The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo proposed turning Nicaragua into a “platform” for Iran in Central America, during a visit this week by the foreign minister of that country, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, which was dominated by promises and intense anti-American rhetoric. The bearer of the message was Laureano Ortega, son of the ruling couple.
Ortega Murillo, investment, trade and international cooperation adviser to the Nicaraguan regime, said he was happy with the presence of the diplomat, which he considers to be an “honor for Nicaragua.”
The dictatorship’s propaganda media released friendly photos of a government delegation with “Dr. Hossein”Meanwhile, the official version delved into Ortega Murillo’s proposal to Iran.
“We are fighting peoples, heroic peoples and brother peoples. Iran has a great technological, industrial, commercial, from which Nicaragua can be greatly benefited and Nicaragua has and plays a fundamental role in the Central American region as a platform for the export of products, to make a showcase for Iranian products throughout the Central American region, also a very important role in diplomacy and geopolitics,” said Ortega Murillo.
Former Ambassador Feeley: “It’s a bad joke”
However, former US ambassador to Panama John Feeley, a connoisseur of the region with 29 years of experience in his country’s diplomatic service, asserted that the proposal made by the son of the ruling couple is a “bad joke.”
“According to the online magazine, Trading Economics, 82% of Iran’s exports are oil and other derivatives. The Persians do not manufacture almost anything that Nicaraguans and Central Americans need, apart from oil and this is under international sanctions”, affirmed the diplomat, who considers that both Iran and Nicaragua are international pariahs.
Feeley added that it is not surprising that big projects are announced between them, what would be surprising “is if they do a tenth of what they talk about.” He emphasized wondering what the logistics would be like for there to be commercial activity between the two countries, precisely because of the issue of sanctions, mentioned above.
For former congressman Eliseo Núñez, what is worrying is that Ortega is forging an alliance against the United States, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Nicaragua is hardly going to gain anything from Iran, which, although it is a net importer of food, is not a country that has the possibility of buying from Nicaragua due to logistics, costs, and if it makes purchases, they will be very marginal,” he insisted. .
Laureano Ortega Murillo is also the liaison for diplomatic and economic relations with Russia, which is causing concern in the Central American region. In December 2022, regarding the strengthening of relations with Vladimir Putin, the former president of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís, said that the possibility of installing a Russian base in the heart of the region was perceived.
Feeley said about the specific case of Iran, which Ortega seeks to shield “as if it were a serious country, when it is a dwarf tyrant who is only capable of torturing its population like an abusive father. Regarding Iran, as the saying goes, “Tell me who you’re with…”
Three children of Ortega with Foreign Minister of Iran
The meeting of the Nicaraguan regime with the Iranian foreign minister was held on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Two more children of the presidential family participated, Camila and Daniel Ortega Murillo, the first in her capacity as director general of the National Commission for Creative Economy and the other representing the official media. An affable Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres also appears in the images.
The diplomat’s tour lasted two days and was part of his tour of Africa and Latin America. He met with the leadership of the regime’s National Assembly, visited the facilities of the Miramar fuel storage center—another of the great unfulfilled promises of the Nicaraguan dictatorship—and finally on Thursday, February 2, he was received by Ortega and Murillo to endorse the strengthening of ties.
The tyrants thanked the participation of four ministers in the “Congress of Influential Women” initiative, held at the Iranian initiative between January 18 and 23, 2023.
Ortega made 27 references to the United States
According to the transcript of the official speech, Ortega made reference to the United States 27 times, when he recalled the participation of the “yanquis” in the history of Nicaragua and rejected their interference in internal affairs. However, the dictator has received the support of other nations such as Russia, China, or Iran itself, but in this case he calls it expressions of “solidarity.”
Ortega has opted for self-isolation diplomacy since 2018, when the regime brutally repressed hundreds of peacefully protesting protesters. He said without evidence that he was the object of a “coup d’état”, but what he found to the international community was that serious abuses had been committed against citizens, which remain in impunity.
For Eliseo Núñez, Ortega’s gain in approaching Iran is that that country has been sanctioned by the international community since the 1980s, and “this means that they know how to evade sanctions. That is the real interest. In the long term, (Nicaragua) is not going to win anything, ”he reiterated.
Also: Ortega, the “anti-imperialist”, surrenders to the interests of Russia
After the eighties, it was from January 2007 when Ortega received in the country the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to participate in his inauguration. Six months later, the ruler signed cooperation agreements with the energy minister, Hamid Chitchian. However, as has happened with Iran, in the end the promises remain unfulfilled.
Without achieving results in the last 16 years
A report published by CONFIDENTIAL in May 2022, he revealed that this “ideological twinning” for 16 years had not translated “into concrete economic development projects.”
The trend has been maintained if the data of the General Budget of the Republic between 2018 and 2023 are reviewed. And the same is true of other allies of the dictatorship such as Cuba, Venezuela, Russia and China.
In January 2022, Ortega received Mohsen Rezai, a senior Iranian official, for his third consecutive inauguration. He is accused of masterminding the worst attack in Argentine history that left 84 dead in 1994. This visit caused a worldwide scandal and led to internal criticism of the Argentine government. On both sides, in the face of criticism for human rights violations, the script seemed the same: support.
Moncada traveled to Tehran in December 2022, when that State was questioned for its human rights violations. Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced last month that 341 demonstrators died, including 52 children, in the context of the protests, according to a note from the EFE news agency.
The human rights organization also explained that 16 death sentences had been issued and four people had been executed in this repressive context.
Mass protests erupted last September when he died in police custody the young Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the “Morality Police” for not wearing the obligatory veil for women.
However, on his trip, Moncada ignored the serious local abuses. “We will resist domination and we will win,” he said. Ortega’s chancellorregardless of criticism.
This week’s visit by the Iranian foreign minister to Nicaragua comes as France questions the Ayatollah’s regime for what they call a “precipitous advance of the Iranian program.” President Emmanuel Macron warned that there will be “inevitable consequences”.
The topic was addressed by Deutsche Welle (DW). He further reported that Iran began enriching uranium, “well above the 3.67% threshold set by the 2015 agreement on its nuclear program, and is close to the 90% needed to produce an atomic bomb.”
