Under the slogan, “Together we are a Volcano” (Juntos somos un volcán) thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets of Managua this Thursday, July 12 to demand the resignation of President Daniel Ortega. The march is the first of three days of scheduled protests against the Nicaraguan government, this Friday protesters call for a national strike and on Saturday a civic caravan. Ortega however, refuses to call early elections.

The Organization of American States (OAS) called an extraordinary session as advised by Rita Hernandez, permanent representative of Costa Rica, for this Friday, July 13 to “consider the developments unfolding in the Republic of Nicaragua” at the request of the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Canada, Chile, Peru, and the United States.

This is the second meeting held this week after the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (CIDH) presented its updated report of the country’s situation confirming a total of 264 dead and over 1800 injured; however, other organizations such as the Nicaraguan Association Pro Human Rights quantified the number of deaths in 351.

The United States recently evacuated all non-essential embassy staff from Nicaragua and remained closed this Thursday due to the large marches, it has also confirmed it will remain closed Friday, July 13 and will only provide limited emergency consular services by telephone.

The US Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua made the following statement:

Events over the past several weeks in Nicaragua have shown that locations, routes, times, sizes, and possible violence at demonstrations, roadblocks, and downtown areas of various cities throughout the country are all unpredictable. Although it appears that the greatest levels of violence occur between sundown and sunup, outbreaks of violence also have occurred during daylight hours. The Embassy has limited resources to assist U.S. citizens affected by violence and encourages those who fear for their safety to leave the area as quickly and safely as possible.

Until further notice:

• U.S. citizens needing emergency passports (for imminent travel only) may visit the Embassy between 7:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, when the Embassy has not announced a closure.

• Embassy Managua is no longer providing routine nonimmigrant or immigrant visa services. Embassy Managua cannot provide services for immigrant visa petitions that have not yet been filed, approved, or sent to Embassy Managua for visa processing, and is currently not accepting new immigrant visa cases from the National Visa Center. Likewise, unless nonimmigrant visa applicants meet very strict expedited appointment requirements (life or death medical emergencies), they will not be able to have interviews in Managua for the foreseeable future. Additional information about where else to apply for nonimmigrant visas is available at http://www.ustraveldocs.com, and applicants with pending immigrant visa cases can contact the National Visa Center to explore if other options are available. Answers to frequently asked questions about our visa operation status are available at https://ni.usembassy.gov/…/visas-frequently-asked-questions/.