Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 20 July 2018

Nicaragua marks 1979 revolution amid protests, bloodshed

By LUIS MANUEL GALEANO Nicaraguan fuel purchas-
MANAGUA, Nicaragua es.
(AP) — Nicaragua marked The opposition Civic Alli-
the 39th anniversary of the ance for Justice and De-
1979 revolution against dic- mocracy urged Nicara-
tator Anastasio Somoza on guans to boycott celebra-
Thursday, despite an ongo- tions and send a message
ing political crisis that has by staying home with their
seen hundreds killed in a families.
government crackdown "There is nothing to cel-
on protesters seeking Presi- ebrate," it said in a mes-
dent Daniel Ortega's exit sage circulated on social
from office. media, "but rather much to
Supporters of the president, lament."
who helped lead the San- Thursday also marked three
dinista uprising decades months since the onset of
ago, say the country has anti-government protests
made progress under his that began over cuts to the
rule. But detractors argue social security system but
that Ortega has become a broadened to include de-
dictator himself and should mands for Ortega to leave
step down after consolidat- office and early elections
ing near-total political con- to be held.
trol in the hands of his fam- Pro-government supporters check out T-shirts promoting President Daniel Ortega and The In his drive to consolidate
ily. His wife, Rosario Murillo, Sandinista National Liberation Front political party in Nicaragua, Thursday, July 19, 2018. control, Ortega — who re-
occupies the vice presi- Associated Press turned to power in 2007
dency. following three failed at-
"I never thought I would see more than 200. did not organize cara- neighborhood of Laureles tempts to win the presiden-
Daniel Ortega become a Despite the violence, many vans from other cities as is Sur. "They have given me a cy — has sidestepped term
dictator, let alone a crimi- were expected to gather customary, but instead di- loan, a scholarship for my limits to get himself re-elect-
nal who would try to stay in Thursday afternoon at a rected people outside the daughter, and the street in ed and packed courts and
power with fire and blood- public square near Lake capital to celebrate locally front of my house has been government agencies with
shed," said political analyst Managua to hear Ortega with piñata parties in parks paved. Before, it was dirt." allies. His selection of Murillo
Julio Lopez Campos, an speak during a rally com- and plazas. But Ortega's ability to hand as vice president was seen
ex-guerrilla fighter who was memorating the fall of the Many people were still ex- out such largesse has been by many as a bid to set up
once close to the presi- Somoza dictatorship. The pected to attend the rally crippled by the steady col- a family dynasty.
dent. annual event usually draws in support of the govern- lapse of Venezuela, whose Dolma Jerez was outside
The Nicaraguan Pro-Hu- hundreds of thousands of ment. leftist government had sold the Chipote prison Thurs-
man Rights Association has people, including govern- "The revolution is more alive cut-rate fuel to Nicaragua. day seeking the release
tallied 351 killings related ment employees for whom than ever," said Ortega With Venezuela's economy of her sister, Irlanda Jerez,
to unrest between April 19 attendance is essentially supporter Arelia Mem- crumbling and oil produc- who she said was arrested
and July 10, while the gov- not optional. breno, who runs a small tion dropping, it has be- at a protest the previous
ernment puts the figure at This year, the government business in the Managua come harder to subsidize day.q

Judicial chief resigns in latest scandal rocking Peru

deals on everything from the "Panorama" new anal- It remains unclear whether
promotions to criminal sen- ysis television show pub- the suspect was actually let
tences. lished a series of telephone off, but in the past Hinostro-
The latest scandal to em- recordings involving an ex- za has acquitted three
broil this South American tensive network of judges, other suspects accused of
nation has ensnared some businessmen and local au- raping minors. Hinostroza
of the country's highest- thorities describing back- managed to ascend to the
ranking judges and po- room deals. country's Supreme Court
litical officials and comes In one recording, judge despite accusations of pre-
just four months after then- Cesar Hinostroza is caught vious misconduct, including
President Pedro Pablo Kuc- talking with an unidentified having allegedly plagia-
zynski stepped down in a person about the suspect rized his thesis and a book
separate corruption probe. in the rape of an 11-year- that bears his name. He has
In a short letter shared on old girl. now been suspended.
Twitter, judicial chief Duber- After asking the child's age Other recordings describe
People pass Peru's National Judicial Council headquarters in li Rodriguez announced he and whether she had been members of powerful judi-
Lima, Peru, Thursday, July 19, 2018. was tendering his resigna- "deflowered," Hinostroza cial commissions helping
Associated Press tion "due to the institutional promises to pull up the judges and prosecutors
crisis." case file and investigate. get promotions over more
By FRANKLIN BRICENO wake of a mounting cor- The accounts of judicial Then he asks: "What do you well-qualified candidates,
Associated Press ruption scandal involving misconduct became pub- all want? apparently maneuvering
LIMA, Peru (AP) — The head secret phone recordings lic two weeks ago when the For the sentence to be re- with tactics like asking can-
of Peru's judicial branch capturing numerous judges Peruvian investigative news duced or be declared in- didates irrelevant questions
resigned Thursday in the making behind-the-scenes website IDL-Reporteros and nocent?" during interviews.q