Dialogue to end Nicaragua violence off to rocky start

As the first details emerged on Friday from a renewed peace dialogue in Nicaragua - starting the day after a nationwide general strike - there are already discouraging signs, most notably the absence of President Daniel Ortega at the meeting.

The government also said at the meeting it would not accept a proposal made by Catholic bishops - who helped to broker the dialogue - to allow the entry of human rights groups into the country, local daily La Prensa reported.

In attendance at the dialogue, umbrella opposition group Alianza Cívica por la Justicia y la Democracia - who has called for the resignations of Ortega and his wife, vice president Rosario Murillo, - said it would demand an immediate cessation of repressive activities against protestors and justice for the victims of said actions.

The group also wants to begin a formal definition of the democratization agenda, though the report in La Prensa did not specify where it stands on a recent proposal to carry out early elections presented to the OEA.

La Prensa reported on Tuesday that Ortega told US envoy Caleb McCarry that he is open to a proposal to hold early elections, but said he would not resign, which is one of the opposition's demands.

Monsignor Abelardo Mata, spokesman for the Nicaraguan Bishops' Conference (CEN), said early elections should be held with Ortega out of power.

Speaking to the outlet, another attendee, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, executive director of Nicaragua's economic and social development fund (Funides), said the first thing they planned on doing Friday was listen to the government's proposal in order to better understand what they have to negotiate with, and what subjects the government is prepared to discuss.

"Obviously, the issue of advanced elections has been heard. So, first let's analyze that and then define strategies," said Chamorro.

The president of private sector association Cosep, José Adán Aguerri, expressed hopes that the new dialogue would not be "bogged down" around the issue of roadblocks, as it did with the first dialogue in May.

This, for Chamorro, will only be achieved if there is political will to push through political reforms.

"That is why the agenda that was presented on May 23 is quite complete, it is a matter of political will to push the changes," said Chamorro.

Azahalea Solís, a member of the Alianza Cívica and a participant in the dialogue, said the main thing is for Ortega and his wife to accept that the country has changed and they can no longer govern it.

Pictured: People are seen Thursday through a bus window set alight by demonstrators in Tipitapa, about 25 km from capital Managua, during the general strike held to mark two months of violent chaos under Ortega.