For the Sandinista government, opponents detained in continuous police raids five months before the presidential election, do not represent the “real opposition in Nicaragua”, as they have neither registered nor nominated candidates by any political party. as chosen.
In a text titled “Nicaragua: In Defense of Sovereignty and the Rule of Law,” the government says, “the only thing this group of opposition moneylenders have in common is their loyalty to the US government.”
According to the document, opponents “received millions of dollars in funding from the American people through USAID, either directly or through their respective NGOs, to “defeat the elected government of President Commander Daniel Ortega Saavedra” and other agencies. has.
The government’s indictment comes amid strong criticism of the international community and US sanctions over the arrest of 13 opponents, including four presidential candidates, prominent members of the Sandinista dissent, and leaders of private businesses and civil society.
The police operation began on June 2 with the arrest of Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of former President Violet Barrios de Chamorro.
The detained former diplomat Arturo Cruz, political scientist Flix Maradiaga and economist Juan Sebastián Chamorro are Christiana’s cousins, whose immediate release is demanded by the international community. The government urged that there be no “interference” in the investigation against these men, accused of “offences of money laundering, fraud, treason and conspiracy”.
– but sensible –
Democratic lawmaker Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and Republican Marco Rubio, a senior member of the upper house Western Hemisphere subcommittee, called on Joe Biden’s government to use “diplomats all the tools available to confront the Ortega regime”. called upon to
In a letter to the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Méndez and Rubio called for increasing economic sanctions against Nicaraguan officials and strengthening joint work with the Organization of American States (OAS) to coordinate multilateral rejection of “adversaries”. called upon. -democratic attack” of the government. Nicaraguan government.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretariat spoke about the arrests for the first time and indicated that it “follows with concern” the recent actions of the Nicaraguan government. He also said that, along with its policy of non-intervention and self-determination of the people, it highlighted to the Nicaraguan authorities their concern “for the integrity and freedom of prisoners”.
The OAS Permanent Council will meet virtually this Tuesday to analyze the situation in Nicaragua at the request of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the United States and Peru.
Ortega, a former guerrilla who ruled from 1979 to 1990, returned to power with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in 2007 and remained there after being re-elected twice in a row. His opponents believe he will seek a fourth term in the November 7 vote.
The regime was accused of authoritarianism by the opposition and the international community, after a brutal crackdown on protests against his regime in 2018, according to human rights organizations, that left more than 300 people dead and thousands deported.
Sandinismo ensured that the general elections were “free, fair and transparent” and demanded that there be “no interference by any foreign government” in the process. He also called for “eliminating” the unilateral sanctions imposed on the country, as he believes “only legal sanctions are set by the UN Security Council”.
