By John Perry
[John Perry is based in Nicaragua and writes on Central America for The Nation, The London Review of Books, OpenDemocracy, The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Counterpunch and other outlets.]
Advances in health care such as new hospitals and Covid-19 vaccinations keep great numbers from migrating. Here people are receiving their second dose of Sputnik V vaccine in Managua.
According to Reuters, when Daniel Ortega’s government “began arresting presidential contenders,” tens of thousands of people “slipped into exile” in the United States or Costa Rica. In the article, Lost hope: Ortega’s crackdown in Nicaragua stirs fast-growing exodus, Nicaraguan ‘activist’ Jesus Adolfo Tefel says he feared arrest if he stayed in the country. But have people really fled Nicaragua because of the arrests that have taken place in advance of November’s elections, or are they saying they have, for the most obvious reasons?
The Reuters article is classic propaganda, linking things which in practice don’t link up but can be made to appear to. First, of course, migrants claim persecution as their (hoped for) ticket into asylum in the country they are trying to enter. But the only recent arrests in Nicaragua have been of prominent opposition representatives accused of specific violations of laws relating (for example) to the financing of non-profits and the receipt of foreign government funding. The few who have left (like well-known “independent” journalist Carlos Chamorro) are evading these laws. There are plenty of ‘activists’ such as Jesus Adolfo Tefel living normal lives, including ones like him who were given conditional amnesty in June 2019 for crimes committed during the attempted coup in 2018, providing they stay within the law.
Second, it’s clear that migration from Nicaragua to the US has increased from a small trickle to a trickle, but that it is still far lower than migration from neighboring Honduras and Guatemala (not to mention Mexico itself). “Push factors” include the pandemic and its effects on the economy, possible fears of more US sanctions on Nicaragua and the drying up of work in Costa Rica (see below). But much more important are the “pull” factors that drove up migration to the US from many countries at the start of this year: by March, “encounters” of all nationalities at the US southwest border had grown by over 100% in just two months. Labor shortages in the US, the easing of the pandemic and the belief that President Biden will be more lenient with migrants are likely to be the main “pull” factors.
According to Reuters, Costa Rica is “struggling” to process a surge of Nicaraguan refugee applications. Although some 60,000 Nicas have sought asylum in Costa Rica since 2018, more than 80% of these were said by the authorities in 2019 to be longer-term residents trying to regularize their status. That’s why the whole asylum story in Costa Rica is a concocted myth. Nicaragua’s opposition and its allies in Costa Rica make the most of it, not least because money has poured into Costa Rica from the UN and other agencies to help them solve the refugee “crisis” (it received $650 million of UN money in 2019 alone).
A Nicaraguan’s chance of having an asylum application approved in Costa Rica is not high – around 50% were turned down last year – and waiting times are extremely long. An important reason for this is that many of those pleading for asylum have committed crimes, including murder, before they left Nicaragua. At the moment, for example, Nicaraguan officials are seeking the extradition of a man from Masaya who is asking for asylum in Costa Rica because he is accused of the torture and murder of police officer Gabriel Vado in Masaya in July 2018. Many Nicas are deported to Nicaragua for such reasons (more than to any other country). Last year about 190 were deported from Costa Rica while over 26,000 were prevented from entering at the border in the first place.
For decades Costa Rica has had a symbiotic relationship with Nicaragua, depending on it for labor for its tourism, farming and other industries, while Nicaraguans benefit from working in an economy where income per head is five times higher. In any one year, around the same number of Nicas return to Nicaragua from Costa Rica as cross into Costa Rica: in 2018 and 2019, pre-pandemic, there were over 1,600,000 cross-border movements by Nicas going to or from Costa Rica, of which 49% were people returning to Nicaragua, despite the supposed “repression.”
The picture has changed radically since the pandemic, with the near collapse of tourism in Central America being particularly damaging for Costa Rica. The ravages of Covid-19 have hit Costa Rica’s economy and that of its neighbor Panama, worse than Nicaragua’s. Remittances from Nicas living in CR have also fallen sharply compared with those from those living in the US and Europe. That’s why Nicas are returning in greater numbers. Costa Rican statistics on border crossings since October last year show that almost 1,000 more Nicaraguans have left Costa Rica than have entered it. Can we now look forward to a new Reuters headline, “Nicaraguans flee Costa Rica in their hundreds”?
NSCAG Update September 2021
This is a listing of webinars and online articles on Nicaragua compiled by the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group of the UK, www.nscag.org
FORTHCOMING WEBINARS
Alliance for Global Justice Webinar, 12 September – ‘Nicaragua Advances Despite Attacks from Left and Right’ – details and registration here
Joint NSCAG/NSC webinar, 23 September – What difference has 14 years of Sandinista government made? – details and registration here
WEBINAR RECORDINGS
Webinar hosted by Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America on 18 August – ‘Latin America’s Struggle: Opposing US Intervention, Neoliberalism and the Far-Right’ with speakers on Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. A recording of the webinar can be found here
Webinar hosted by Alliance for Global Justice on 22 August – ‘What’s at stake in Nicaragua’s 2021 elections’ – with Sofia Clark who addressed such questions as: How is the Supreme Electoral Council working to assure elections are free and fair? What will be the electoral effects, if any, of U.S. policies and practices? Are the media accurate in their portrayal of the elections? Is the FSLN trying to eliminate other candidates, as it is accused of doing? A recording of the webinar can be found here
Webinar hosted by Féile an Phobail, 6 August – ‘Viva la Revolución! Anti-Imperialist struggle in the Americas’ with Hugo Ramos (Cuban Ambassador), Guisell Morales (Nicaraguan Ambassador), Rocio Maniero (Venezuelan Ambassador) and Sacha Llorenti, Executive Secretary of Alba. See link to the recording here . An article linked to the webinar can be found here
Webinar hosted by Code Pink, 2 September – ‘Hybrid War, Sanctions & US regime change in Nicaragua’ – a recording of the webinar can be found here
ARTICLES FROM THE NICARAGUAN COMMUNITY
An open letter from Ana Narvaez, Director of Compas de Nicaragua, see link here
La Dalia – Women in a housing cooperative build their own homes – article by Winnie Narváez Herrera, see link here
Falling in love with your community – article by Massiel Luna Delgado, see link here
Revolutionary renewal after the siege of 2018 – article by Patricia Ruíz, see link here
ARTICLES ON THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION IN NICARAGUA
The following articles also give a true picture of what’s actually happening in Nicaragua as opposed to what’s being said by corporate media such as the Guardian and the BBC:-
Nicaragua: the right to live in peace – article by Francisco Dominguez, see link here
Ordinary Nicaraguans should guide Progressive Left’s Stance – article by John Perry, see link here
Nicaragua launches plan to fight poverty and promote human development – transcript of interview with Ivan Acosta, Nicaraguan minister of housing and public credit, see link here
Two-thirds of Nicaraguans support leftist Sandinista Front: poll debunks ‘dictatorship’ lie – article by Ben Norton, see link here
History tells us that the United States’ supposed ‘concern for democracy’ in Nicaragua is nothing of the sort – article by Dan Kovalik, see link here
Nicaragua at a Revolutionary Crossroads and in Imperialist Crosshairs – article by Netfa Freeman, see link here A statement from the International delegation to Nicaragua in July can be found here
The media’s lies and lies by omission about migration out of Nicaragua – article by Peter Bolton, see link here
Sanctions may impoverish Nicaraguans, but likely will not change their vote – article by John Perry, see link here
Latin American socialism and the fight against COVID-19: Cuba, Venezuela,
Nicaragua – article by Sasha Gillies-Lekakis, see link here
Hands off Nicaragua – article by Dr Arnold Matlin – see link here
Nicaragua – Tom Phillips’ (Guardian reporter) dog day untruths- article by Stephen Sefton, Tortilla con Sal – see link here
FROM THE NSCAG WEBSITE
In case you missed them, here are some recent posts from the NSCAG website:-
https://www.nscag.org/news/article/364/an-open-letter-to-the-international-community
Briefs
By Nan McCurdy
IDB Recognizes Nicaragua for Transparency
The transparency of Nicaraguan government officials and the satisfaction of the population with public services were highlighted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in a report amplified by local and regional media on August 14. Nicaragua is not included among the nations where bribes are paid to public officials, according to the IDB document entitled ‘Panorama of Public Administrations: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020’.
The advances made by the Sandinista government since it returned to the presidency in January 2007, in health care, education at different levels, the courts and the policies implemented to have access to public information, were also highlighted by the IDB. Nicaragua is the leader in the Americas in gender equity, and the leader worldwide in women in cabinet level government positions with 55.6% held by women. Nicaragua ranks third in Latin America in terms of the population’s satisfaction with health care, second only to Costa Rica and Uruguay. It ranks eighth among 23 countries in the people’s satisfaction with education at different levels and above nations with more economic resources like Mexico and Colombia. See article: https://www.elpais.cr/2020/08/14/el-bid-reconoce-a-nicaragua-por-transparencia/ and see IDB report: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Panorama_de_las_Administraciones_P%C3%BAblicas_Am%C3%A9rica_Latina_y_el_Caribe_2020.pdf
(ElPais.cr, 14 August 2021)
Plan to Eliminate Poverty Underway
Here are links in Spanish and English to an interview with Ivan Acosta, Minister of Housing and Public Credit. In July he presented the new “National Plan for the Fight Against Poverty and Human Development,” which builds on the achievements of the Sandinista government since 2007. In English: https://popularresistance.org/nicaragua-launches-new-plan-to-fight-poverty-and-promote-human-development/; In Spanish: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias-generales/destacado/en-marcha-plan-para-eliminar-la-pobreza/ (Radio La Primerisima, 3 September 2021)
Europa Press News Agency Notes Health Achievements
On September 6 the “Europa Press” News Agency published an extensive report on Nicaragua’s health achievements. The article states that between 2007 and 2021 the Government inaugurated 21 new hospitals, 16 healthcare centers, 452 health units, 128 maternity wait homes and four specialized centers, promoting quality public healthcare as a fundamental right of its citizens. “In the last 14 years, the Government has reduced the maternal mortality rate from 92.8/100,000 births in 2006 to 37.5 in 2020 and infant mortality decreased from 29/1,000 births in 2006 to 12.8 in 2020”. The report noted that “free medical and palliative care for cancer patients is guaranteed and the use of natural and ancestral medicine has been incorporated as part of the rights of Nicaraguans to a healthcare system with cultural identity.” The report noted that, “Seventeen psychosocial units were established to strengthen the response to mental health illnesses. Infant cardiac and renal surgery were non-existent in 2007; now they are carried out and fetal surgery is available, making Nicaragua the only country in the Central American region to offer this type of procedure.” https://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-gobierno-daniel-ortega-construye-seis-nuevos-hospitales-inaugurado-ya-21-20210906104412.html (Nicaragua News, 7 September 2021)
MINSA Prepared for Delta Variant
Although not one case of the Delta variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Nicaragua, the health authorities are conducting studies and are prepared for this situation, intensifying the active search for positive Covid cases with house to house visits, said Dr. Carlos Saenz, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health (MINSA). During a Channel 4 interview, he recalled that Nicaragua has 20 hospitals that are ready to attend positive cases of Covid; there has never been an overflow in hospitals as in other countries. He asked the people to continue with the biosecurity measures to avoid contagion and said that nothing can replace hand washing – it is the golden rule that must be followed, as well as other measures such as social distancing and the use of masks. (Radio La Primerisima, 6 September, 2021)
President Asks All to Take Measures to Fight Covid-19
President Daniel Ortega on Sept. 6 during the 37th anniversary of the Special Operations of the National Police urged all citizens to continue taking the indispensable hygienic measures to stop the virus. “What has been the determining factor for us to be able to face this pandemic? The determining factor has been stability, peace,” he emphasized. “It is proven. In the countries that wanted to force people, even imprisoning those who did not comply with confinement, that was not the solution, it actually caused more deaths, and caused intra-family problems when people were locked in an apartment …The vaccine is important, but it is the best business that has been installed in the world at the moment for the big companies…They can charge whatever they want…the vaccine against the virus that causes poverty has not yet been discovered, because it has to do with the insatiable appetites of those who accumulate wealth, doing business even with health.” (Radio La Primerisima, 6 September 2021)
Prinzapolka Hospital Rehabilitated
The Nicaragua Ministry of Health inaugurated the rehabilitated “Prinzu Pawanka” primary hospital in Prinzapolka, in the Northern Caribbean Autonomous Region. The US$1.7 million project benefits 44,000 people. (Nicaragua News, 1 September 2021)
Covid Report for Week of August 31 to September 6, 2021
Last week the Health Ministry reported 449 new registered cases of Covid, 401 people recuperated and one death. Since March 2020 there have been 9,732 registered cases, 8,916 people recovered and 201 deaths. (Radio La Primerisima, 7 September 2021)
Provisional List of Candidates Published
The following list of candidates for President and Vice President was published by the Supreme Electoral Council on Sept. 3.
Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC)
President; Walter Edén Espinoza Fernández.
Vice President; Mayra Consuelo Arguello Sandoval
Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN)
President: Jose Daniel Ortega Saavedra
Vice President: Rosario Maria Murillo Zambrana
Christian Path Party (CCN)
President: Guillermo Antonio Osorno Molina
Vice President: Violeta Janette Martinez Zapata
Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance Party (ALN)
President: Marcelo de Jesus Montiel Fernández
Vice President: Jennyfer del Carmen Espinoza Blen
Alliance for the Republic Party (APRE)
President: Gerson Gutierrez Gasparin
Vice President: Claudia Maria Romero Cuadra
Independent Liberal Party (PLI)
President: Mauricio Orue Vasquez
Vice President: Zobeyda del Socorro Rodríguez Díaz
Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Asla Takanka Party (Yatama)
Caribbean Coast Party presents candidacies to Regional Deputies (RACC sur and RACC norte) (Supreme Electoral Council Newsletter, 3 September 2021)
Tax Exemption to Promote Tourism Spending
To promote spending during the independence days including the Bicentennial of Nicaragua’s Independence from Spain, the President announced that an exemption to the Added Value Tax on sales in restaurants, bars, and hotels was established for the period from September 14 to 17. (Nicaragua News, 1 September 2021)
Small Producers receive Technology Packages
The Institute of Agricultural Technology and the Korea International Cooperation Agency trained and delivered Technology Packages to 1,000 small producers in La Concordia, Jinotega department. The packages include improved seeds, agricultural tools, and inputs to promote cultivation of beans. The initiative is part of the Creative Economy Model in support of small producers. (Nicaragua News, 1 September 2021)
Solar System in Rama Inaugurated
The National Electricity Transmission Company inaugurated a solar system in El Carmen, Rama municipality, Southern Caribbean Autonomous Region, benefiting 354 inhabitants. The project is part of the Supply and Installation of Solar Panels in Rural Areas Project of the National Program for Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy (PNESER) of the government. (Nicaragua News, 1 September 2021)
Nicaragua Sent More Food to Cuba
The ship General Sandino arrived in Cuba on Sept. 6 with a new shipment of food. Vice President Rosario Murillo said “…It is the duty of the human being to be in solidarity … We are sending food, like last time, from people to people … committed to the creation of a better world.” (Radio La Primerisima, 2 September 2021)
Free Trade Zones Reactivated
The executive director of the Nicaraguan Association of the Textile and Apparel Industry (ANITEC), confirmed that Free Trade Zones are fully reactivated and exporting more and seven new companies will be opened, one of them a call center. “This year’s goal is to reach 130,000 workers,” he said. Purchase orders from the US are returning to pre-pandemic levels. The Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa) of the US reported that up to June they had paid Nicaragua US$864.48 million for textile products, more than the US$606.88 million in the same period in 2020, a 42.45% increase. (Radio La Primerisima, 2 September 2021)
Eighty-Third Women’s Police Station Inaugurated in Bluefields
The new Women’s Police Station, inaugurated Sept. 2 will serve women from 22 communities in the Bluefields municipality. Since the beginning of the campaign against gender violence, the National Police has inaugurated 83 police stations that attend women. With this new one, the Police seek to guarantee timely attention to women who suffer violence, especially those who live in indigenous communities. (Radio La Primerisima, 2 September 2021)
Nearly 4,000 Firearms Removed from Circulation
The National Police seized 3,926 firearms between January 1 and August 25, as part of the inter-institutional program of attention and integral development of adolescents, as reported Sept. 2 by the Inspector General of the Police, Commissioner General, Jaime Vanegas. According to the police chief, 5,719 mothers and fathers were trained in 310 sessions on topics like addiction prevention, assertive communication, being alert to signs that indicate that their children are having problems. Attention is ongoing with 8,387 young people. Radio La Primerisima, 2 September 2021
First Citizens Tried under the Cybercrime Law
Allan Noel Herrera Rivera, and Domingo René Mendoza Rivera, are the first two citizens to be prosecuted under the Cybercrime Law in the courts. The Prosecutor’s Office states that the individuals are accused of hacking the software of Smart Business Financial Service S.A. to get clients’ information. They also accessed the e-mail of a company employee and stole 250 of his photographs and personal videos; then created a website and published the material illegally extracted. According to the prosecutor’s documents the defendants committed the crimes in retaliation for debts with the company. The trial is Sept. 10. (Radio La Primerisima, 2 September 2021)
Judicial Processes Advancing
The hearing was held Sept. 2 in the case of Cristiana Chamorro, Marcos Antonio Fletes, Walter Gómez Silva, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro and Pedro Vásquez Cortedano accused of laundering money and other crimes. The case was referred to trial. The accused Ana Elisa Martínez, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, Emma Marina López, Guillermo José Medrano and María Lourdes Arróliga, are fugitives from justice and under judicial arrest warrant, pending their hearings. 158 people have been interviewed so far in this investigation.
At a hearing on Sept. 2 charges were filed against Jaime Arellano Arana and Lesther Alemán for the crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, in accordance with articles 410 and 412 of the Penal Code. The judicial authority admitted the accusations.
Hearings were held Sept. 7 for Medardo Mairena, Max Issac Jérez, José Antonio Peraza and Freddy Navas, accused of the crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, in accordance with articles 410 and 412 of the Penal Code. The cases were referred to trial. (Radio La Primerisima, 2 and 7 September 2021)
Luis Rivas charged with illegal firearms
The initial hearing against Luis Alberto Rivas Anduray, executive president of Banpro was held September 6; the Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of the crimes of illegal possession of firearms, manufacture, trafficking, possession and use of restricted weapons, substances or explosive devices. He is also accused of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, in accordance with articles 410 and 412 of the Penal Code, to the detriment of society and the State of Nicaragua.
The initial hearings of Ana Margarita Vijil; Miguel Mendoza Urbina; Miguel Mora Barberena and María Fernanda Flores, accused for the crimes of conspiracy were held Sept. 6. The judicial authority referred the cases to trial. https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias-generales/destacado/acusan-a-luis-rivas-de-tenencia-y-fabricacion-ilegal-de-armas/ (Radio La Primerisima, 6 September 2021)
Prosecutor’s Office: Orozco Coordinated Gang of Conspirators against the State
Foreign agent Manuel Salvador Orozco Ramírez, 55, who is a fugitive from Nicaraguan justice, was accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of being the main articulator of the group that began to conspire against the State of Nicaragua in 2009.
Orozco headed, on behalf of the US intelligence agencies, the group that included José Bernard Pallais Arana, Félix Alejandro Maradiaga Blandón, José Adán Aguerrí Chamorro, Juan Sebastián Chamorro García, Arturo José Cruz Sequeira, Violeta Mercedes Granera Padilla, Víctor Hugo Tinoco, Dora Maria Téllez, Daysi Tamara Dávila Rivas, among others. Orozco Ramírez is an active associate of Creatíve Associates International (CAI), where he is the director of the Center for Migration and Stabilization. CAI is a global agency that is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to “engineer political transitions” with over $2 billion in US government contracts, as reported by Mintpress.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Orozco was in charge of triangulating resources from international organizations to Nicaraguan pro-coup foundations, among them IEEPP, Fundación Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, FUNIDES, CINCO and Movimiento Puente por Nicaragua. In turn, these organizations channeled resources to armed groups, and to gangs of communication assassins (call centers of people paid to spread lies that would favor the destabilization of Nicaragua), coordinated to overthrow the constitutional government of Nicaragua.
Orozco formed a criminal group with the accused Pallais Arana, Maradiaga Blandón, Aguerri Chamorro, Chamorro García, Cruz Sequeira, Granera Padilla, Dávila Rivas and others under investigation, who since 2019 received money to manage US aggressions against the State of Nicaragua. Likewise, they incited foreign interference in internal affairs, the destabilization of the country with foreign financing and actions to discredit the legitimately elected Government of Nicaragua.
Orozco communicated with others through WhatsApp groups. One of many actions he took was instructing them to send him written proposals for electoral reforms in Nicaragua, assigning each one a role in a meeting with members of the Organization of American States (OAS), which was held in May 2021.
https://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias-generales/destacado/orozco-coordinaba-la-banda-de-conspiradores-afirma-fiscalia/ (Radio La Primerisima, 6 September 2021).
Public Ministry Publishes Document of Accusations
The acts carried out by Manuel Orozco, José Pallais, Félix Maradiaga, José Adán Aguerrí, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, Arturo Cruz Sequeira, Violeta Granera and Daysi Dávila constitute the crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, to the detriment of the Nicaraguan Society and the State of Nicaragua, and are punishable under the Penal Code according to the Prosecutorial Accusation published on August 24 by the Public Ministry. A few of those acts are included in the summary below.
All of the accused advocated US intervention in Nicaragua. The crimes consisted of triangulating funds from US institutions like the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in order to create organizations, associations and foundations that would channel resources to other organizations, projects, programs and people.
Some of the Nicaraguan organizations that participated in this triangulation were the Instituto de Estudios Estratégicos y Políticas Públicas (IEEPP), Hagamos Democracia, Fundación Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (FVBCH), Fundación Nicaragua para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (FUNIDES), Centro de Investigación de la Comunicación (CINCO), Movimiento Puente, y Movimiento por Nicaragua (MPN).
The accused formed part of an international criminal organization to commit grave crimes against the security of the State of Nicaragua according to the indictment. Manuel Orozco is the director of the Center for Migration and Stabilization of Creatíve Associates International (CAI). CAI is a global agency that is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to “engineer political transitions” with over $2 billion in US government contracts, as reported by Mintpress. Orozco directed the group of accused mentioned above during 2019, 2020 and 2021 so they would propose and lobby for economic and commercial sanctions as well as sanctions of a financial nature against the state of Nicaragua, its institutions and its citizens; request foreign interference in internal affairs; promote destabilization of the country and carry out actions to attempt to discredit the legitimately elected government of Nicaragua – all with foreign funding.
The following is a brief summary of the evidence adduced in the formal accusation. This summary covers only about one-tenth of the evidence provided which itself is just part of a more extensive body of evidence still being examined:
– Orozco administrated WhatsApp Task groups. In one, the members were Pallais, Granera, JS Chamorro, Maradiaga, Aguirre, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, Max Jerez, Michael Healy, Salvador Stadthagen, and Lester Aleman. In 2021 Orozco asked them to lobby for sanctions (economic, commercial and against financial operations) against the state of Nicaragua, its institutions and citizens; to request foreign interference in internal affairs; take actions to destabilize the country and carry out actions to try to discredit the Nicaraguan government, and all this with foreign funding.
– Pallais on the Esta Semana Television program, in November 2019, said that the first individuals sanctioned should be President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo.
– Maradiaga promoted foreign intervention and requested sanctions on Nicaragua and its institutions and citizens in direct meetings with US and European Union representatives and the OAS. His principal contacts were Orozco and Salvador Stadthagen (ex-ambassador for Nicaragua in the US and current advisor in CAI).
– On June 21, 2021, Maradiaga met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in San Jose, Costa Rica, to request more sanctions, specifically on the Nicaraguan Police.
– Jose Adán Aguirre on June 7, 2021, said, “The government of Ortega has its days counted: I am going to meet with pre-candidates to ask that we all promote more sanctions against the government.”
– Juan Sebastian Chamorro on Sept. 26, 2019, in Washington DC, said “We are carrying out important actions to isolate the Ortega-Murillo family.”
– Arturo Cruz said that he was in Washington DC for three reasons, “to get Nicaragua suspended from the OAS, to get the Renacer Act passed quickly to increase sanctions and to get Nicaragua suspended from CAFTA.”
– Granera on the Esta Semana program on Sept. 30, 2019, said she was invited to a working group meeting of the OAS at which she asked for an acceleration of sanctions against government functionaries and she asked for the application of the Democratic Charter (to expel Nicaragua from the OAS), and she requested foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Nicaragua.
– On Oct. 10, 2020, Tamara Dávila on social media said “We are going to continue lobbying for more sanctions.”
– On March 9, 2021, Davila and Suyen Barahona met with members of the European Parliament and asked for the imposition of sanctions against Nicaragua.
(Public Ministry Document of Accusations: http://www.tortillaconsal.com/tortilla/node/12839)
