The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, has assured this Friday during the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution that “elections will come in 2021. And we are ready to win those elections.”
On the other hand, the Nicaraguan president has closed the door to dialogue and has shown his rejection of the proposal by the opposition to hold presidential elections before 2021, as reported by the local newspaper ‘La Prensa’.
During his speech he insisted that the only solution to achieve prosperity in Nicaragua is the dialogue with the working people. “The dialogue with whom? With the peasants, with the workers, with the small entrepreneurs, with the artisans, with the small, medium and large producers.” That is the only dialogue that makes sense, the only dialogue that has a place in the historical circumstances that Nicaragua is experiencing, “said Ortega.
The crisis erupted in the country in April 2018 due to protests against a controversial reform of social security, which grew rapidly to demand the “democratization” of Nicaragua, in what has been the biggest challenge to Ortega in his fifteen years of government .
More than 300 people died and hundreds more were arrested. Experts of the inter-American system that traveled to the country to verify the internal situation have recommended in a report to judge the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, for the crimes against humanity committed in the repression of the protests.
The ‘Sandinista’ leader then offered a national dialogue that failed because of his refusal to call early elections. In February, the parties agreed to resume the talks and held the first meetings. However, in May it was suspended again for cross-claims of non-compliance.
The Civic Alliance had demanded that the Government fulfill its promise to release all political prisoners before June 18. The Government has released some 200 droppers under the modality of “house by jail”, that is, under a kind of house arrest.
While the dialogue between the opposition Civic Alliance organization and the regime’s representatives has been suspended, the repression on the part of the Ortega authorities continues. One of the members of this opposition alliance, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, has stated through his account on the social network Twitter that Ortega once again commits a historical error by closing the doors to dialogue.
“Ortega’s intransigence is evident, despite the international appeal and the desire of the broad majorities of this country that we want a speedy exit to the crisis.” Again, as in 1990, in the same square he emboldens himself and commits a historical error, “he has asserted.
For her part, the Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States, Kimberly Breier, once again showed her support for the Nicaraguan people. “While Ortega celebrates the 40th anniversary of his initial rise to power, the citizens of Nicaragua will not forget their brutal repression since April 2018. The US is on the side of the Nicaraguans in their brave struggle to recover democracy,” he said. Europa Press
