Steve Sweeney, July 12th 2019
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/nicaragua-established-nearly-…
Installation of Peace Commission in Jinotepe, Nicaragua
NICARAGUA’s government has established nearly 5,000 peace commissions across the country as it continues work to heal the “pains, traumas and resentments” left by last year’s US-backed coup attempt.
The 4,802 Reconciliation, Justice and Peace Commissions are intended to promote discussions on building peace among all sections of the Nicaraguan population.
Meetings will be held at municipal, departmental and national levels, Sandinista National Liberation Front legislator Carlos Emilio Lopez announced on Thursday.
“The commissions demonstrate unity as a necessary element to consolidate the economic and social growth of the country,” he said.
President Daniel Ortega’s government has continued its efforts to bring about peace and stability following last year’s violence, in which Washington-backed armed right-wing gangs sought to bring down the government.
The government has insisted on a peaceful dialogue and has released hundreds of prisoners as part of an amnesty for crimes related to the protests as it seeks the “reconciliation of society.”
Mr Lopez said the commissions would also be a space for those affected by last year’s violence to repair the emotional damage caused by the opposition extremists.
“Step by step they are healing the pains, traumas, resentments, psychosomatic effects and internal wounds … We continue to advance and grow in these spaces of coexistence,” he said.
Announcing the establishment of the commissions earlier this year, Vice-President Rosario Murillo said: “Nicaraguan families want security, work, prosperity, peace and we are winning it, it is the truth, because the majority of Nicaraguans want to live in peace.”
Nicaragua has rejected US interventionism and its “antagonistic” interference in the peace process.
The country is readying itself for next week’s celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in July 1979.