It has been a terrible situation here. We have had a lot of people killed by the police and other groups that support the government
Nicaragua was one of Latin America’s most peaceful countries – not anymore. Now residents of this Central American nation fear their country is on the brink of civil war.
“We fear war could erupt at any moment and that would bring a lot of suffering, so please pray for us,” a local evangelical pastor, whose city has been at the center of the conflict, told the CBN News.
This pastor has a small-sized church in Masaya’s Monimbo neighborhood, some 17 miles south of Nicaragua’s capital city of Managua. Three months ago, on April 18, Masaya became the epicenter of a national resistance movement to Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega.
It began with small groups of students in Masaya protesting Ortega’s economic reform plans but quickly spread to other cities with protesters demanding the president leave office and hold early elections. Soon, violent clashes erupted between anti-government protesters and pro-government police and paramilitary forces.
“It has been a terrible situation here. We have had a lot of people killed by the police and other groups that support the government,” the pastor said.
