Nicaragua: “Law of revenge and arbitrariness”

In Nicaragua, ruler Ortega rules with an iron fist. Most recently, the authoritarian regime deported 222 members of the opposition to the United States. Now Ortega is also taking action against dissidents in exile.

Gioconda Belli reads from her poem. “Nicaragua” it says. A declaration of love to her home country. It is her reaction to her expatriation, posted on her Instagram account. Authoritarian President Daniel Ortega declared 94 dissidents already in exile to be fugitives from the judiciary.

The renowned writer Belli lives in Madrid because she had to leave her hometown of Managua after receiving massive threats. She is one of the best-known critics of the authoritarian government of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo.

Drastic action against compatriots in exile

A judge read the reasoning mid-week. The measures served the purpose of “guaranteeing social peace, legal certainty, independence, sovereignty and self-determination for Nicaragua”. Those affected were also accused of spreading false news and undermining national integrity. All of their assets are to be confiscated. They may no longer hold any public office in their homeland during their lifetime.

The EU condemned the withdrawal of citizenship for the 94 dissidents. The procedure represents a violation of fundamental rights and a breach of international law, said the chief spokesman for the European External Action Service in Brussels.

“The law and the constitution are no longer respected”

The journalist and editor-in-chief Carlos Fernando Chamorro is also among those affected. He now runs the online edition of “El Confidencial” from exile in Costa Rica after the newspaper was forcibly closed in Nicaragua. Two of his siblings were among the 222 political prisoners who were expelled from the country and flown to the United States on February 9. For Chamorro, this is proof of the lack of freedom in his home country.

Appeal to employees in public offices

Among the deportees are diplomats, journalists, human rights activists, politicians, intellectuals and activists, some of whom took part in protests in 2018 that were bloodily suppressed by the authoritarian regime. At that time, around 350 people died and thousands were injured.

“People who work in the public sector, in the civil service and in the military, in particular, should denounce corruption,” Chamorro calls on his compatriots to break the silence. They should “disobey the orders of an amoral dictatorship and begin to become part of a change and a national solution”.