They tried to assassinate a trans activist from Nicaragua in her office

The president of the Nicaraguan Transgender Association (ANIT), Ludwika Vega Espinoza, survived a brutal attack on Tuesday perpetrated by unknown assailants inside the organization's headquarters, located in the capital of the Central American country.

September 16, 2019

By Paula Rosales

The president of the Nicaraguan Transgender Association (ANIT), Ludwika Vega Espinoza, survived a brutal attack on Tuesday perpetrated by unknown individuals inside the organization's headquarters, located in the capital of the Central American country.

According to the ANIT report, the activist was beaten by two men who broke into the office and hit Vega Espinoza in the face with a brick, causing her to lose four teeth, and then stabbed her seven times all over her body.

In the incident, Ludwka was also robbed of her belongings, tied up by her hands and feet, and they tried to suffocate her inside the ANIT office.

“They put a sack of detergent over my head to suffocate me and tied my hands and feet. I don’t know how I managed to get out of there,” Ludwika told the Nicaraguan news program Acción 10.

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The activist added, “We constantly receive these kinds of threats and accusations because of our gender identity and expression, but this time, since I was the last one there, they managed to grab me, but several of my companions were stoned and beaten. They were calling me: 'fucking bitch, you bastard.'”

According to the Nicaraguan LGBTI National Roundtable, which condemned the attack suffered by the activist and demanded an investigation into the case, the act was committed out of hatred and because of Ludwika's stances against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Since April 2018, Nicaragua has been experiencing a deep political crisis motivated by the attempted reform of the pension system, which led to massive protests demanding the resignation of President Daniel Ortega.

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According to a report published by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Ortega government violated human rights during the repression of citizen marches.

“In less than five days we have learned that two activist leaders, one trans and one bisexual, were brutally physically assaulted, the most serious case being that of Ludwika Vega, Director of ANIT, who was viciously attacked, endangering her life,” stated a press release from the National LGBTI Roundtable, published on its Facebook account.

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