Nicaragua’s Civic Alliance Announces Organizational Changes

The opposition Civic Alliance announced some organizational changes on Friday. Former political prisoners Medardo Mairena, for the peasant sector, and Edwin Carcache, for the students, were reinstated as full members, the organization announced in a statement.

The Alliance explained that it had restructured to strengthen itself and that, apart from the reinstatement of Mairena and Carcache, who were part of the first dialogue in 2018, Carlos Tunnermann, one of the most respected academics in the country, will be the new coordinator of the Alliance.

“The extensive experience, honesty and integrity of Dr. Tunnermann will continue to be a reference point for our organization and a guide in the struggle for rights and liberties that he has raised throughout his life,” said the Alliance where much of the opposition is brought together.

The organization announced that they created an Executive Council “as an implementation and follow-up body for all the actions approved by the plenary of the Alliance.” The Council will be composed of eight full members “elected for one year and without the possibility of reelection,” it specified.

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Besides Mairena and Carcache, the other members of the Executive Council are social and labor organizer Sandra Ramos, feminist Azahalea Solis, Jose Adan Aguerri, of the private sector, Ernesto Mairena, as an academic; Daisy George, for the Caribbean Coast, and Jose Pallais for the political sector.

Juan Sebastian Chamorro, current director of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development, a think-tank for businessmen, is the Executive Director of the Civic Alliance.

The opposition Civic Alliance was the interlocutor that negotiated with the government of Daniel Ortega and demanded that the regime free political prisoners, implement electoral reforms and early elections. The government then withdrew from the dialogue and still resists to release more than 100 political prisoners.

The Alliance also announced in its statement that it created six work commissions: Inclusion, to incorporate new members; Political Management, in charge of seeking alliances and electoral reforms to have transparent, free and observed early elections; International Relations, Communication, Administration and Verification and Security.