The 2018 Nicaraguan protests began on 18 April 2018 following a move by the government of Daniel Ortega to reform social security. Following the deaths of protesters, demonstrations intensified and grew into a large anti-Ortega movement seeking his removal from office.
Timeline by months April
April 3–12, 2018 — Indio Maíz Reserve Fire
• April 3rd, A massive fire breaks out in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, one of Nicaragua’s most important protected areas. • The government’s slow and inadequate response to the environmental disaster sparks frustration. • On April 6th, Facebook pages posted a public appeal regarding the wildfires in Nicaragua’s Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, calling for international assistance due to the Nicaraguan government’s failure to act. • Environmental groups and university students begin organizing protests and social media campaigns using hashtags like #SOSIndioMaíz. • On April 10, influential social media figures urged the people to peacefully protest against the government. These protests are peaceful but quickly met with police repression and censorship. • Between April 5th and 12th, as well as in the following weeks of April, social media figures published alerts and critiques to raise public awareness, highlight the severity of the wildfires, and hold the Nicaraguan regime accountable for its failure to contain the disaster. Several posts were shared by thousands of followers, reaching a wider audience throughout the country. April 10–13, 2018 — Student-Led Protests Begin • Students hold protests in Managua and other cities demanding immediate government action on the fire. • On April, 10th, social media called for a protest at the University of Central America at 5:30 PM. • Mobilized by social media posts, students and sympathizers organized peaceful protests from April 10th to 13th. Students faced violent repression by military and police forces. One student was reported killed inside the UCA. • April 10th marks the first day of protests, in the Centro American University. (Universidad Centro Americana). The first protests lasted all night. On April 11th, the protest became a march along the main streets of several cities. In Managua, protesters were violently met by the police in the Plaza las Victorias. • The government blocks journalists and attacks student protestors, intensifying public outrage. • This marks the first wave of resistance, centered around environmental and freedom of expression concerns.
April 14-17, 2018 – Intensification of protests, increased violence
• Violent crackdowns began: Government-aligned groups (grupos de choque) and police used live ammunition, rubber bullets, and tear gas against demonstrators. • First deaths reported: At least 2 protesters were killed in Managua and León. • Barricades erected: Students and activists blocked roads in Managua to protest repression. • Pro-government mobs attacked protesters: Armed civilians (suspected of being Sandinista sympathizers) assaulted demonstrators, journalists, and clergy. • Catholic Church mediation: Bishops offered to facilitate dialogue between protesters and the Ortega government. • Death toll rose: Reports indicated over 10–20 killed since protests began on April 10. • International condemnation: The OAS and human rights groups denounced state violence.
April 17, 2018 — Social Security Reform Announced
• The government of President Daniel Ortega announces reforms to the social security system (INSS): Increases in worker and employer contributions. A 5% deduction from retiree pensions. • The move is widely viewed as unfair and harmful to vulnerable populations.
Sources: ReVista – Harvard Review of Latin America : https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/my-experience-in-the-2018-nicaraguan-student-movement-paying-the-price-of-our-troubled-past/ Organization of American States . https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/pdf/2018/91-18mc1060-18-ni.docx Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/06/19/crackdown-nicaragua/torture-ill-treatment-and-prosecutions-protesters-and Confidencial news: https://confidencial.digital/english/timeline-nicaragua-eight-months-of-civic-rebellion/
Timeline by months April 18 April – Citizens already angered by the handling of the Indio Maiz fires expanded their protests in response to the Ortega administration's announcement of social security reforms that raised income and payroll taxes while reducing pension benefits by 5%. Demonstrations involving mostly elderly individuals, university students, and other activists broke out in Managua and six other cities, which were met with a heavy response from the authorities ordered by President Ortega. Authorities were seen using live ammunition on protesters while also arming Sandinista Youth mobs with weapons. Various forms of independent media were censored during the protests.
19 April – Vice President and first lady Rosario Murillo made a speech mocking the demonstrators and labeling them as "small groups, small souls, toxic, full of hate", bent on the destruction of the country. She also labeled the demonstrators that had been attacked as "aggressors" and the attack by pro-Ortega groups and police as "legitimate defense".
There were major protests and confrontations in León, Managua, Granada, Boaco, Carazo, Estelí, Rivas, Matagalpa and Masaya. TELCOR ordered the suspension of transmissions of four independent TV channels that were reporting the news: channels 12, 23, 51, and 100% Noticias. Also the Roman Catholic Episcopal Conference's TV channel. The suspension lasted several hours, except for 100% Noticias, who was out of the air until 25 April. Murillo accused the protesters of being manipulated and trying to "destabilize" and "destroy" Nicaragua.
20 April - The 15-year-old student of Instituto Loyola, Álvaro Conrado, was shot to death during a demonstration. He died when the hospital refused to let him enter. 21 April – Ortega makes his first public appearance and announced he would hold negotiations for possible revision of the reforms, planned to take effect on 1 July; however, he said he would only meet with business leaders and alleged that demonstrators were being manipulated by gangs and other political interests. Demonstrations increased in response, with protestors objecting to the repression of demonstrations and the exclusion of other sectors from the negotiations, as well as the reforms themselves. The business chamber COSEP announced it would only participate in the negotiation if police violence ceased, detained protestors were released and free speech was restored. Nicaragua's Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops (CEN) also called for an end to the police violence and criticized unilateral reforms; Pope Francis subsequently added his call for peace in the country. 22 April – As press described the unrest as the biggest crisis of Ortega's presidency, Ortega announced the cancellation of the social security reforms, acknowledging they were not viable and had created a "dramatic situation". He again proposed negotiations on the issue, this time to include Catholic Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes as well as the business community. 23 April – Marches of citizens, businessmen and students were held in Managua demanding the end of violence in the country, the release of students arrested by the police, the cessation of censorship of television media, and a response from the government about the students who died during the protests. The protests were the largest seen during the Ortega administration, with tens to hundreds of thousands of demonstrators participating and calling for the president's resignation. 24 April – Over 200 detainees got released by Nicaraguan authorities. This was the result of dialogue between the government and other organizations. Leaders of the campesino (peasant) movement released a statement in support of youth and self-organized grassroots protestors and called for a national strike until negotiations included all sectors of society. Peasant rights leader Francisca Ramírez called for Ortega's resignation. 26 April – Nicaraguan Attorney General Inés Miranda announced a formal investigation into the deaths during the protests. 27 April – President of the National Assembly Gustavo Porras announced a truth commission to examine the deaths and violence during the unrest. Head of the National Police Aminta Granera announced her resignation in face of the criticism of her handling of the unrest and alleged police repression of protests. 28 April – Hundreds of thousands participated in marches for "peace and justice" organized by the Catholic churches in Nicaragua in the cities of Managua, Matagalpa and León, León. At the events, "bishops, feminists, homosexuals, family members of those killed in the repression... and thousands of peasants" gathered in unity to demonstrate. Peasants who lived in rural areas traveled to Managua by a caravan of trucks, arriving to protest against the Nicaragua Canal proposal by Chinese businessmen and the Ortega government. 29 April – Anonymous attacked the websites belonging to the Government of Nicaragua. 30 April – Tens of thousands of Ortega's supporters participated in a rally showing him support. The rally consisted mostly of singing and dancing to music popular to the former Sandinista guerrillas. There were some reports of government workers being forced to join the pro-Ortega rally.
May 1 May – The Government of Nicaragua rejected the Inter-American Human Rights Commission's request to investigate the violence surrounding the weeks of protest. 2 May – Student groups created a deadline for the Nicaraguan government to allow the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Human Rights Office to send in personnel to investigate the killings of protesters. Police in riot gear blocked a student march from Central American University (UCA) to the National Assembly, with students instead marching to the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua (UPOLI) to show solidarity with other groups entrenched there. After pro-Ortega groups appeared on their route, they cancelled another planned march, so students reinforced barricades surrounding UPOLI under the watch of authorities. Anonymous Nicaragua hacked the website of the National Police of Nicaragua, calling for them to support of anti-Ortega protesters. 3 May – Shock troops of the Nicaraguan armed forces and police assaulted UPOLI in the early morning at about 01:00 CT, dispersing students stationed at the university. The incident left six students injured, one seriously. Student group Movimiento 19 de Abril responded to the incident stating that they would not participate in a dialogue with Ortega after he sent forces to attack them, placing peace talks in jeopardy. 4 May – Paramilitary groups, reportedly supervised by Sandinista mayor of Masaya Orlando Noguera Vega, attacked protestors at the entrance to the Niquinohomo municipality, birthplace of Augusto César Sandino. The protesters were surrounding a statue of Sandino painted blue and white, the colors of the Nicaraguan flag, that had become a symbol of the protests. 6 May – The university groups Alianza Universitaria Nicaragüense, Movimiento Estudiantil 19 de Abril and Movimiento Universitario 19 de Abril created a coalition to participate in dialogue and condemned the pro-Ortega National Assembly's move to create a truth commission which they deemed to be biased. 8 May – Students of the National Agrarian University (UNA) and the Catholic University (Unica, private), added to the protests in Nicaragua, manifesting their discomfort in the streets, and more Nicaraguans joined the protests throughout the day.