In October of 2018, Colombian university students went on strike to protest the lack of federal funding for public universities that have pushed numerous universities in the nation to the point of bankruptcy.
Nicaragua’s current President, Daniel Ortega, rose to power as a revolutionary leader in the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (otherwise known as FSLN or Sandistas) that overthrew the dictatorship by removing President Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979 (Perez). In 2007, Ortega was elected as president and because of his sound economic policies and social spending, was re-elected in 2011 and 2016 (Perez).
Yesterday, May 16th
In response to the inauguration of incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Sunday, January 27, protests have once again erupted throughout the capital city of Tegucigalpa, prompting a severe crackdown by armed forces.
One of the issues that have stirred up considerable interest in the literature about social movements in recent years is the one regarding the tactics of collective protest. When a group of people decides to publicly express its dissatisfaction with the authorities, why does it sometimes use peaceful and conventional tactics, such as an organized demonstration in a plaza; and other times violent and rowdy ways, for example destroying public or private property? Why are tactics with a high symbolic content, such as a theater performance ridiculing a hated politician, sometimes used?
Claims of conspiracy and sabotage, ones all-too-familiar for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, resulted in the expulsion of three U.S. diplomats from Venezuela on February 16th. As might be expected, the decision was made after the U.S. State Department articulated its concerns over the perpetual discord throughout the nation, most evident in the February 12th protest that gained international attention. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry was quick to issue a statement critiquing the U.S.
What started out as a relatively calm student protest in Venezuela on the afternoon of February 12th turned into a day of grieving for three Venezuelan families whose loved ones perished in an effort to affect change in light of the continuous corruption that marks the fabric of the country. This march was the most recent in a series of manifestations rallying against the ineffective economic policies of President Nicolás Maduro.
On February 12th Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez called on opponents of the socialist Venezuelan government to take to the streets and support student groups that had been protesting the overwhelming problem of violent crime in Tachira State the week before. Ever since protests have continued on an almost nationwide scale.
As the third week of anti-government protests in Venezuela starts an important question has been lingering: why has the international community been so passive in the face of violent repression against protesters in Venezuela? This, even as prominent international human rights organizations have condemned the government’s unchecked response against dissidents. Why have they not acted with the same resolve as in other similar recent cases in Honduras in 2009 or Paraguay in 2011?
On Sunday in Venezuela, thousands gathered once again to march peacefully in the upper-class neighborhoods of Caracas, continuing the opposition movement’s momentum.
