Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega stated on Sunday that the planned pension reform, which has sparked protests in recent days, has been canceled.
Ortega declared that the “resolution from April 16, which initiated this entire situation, has been revoked, annulled, set aside.” The non-governmental organization Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) reported on Sunday that more than 20 people have died in protests against the pension reform in Nicaragua.
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Neither the government nor the police have confirmed these figures. The last official report from Friday mentioned ten fatalities, while the daily newspaper La Prensa reports over 30 dead, but does not specify the source.
Protests began on Wednesday in several cities across the country. Opponents of the reform proposed by President Daniel Ortega’s government, which aims to increase contributions and reduce pensions by five percent to address the budget deficit, gathered.
These are the largest protests in Nicaragua since Daniel Ortega came to power 11 years ago.
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On Saturday, he called for dialogue. He stated that the protests are supported by political groups opposing his government and funded by extremist organizations from the United States, but he did not identify them.
Ortega emphasized that the goal of the protests is “to sow fear and insecurity, to destroy the image of Nicaragua after 11 years of peace in order to seize power.”
