Nicaragua: 1) Treatment of professionals opposing the Sandinista Government; 2) copy of Decree 1074 "Law of Maintenance, Order and Security"
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | NIC4827 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Nicaragua: 1) Treatment of professionals opposing the Sandinista Government; 2) copy of Decree 1074 "Law of Maintenance, Order and Security", 1 March 1990, NIC4827, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aafb14.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
1) The treatment of opponents of the Sandinista regime, including professionals, can be viewed through the activities of the government-sponsored neighbourhood groups called Sandinista Defense Committees known by their Spanish acronym CDS. The CDSs were originally entrusted with 'weeding out' the remnants of 'somocismo' but later have been used for the harassment of anyone "... who happen[s] to express doubts about Sandinista wisdom." [1] The actual harassment was carried out by the CDS-controlled mobs known as 'turbas divinas' [2] which "attacked opposition rallies and the homes and workplace of people, rich and poor, who did not openly support the FSLN." [3]
2) This decree was not found in the sources currently available to the IRDBC.
Notes:
1. Shirley Christian, Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family (Vintage Books, New York: 1986) p.138.
2. Inside the Sandinista Regime: A Special Investigator's Perspective (U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.: February 1986) p.18.
3. Shirley Christian, ibid p. 352.