The political, economic and social crisis in Nicaragua "is reaching a flashpoint" and "is more than likely to lead to more violence and destabilization in the country," Rafael Estrada said at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Central American country's "constant persecution of political opponents and independent journalists is unprecedented," said Estrada, who is president of the Nicaraguans for Security and Prosperity Foundation. He was one of several witnesses at a July 21 hearing sponsored by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on President Daniel Ortega's government and its political prisoners, which the committee described as "the human cost of repression in Nicaragua."