The civic organization Freedom House awarded the recognition Mark Palmer Prize 2024 to a diplomatic delegation from the United States Department of State for its distinguished humanitarian work in the release of 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners, an operation that was known as the “Nica Welcome” or “the flight to freedom.”
The former United States ambassador to Nicaragua Kevin Sullivanthe diplomat Marta Costanzo Youth, deputy assistant secretary Enrique Roig and the deputy administrator Marcela Escobari They received the award in a ceremony held on the night of May 8.
Related news: This was “Operation Nica Welcome”, the freedom flight of the 222 political prisoners banished to the United States.
During his acceptance speech, Sullivan stated that “we tried many different approaches to seek the release of Nicaraguan political prisoners. “We conducted unsuccessful negotiations, but we maintained open channels of communication with the Ortega-Murillo regime, hoping that we would eventually have the opportunity to move forward.”
«That moment came at the end of January of last year, when the regime indicated that it was willing to release all the prisoners if we received them. “We launched an urgent project that involved hundreds of people working in complete secrecy to immediately identify resources and make arrangements to fly (transfer) these prisoners out of the country,” the diplomat added.
Sullivan indicated that “obtaining an agreement from Ortega to release the 222 was uncertain until the last moment. But when it was finally achieved, it gave us great joy.”
The American considered that the success of “Operation Nica Welcome” was “a testament to the United States’ enduring commitment to supporting those who fight for democracy and freedom, even in their darkest hours.”
The former president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mossi, filed a lawsuit against the financial entity that employed him for five years. The complaint filed by the banker is for alleged damages against him. He asks to be compensated $2,375,810. The Honduran press had access to the lawsuit presented by their legal representatives.
According to Mossi’s lawyers, one of the factors that support the lawsuit is that the former official is 55 years old, and the retirement age is 65 years (in Honduras), so Mossi’s 10 years of future are being “violated” income within the institution or outside it since their professional image has been damaged.
Related news: Before leaving the presidency of CABEI, Dante Mossi released more than 380 million dollars to the Ortega dictatorship
The more than two million dollars demanded by the former executive president of the Central American body do not include, according to the lawsuit, bonuses, prizes, royalties and compensation for assignments during his administration. In addition, according to Mossi’s lawyers, the loss of purchasing power of the economics professional must be included.
Dante Mossi alleges that CABEI “withheld” $6,000 in benefits from him, the deduction at CABEI’s discretion was made for “the review of the contracting process of the external legal opinion service,” which according to Mossi, a Honduran national, was illegal because The investigation commission was made by an internal department.
The former executive president was not re-elected last December due to accusations from the Nicaraguan opposition as well as the United States and the international community of supporting the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo with million-dollar loans. CABEI disbursed some $3.5 billion to the Sandinista government for development projects, but also financed projects for the regime’s Police, which since 2018 has become a repressive body, accused of committing crimes against humanity.
The newspaper La Prensa announced that it will sue the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo for the confiscation of its facilities. The assets of the newspaper company total more than 20 million dollars and another 11 million dollars for the retention of the paper for almost two years.
The newspaper is preparing the lawsuit to present it to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and other international human rights organizations, as revealed by La Prensa on its website this Thursday, May 9, upon completing 1,000 days of occupation of its offices. offices in Managua.
On August 13, 2021, the facilities of the newspaper La Prensa were confiscated. The general manager and secretary of the board of directors Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro was arrested that same day, after the Police transferred him to the Judicial Assistance Directorate, known as “El Nuevo Chipote”, in Managua, supposedly with the excuse that he would sign some documents, however they left him detained and kept him imprisoned for a year and a half.
Related news: La Prensa will sue Ortega before international organizations for theft of its facilities
The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo demonstrated their paranoia once again and they fear that the flight of their militancy will increase. The dictatorial couple sent the president of the National Assembly, the Sandinista Gustavo Porras, to read a “statement” announcing the new restriction on their followers.
In an audio leaked to the digital media Nicaragua Actual, Porras is heard reading the “order of Commander Daniel (Ortega)” for his militants that they cannot integrate or be included in “particular initiatives, WhatsApp groups, and/or sign statements or communications or calls that have not been consulted and/or authorized by the Sandinista National Liberation Front.”
“The responsible and careful Sandinista militancy takes full care of the credibility, seriousness, integrity and unity of the Sandinista National Liberation Front,” says the president of Parliament.
The document, which establishes the restriction on the dictator’s followers, explains that any call, initiative or call that does not come from the General Secretary of the FSLN must be consulted before responding.
“The abundance of false movements, organizations and calls call on us to be more careful in the face of traps and intrigues with interests outside the strength of the revolution,” he pointed.
«We have to be careful… in these times anyone can add us to a WhatsApp group and we do not know the intentions there may be and suddenly we feel confident and we fall into a trap and into indiscipline. This is the order of Commander Daniel (Ortega) », he concludes.
