The article discusses the troubling normalization of paramilitaries in Nicaragua under the Ortega-Murillo regime, culminating in a public swearing-in ceremony for 30,000 volunteer policemen. These groups, labeled as heroes of peace, are responsible for significant violence against protestors. Lorenzo, an anonymous government employee, shares his distress over being coerced into this event, highlighting the regime's tightening grip on power through legal reforms that endorse repression. His experience sheds light on the moral dilemmas faced by Nicaraguans caught in the regime's oppressive machinery, as they grapple with their roles in a repressive state.
Lorenzo closed his eyes when first lady and co-president Rosario Murillo stood on the central platform of Plaza la Fe, in Managua, on the banks of Lake Xolotlan.
The difference today is that, since January of 2025, this parastatal group was given legal status, thanks to the constitutional reform that consolidated a totalitarian government.
I don't want to be a paramilitary or be associated [with such groups], because those people have done a lot of harm, Lorenzo tells EL PAIS.
The public act, broadcast on national television on February 26, culminated in the formalization of 76,800 hooded volunteer police who, between January and February, were sworn in at identical ceremonies.
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