Over 200 Public Figures Demand International Action against the Regime

Over 200 public figures have signed a declaration entitled: “Nicaragua has a right to freedom and democracy.” The statement demands the “international community’s condemnation of the actions of the Ortega-Murillo government.”

Those signing include ex-presidents, human rights defenders, writers, diplomats, European deputies, professionals, and political figures from Spain, Germany, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Nicaragua has a right to freedom and democracy

Nicaragua, a country with a tragic and heroic history, is once more living through somber hours.

Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s drive to perpetuate themselves in power, in the name of a non-existent revolution, has led the country to the edge of collapse, one step away from an unforeseeable situation.

Since 2018, the couple in power have unleashed the violence of the state and paramilitary forces, against the civilian population who participated in the civic rebellion of that year. The toll has been painful: over three hundred people killed – most of them young, and over 100 thousand exiled. More than 120 prisoners still remain in the Ortega-Murillo regime’s jails, out of three thousand plus who were imprisoned at different times.

In the last few days, Ortega and Murillo have unleashed a new repressive onslaught. They raided and looted the offices of journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro and his media outlet Confidencial for the third time in the past 13 years. They’ve opened a criminal case against Cristiana Chamorro, a journalist and independent presidential candidate. She’s being accused of money laundering of foreign aid funds granted by the United States and European agencies.

Mrs. Chamorro’s home was raided on June 2, and house arrest has been imposed on her. In addition, over thirty journalists, media directors and representatives, former employees and representatives of organizations that received some support from the Violeta Barrios Foundation have been summoned to testify. Among them were writer Sergio Ramirez and the newspaper La Prensa.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DISPATCH

Get the most prominent news about Nicaragua, every Wednesday, directly to your inbox.

Email *

This new repressive escalation is aimed at removing from the political arena any possible competitors of the current rulers, with five months left before November’s elections. But the consequences are still worse. In essence, it constitutes one more step towards the consolidation of a despotic regime, which has placed Nicaraguans on the threshold of the total suppression of their human rights.

Given this worsening of the already deteriorated public freedoms, those who are friends of Nicaragua and lovers of democracy, as the best possible system of government and coexistence, cannot remain silent. That would imply complicity with the oppression and impunity for the demonstrated human rights violations. For that reason, we energetically condemn these new attacks against the Nicaraguan people, and we demand that the international community and our governments act decisively to initiate the actions needed to keep the Ortega-Murillo regime from succeeding in their dark aims.

The Nicaraguan people, victims of so many past civil wars, have opted this time for a peaceful solution to the crisis in which they’ve found themselves mired for the last three years. The way out could come through free and transparent elections with guarantees, in order to make the transition towards recovering the Rule of Law and constructing a democracy with full respect for human rights.

We request:

• That the international community issue their condemnation of the actions of the Ortega-Murillo government
• That there be an electoral process that complies with the minimum conditions demanded by the international community.
• That everything possible within the scope of diplomacy and politics be done to sanction the regime for their systematic violations of human rights in the country.

We must not abandon the Nicaraguan people, in their determination to obtain peace, liberty and democracy. We must not permit Ortega and Murillo to continue advancing along their road to the consolidation of a dictatorship in this beloved country.

June 6, 2021

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times