It was a district that used to be the symbol of resistance to Daniel Ortega’s rule, and the barricades built since April 19th had not been pulled down by the special forces yet. A few weeks ago, the bishops themselves had rushed into those streets and acted as human shields. And yet Monimbó district, in the city of Masaya, the cradle of Nicaraguan folklore, fell to a military attack: about one thousand people armed with sophisticated, heavy weapons had been besieging Monimbó since 6 am and defeated the resisting citizens, who only had a few home-made mortars. Once past the barricades, the paramilitary forces spilled into the streets and started searching for people, door to door. It’s difficult to take stock of the situation now, and on Twitter mgr. Silvio José Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, who was born in Masaya himself, says that the news are still uncertain. The first count speaks of three victims, but they will probably be many more, not least because it’s not easy to rescue injured people in a besieged city. Many people have been taken and arrested (the first few figures speak of about forty of them).
https://twitter.com/silviojbaez/status/1019409163724775424
It is actually from Masaya that SIR took a short statement from father José Bosco Alfaro, a Salesian father and the director of the Don Bosco Salesian School in Masaya: “The police and the paramilitary forces came in and took the city, they are stripping down the barricades and have spilled into the streets. We are fine, and luckily they have respected our School. Many protesters ran away not to be slaughtered but others have been arrested”.
Also from Monimbó, the parish priest, father Augusto Gutiérrez, tells a tragic story as, in tears, he gives an interview to the Spanish radio Cope. The audio file of the interview was sent to SIR. “The attacks lasted four hours, they had heavy weapons, then they got into the district. They are desecrating the churches, they are killing, they are threatening to kill us, as priests”. There’s no other name but “genocide” to describe what’s happening.
In the interview, the parish priest recalls that the population of the district “are simple people, a native district, mostly inhabited by craftsmen”. And he goes on to say that Ortega is getting ready to celebrate 19th July, a national holiday, “on people’s blood”. And, in tears, he makes an appeal to the governments and to the international community: “Don’t let us die, step in, it’s a carnage here”.