Greetings, friends of Ceci! I know a lot of us have been worried about our friend, who I will not tag because there are serious concerns about her being watched, but y'all know who Mama Castor is. <3 She's living in Nicaragua, where the situation has been getting worse and worse, and you hear almost nothing about it in the news. She was finally able to reach out in private chat yesterday to a few of us, and so I am passing on her messages about what's going on there.
image from BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45918060?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cdl8n2ede8zt/nicaragua&link_location=live-reporting-story
From Ceci:
"Things have gotten a lot worse here. We are still alive and doing the best we can to survive. People are now being thrown into prison without trials for using call phones in public an [sic] selling national flags. Christmas will not be celebrated in this country this year.
It is tradition to have a month of celebrating with fireworks but this year...nada."
image from BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45862428
Ceci continued:
"Med are getting harder to buy and I need to go further and further for supplies.
There are no civil liberties here. We have stock piled as much as we can. We should be alright until the new year as long as more poop doesn't come down the pike.
I am not able to get on to post, still no access to computer and the Internet is throttled. We are being watched...
They are very paranoid and we suspect that they are addicted to drugs and they do have links to the cartels who are supplying funds."
image from BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45637087
Ceci:
"The Creator was with me today. No computer and no way to get things into the country. I needed to get a letter out to revenue Canada about my pension and the post office opened the letter, read it and tore it up!
Nothing comes in nor goes out...including people
No one's [sic] dares to talk. That is an automatic go to jail card if they don't shoot first
People need to know that people are being arrested for using cell phones in public. No selling, buying or displaying the Nicaraguan flag. Don't wear hats, t-shirts or anything that has a Nicaragua on it. ...It has become very uncomfortable to live here if that is what we are doing is called livng.
The kids are suffering. Old folks and anyone who is unwell. The money will be devalued again with in the next few weeks. We can no longer get US dollars out of ATMs. If you want them you need to go to the central bank and give reasons for needing them only to be turned down. The amount of money that you can withdraw in local currency is also being controlled. The paramilitary are now out in force in all public locations including the farmers markets. You can be searched at anytime and no reason needs to be given.
Needless to say we don't sleep well at night. We have stepped up our guards... "
image from Human Rights Watch article: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/27/nicaragua-protests-leave-deadly-toll
Ceci continued:
"We are pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. No buses, planes or cars in or out. They are also patrol I got [sic] the sea so that the fishermen feel threatened
This is worse than communism. This is a paranoid dictator with ties to cartels
His money is not here and sanctions against him won't work. They only hurt the poor people here. They have less food and medicines and are cut off from their families too
If we hadn't been such preppers we would have been in trouble months ago."
Ceci was asked:
What would be the one thing you wished you had stored up more of before all this happened?
She replied:
"Our arsenal of meds, four [sic] sugar and coffee. More on hand for self defense. A larger storage of gasoline. And more education for the people here on how to protect themselves."
image from HRW article linked above
Ceci:
" ...you really don't want to know more about the things happening here. These people should be tried for crimes against humanity. Even animals aren't this cruel. I appreciate you getting the message out there as my hands are tied at the moment...
The safety of my granddaughter is what is important. She is our future. This life as it is has no future for her or any other child growing up here."
image from DW article: https://www.dw.com/en/nicaragua-orders-un-human-rights-delegation-to-leave/a-45312097
And then Ceci had to go, as she could only stay where she had internet access for so long.
I did find the articles above by searching specifically for them, but I haven't been seeing anything organically popping up in my news feeds, have you? And even these articles, when they talk about a death count of 300 - that seems low considering how dangerous Ceci is saying it really is. One of the articles admitted that it's hard to get information out, so I'm sure that's why. I fear when all is said and done, we'll find out the death toll was much higher. :(
Anyway, if I get more info from Ceci, I'll post again. In the meantime, send your love and energy to the people of Nicaragua. <3