the government of Nicaragua The consultation was called by Nicaraguan ambassadors who worked in four countries at once. It is a diplomatic method used by the leaders of nations to signal to the government of another country that they are unhappy with the relationship.
On Monday (9), the Vice President and First Lady of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, said that her country is calling Nicaraguan ambassadors for consultation. Argentinahandjob Colombiahandjob Mexico I Costa Rica “In relation to the reciprocity of similar calls on the part of the mentioned Governments”. These countries criticized arrest wave Opposition leaders in Nicaragua (see below).
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (right), his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo (left) and daughter Camila Ortega (Sen.) celebrate 40 years of the Sandinista Revolution, June 2019 Photo – Photo: Inti Ocon / AFP
Argentina and Mexico withdrew their ambassadors from the Nicaraguan capital Managua in mid-June. Costa Rica and Colombia suspended the appointments of their representatives in the country last month.
The first lady, Murillo, criticized the “constant and unwarranted derogatory, intrusive and interventionist remarks in our internal affairs by the highest authorities of each of these countries” on issues concerning the people and government of Nicaragua.
Nicaragua expressed its “hierarchical” disapproval of what it called “caricature imitators” who “played roles that no one assigned them.”
Understand what happens in Nicaragua
Elections are due in Nicaragua on November 7. The current president, Daniel Ortega, a 75-year-old former guerrilla, has been in power since 2007 after two consecutive re-elections. For that, he had to change the laws that prevented him from retaining his power.
Led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), the president aspires to remain in power for another five years, with 70-year-old Murillo in the vice presidency from 2017.
Opponents of President Ortega have been convicted and imprisoned so that they cannot participate in the election. Seven presidential candidates and other opponents have been arrested – at least 32 opposition leaders have been detained since June. Most of them were arrested for “treason” against the motherland, according to laws passed by Congress that controlled the situation.
One of the last measures taken by Sandinismo was the disqualification of the main opposition bloc, led by the Citizens for Freedom Party (CXL), which had managed to register candidates to face Ortega.
Following the CXL’s disqualification, the opposition faction known as the National Coalition, made up of parties and civil society organizations, would attempt to regroup to “establish a clear position” before the international community, stating that It does not recognize the electoral process. .
Since the bloc is not legally recognized, its members are barred from presenting candidates.
In a statement read out at a virtual conference, coalition leaders said the election is the way to solve the crisis in the country, but they do not support the electoral spectacle, which will only result in Ortega and Murillo retaining power.
Coalition leader Luis Flay, who is in exile, said it was time to set aside individual positions and called for unity of parties that do not belong to the faction, “Put Nicaragua first and think that in this country.” It will not happen. If Ortega remains in power, there is no life for anyone”.
Critics of the European Union and the United States
The European Union has cleared Murillo, his son Juan Carlos and six other government officials of their responsibility for “serious human rights violations” in Nicaragua, along with migrant and financial sanctions.
The measure is in addition to other measures taken by the United States and Canada against Ortega government officials, in protest against the repression by the Nicaraguan government against its opponents since the start of the anti-government demonstrations in 2018.
EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement that “Ortega wants to win the election without competition.”
The EU believes “the opposition has been wiped out” and Nicaragua is being denied the right to vote “in credible, inclusive and transparent elections”, Borrell said.
Demonstrators show the names of those killed during a protest against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on November 2, 2019 – Photo: Osvaldo Rivas / Reuters
“The decision implemented by the Supreme Electoral Council to deprive the last remaining opposition political party of legal personality before the November elections undermines the prospects of a valid and credible electoral process,” he said.
Spain, for its part, condemned the CXL’s disqualification and called on the Nicaraguan government to create an independent, impartial electoral authority, not controlled by the ruling party, after considering “only a credible electoral process”. The social, political and economic crisis Nicaragua is facing.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the November elections in Nicaragua had “lost all credibility” because of Ortega’s “autocratic” maneuvers.
