Turmoil in Nicaragua

Below I'll include an in-depth analysis on Nicaraguan politics, but to be brief I'll just say that there were some pretty violent protests all over Nicaragua this past week. On Thursday, we had to be in the house early. On Friday, we were able to leave in the morning, but were not allowed to leave in the afternoon. We obediently stayed inside our house until Tuesday, when the mission president finally declared the scene safe to work again. I suffered a lot during those days in the house. As we have no technology, our days consisted of intense scripture feasting, heat hibernating (as it's hotter inside the house than out, naps are impossible, so we just lie soaking in our heat hallucinations), journal writing, and eating (until we decided to do a nation-wide fast Monday).

The miracle is, yesterday, we were able to resume our normal labors. And, I guess, that nothing happened to us. Three people were killed within our neighborhood. One of the tragedies of it all was a young LDS husband, who had been home from his mission only one year, and married only a couple months. He was killed by cross-fire while administering medications to an injured protester. It's a pretty big relief that the violence has seemed to calm down a little, though most people believe we'll be seeing a lot more similar protests in the near future.

With love,
Elder Stephen Watts

Nicaraguan Politics:

Tensions had been raised ever since the re-election of communist leader Daniela Ortega in January. It was supposed by many that the election was rigged because the number of votes in favor of Ortega was more than the total number of people who voted... Last Wednesday, Ortega mandated that people would have to pay 5% more in social security, and receive much less. There was a video released Wednesday of the police beating the crap out of a grandpa-aged protester that seemed to trigger everyone. On Friday, the biggest, most prestigious Nicaraguan University was burned down by student protesters. By Saturday, every market and supermarket had been robbed and left totally empty by mobs of protesters. Saturday night, the army of Nicaragua was given permission to shoot and kill anyone who was seen doing something illegal. By that time many people had begun to describe the situation as a civil war, though there was never an organized revolution of any sort. Sunday, violence continued, the President spoke out, but the people didn't really seem to like what he said. On Monday, the president finally revoked the changes of social security. The government released the hundreds of people that they had been holding captive in the Universities and Catholic churches that had served as refuges for the protesters. There was a massive, peaceful march asking Ortega to step down as president, but he didn't step down, so everyone just went home and began normal life again. Through it all we heard all sorts of rumors, including that Trump was going to send aid to the revolution to free the people from communism, but I'm glad that didn't happen because it would've made everything a lot worse. After all was said and done, there were more than 30 deaths, the majority head-shots by the Nicaraguan police and army. Oh yeah, and on Thursday all news stations were shut down, but the videos uploaded on Facebook were uncensored and gruesome.