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In response to the repressive wave of the government of President Daniel Ortega that has jailed several opposition leaders, including four hopefuls for the presidency, the United States government announced this week sanctions against advisers to Ortega, who has governed since 2007.
In 2019, it is estimated that 251,900 Nicaraguans emigrated from the country and their main destination has been the United States, where 44.3% go, followed by Costa Rica according to data from Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
There are an estimated 5,000 Nicaraguans in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, according to data from the 2018 Census Survey of American Communities.
We call on President Daniel Ortega and the Nicaraguan government to immediately release presidential candidates Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Félix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastián Chamorro, and other leaders of civil society and the opposition who have been arrested. pic.twitter.com/z8fgWa7yNw
– USA in Spanish (@USAenEspanol) June 9, 2021
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“The United States will continue to use all the diplomatic and economic tools it has to support the Nicaraguan people’s demands for greater freedom and accountability, as well as for free and fair elections,” said Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department.
Mariel Palomino, a 47-year-old Nicaraguan, and creator of the Nicaraguenses Facebook group in Dallas & Forth Worth, agrees with the sanctions imposed by the Joe Biden government, but assures that it is not enough.
“The Biden administration is helping, and that is a good thing because it affects the Ortegas’ wallet, but it is not the solution, it is just one step,” said Palomino, who has lived in Dallas for more than 20 years and works in a clinical laboratory.
Palomino says that the best ally of Nicaraguans now are social networks to expose the Ortega government and achieve visibility of the fear they live in Nicaragua.
“My parents live there, my relatives, and they are all afraid, they do not want to go out on the streets, they cannot say that they are against the government because later they arrest them, I am afraid for them,” Palomino told Up to date.
The first detainee was the opposition candidate Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. The second arrest was that of Arturo Cruz, a former ambassador to the United States during Ortega’s administration between 2007 and 2009.
Félix Maradiaga, academic and political activist who planned to run as an opposition candidate in the presidential elections; Juan Sebastián Chamorro, economist and aspiring president; José Adán Aguerri, economist and head of the Economic Integration Commission, and Violeta Granera, sociologist and opposition activist have also been arrested.
All those detained, except Cristiana Chamorro, have been accused of conspiring against the sovereignty and independence of Nicaragua and of organizing terrorist acts with financial help from foreign powers.
They have been detained under a controversial treason law passed in December by the Nicaraguan National Assembly, which is dominated by government allies.
White House Security Advisor Jake Sullivan:
White House Security Advisor, @ JakeSullivan46: The growing repression of the Ortega regime against political and civil leaders is an assault on democracy. The United States supports the people of Nicaragua. https://t.co/Jg9NnEVPXu
– USA in Spanish (@USAenEspanol) June 10, 2021
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Samantha Power, administradora de USAID:
“The Ortega regime has orchestrated a wave of arbitrary arrests, including four presidential candidates and opposition leaders so far. Ortega must stop this explicit attack on human rights and democracy in Nicaragua and free political prisoners.” https://t.co/vsLDexYmrc
– USA in Spanish (@USAenEspanol) June 10, 2021
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Acting Assistant Secretary of the State Department for Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung:
The arbitrary detention of presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga – the third opposition leader detained in 10 days – confirms without a doubt that Ortega is a dictator. The international community has no choice but to treat him as such.
— Julie Chung (@WHAAsstSecty) June 8, 2021
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New Jersey Congressman Albio Sires applauded the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on four close to Ortega on his Twitter account.
I applaud the Biden administration for sanctioning 4 of Ortega’s cronies. It is a positive step, but we have to do more to prevent the complete consolidation of a dictatorship in #Nicaragua.https://t.co/Oj00rWjw3o
— Albio Sires (@RepSires) June 9, 2021
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With information from NPR and BBC
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