the vast majority of the 50 or more deaths that have been reported since April. Indeed, we fear that some of the killings may have been carried out by professionals, neither the protestors or the government. What is clear is that any and all deaths have been the necessary political capital that the opposition needed to put pressure on a government that had been recognized for its community policing model. The rightwing media has dedicated the full power of its voice to accuse the government of killing peaceful protestors, while the publicly-owned channels talk of right-wing paramilitary violence and a coordinated effort to destabilize the country. The Interamerican Commission of Human Rights has been invited by the government and currently is investigating the events of April.

A national dialogue began on Wednesday, May 16^th, with the participation of anti-government students, civil society organizations, and the Presidency, and mediation by the Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church led by Archbishop Leonaldo Brenes.

However, the coup-like violence has only grown and currently, rightwing armed groups have all of the main highways in the country closed. Since these groups are masked, it is difficult to know exactly who they are, but in the cases where we have confirmed information, they are mostly made up of unemployed men paid by traditional rightwing political parties to maintain the blockades.

On the other side of the conflict, the militancy of the Sandinista Front continues to feel and withstand phenomenal provocations, including:

• The destruction of its Sandinista homes (party headquarters) in dozens of cities
• The destruction or defacement of hundreds of historic monuments, murals, and memorials of Sandinistas
• The arson of dozens of public buildings
• The interruption of work and the food shortages that have resulted from the road closures and violence
• The deaths of passersby and journalists by paid pickets and violent protestors
• Relentless false accusations and lies circulated by corporate media.

It must be added that Facebook has been the primary means for transforming Nicaraguan society that one month ago was at peace into a toxic, hate-filled nightmare. Currently, hundreds of thousands of fake Facebook profiles amplify the hatred and pressure Nicaraguan Facebook users to begin to share and post hate messages.

Many, if not most, of these fake Facebook profiles have been created in countries other than Nicaragua, and in particular, Miami is the city where many of the Facebook and WhatsApp accounts behind the violence are managed.

Historically, the ATC has been a participant in the Sandinista struggle. In truth, we have not felt fully consulted or represented by the current government. The current coup attempt makes use of these historical contradictions and is trying to co-opt the symbols, slogans, poems and songs of Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution, since of course the rightwing has none of its own.

However we may feel about Daniel Ortega, the ATC would never contribute to making chaos and sowing violence in order to force the collapse of the democratically elected government in order to install a more docile, Washington-friendly neoliberal government. There are clearly real frustrations in sectors of the population, especially youth, and if these sectors are unable to find popular organizing processes, they will end up being the cannon fodder for a war, which would be the worst possible situation for the Nicaraguan people.

In this context, the ATC has called for “all national actors to reorganize themselves based on their aspirations.” With this intention, the ATC proposes to confront the national crisis with a series of dialogues among young people, without party distinction or any ideological basis, in favor of peace and understanding. We propose extraordinary youth assemblies in the cities of San Marcos, Jinotepe, Rivas, Granada, Masaya, Estelí, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Juigalpa, Santo Tomás and Tipitapa, as spaces for young people to discuss the national situation and find points of unity. It is important to mention that we do not have a previously defined “line” to impose upon these debates—they will be spaces for listening, forming ideas and thinking with our hearts.

We call upon your solidarity and generous support for the creation of an emergency fund for peace in Nicaragua that makes possible this round of extraordinary youth assemblies. The national coordinators of the Rural Youth Movement, Sixto Zelaya and Marlen Sanchez, will have the responsibility of organizing the assemblies and administering the fund with absolute transparency.

To contribute to the emergency fund, you can make a donation through the Friends of the ATC solidarity network online at https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7315/donate_page/friends-of-atc-urgentcall or by check (payable to “Friends of the ATC/AfGJ” with “Emergency Fund” in the memo line) and mail to 225 E. 26th St. Suite 1, Tucson, AZ 85713, USA.

It is urgent to organize the Nicaraguan family and win peace!

-International Secretariat of the ATC

May 18, 2018