Corporate media outlets blamed Nicaragua’s government for a deadly arson attack during the 2018 coup attempt, but new information raises serious doubts about the official story, highlighting the campaign of regime-change misinformation.
by John Perry
Part 2 - Dubious reports on arson attack
The worst of these attacks occurred on June 16 last year. At 6 in the morning, in the Managua barrio known as Carlos Marx, masked youths threw Molotov cocktails into an occupied three-story house.
Fire spread quickly from the ground floor, used for a family business of making mattresses, to the living rooms upstairs where the family was beginning its day. Neighbors rushed to help, but six people were burnt alive, including a baby and a 2-year-old girl.
Fire spread quickly from the ground floor, used for a family business of making mattresses, to the living rooms upstairs where the family was beginning its day. Neighbors rushed to help, but six people were burnt alive, including a baby and a 2-year-old girl.
This could easily have been a self-inflicted blow to the “peaceful” image the protesters had created. But instead it became emblematic of the government’s supposed violent response to the protests. How was this achieved?
Among those quickly on the scene was Gonzalo Carrion, a representative of local “human rights” body called CENIDH. Student eyewitnesses reported that Carrion had been present when opposition militants took over the campus of the UNAN university earlier in the attempted coup, and had even been a bystander to their violence.
Among those quickly on the scene was Gonzalo Carrion, a representative of local “human rights” body called CENIDH. Student eyewitnesses reported that Carrion had been present when opposition militants took over the campus of the UNAN university earlier in the attempted coup, and had even been a bystander to their violence.
Without any obvious prior investigation, Carrion recorded an interview blaming the fire on government supporters, calling it the act of a “terrorist state.” This was, of course, consistent with a pattern of misreporting by CENIDH throughout the coup.
Also quick to arrive were reporters from Canal 10, the opposition-supporting TV channel. They interviewed one of the survivors, pressuring him to blame the police for the arson attack.
Much later the man would explain how his vulnerability was abused, in the midst of attempts to find his family, while he was surrounded by opposition supporters.
Also quick to arrive were reporters from Canal 10, the opposition-supporting TV channel. They interviewed one of the survivors, pressuring him to blame the police for the arson attack.
Much later the man would explain how his vulnerability was abused, in the midst of attempts to find his family, while he was surrounded by opposition supporters.
Nicaragua’s main daily right-wing newspaper, La Prensa, also had no doubt who the culprits were: “Ortega mobs burn and kill a Managua family” ran its headline the following day.
At that stage, the reality was that no outsiders knew who the masked youths were who had started the fire, nor did the journalists who arrived make much attempt to find out. Hundreds of thousands of social media messages began to appear, blaming the government.
At that stage, the reality was that no outsiders knew who the masked youths were who had started the fire, nor did the journalists who arrived make much attempt to find out. Hundreds of thousands of social media messages began to appear, blaming the government.
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