The United States government would be trying to promote a meeting between the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo and the Nicaraguan opposition for a negotiation process to put an end to the political and social crisis that the country is experiencing, for which they would already be contacting some Opponents, however, analysts believe that Ortega’s counterpart is not prepared.
The analyst and former political prisoner banished by the dictatorship Oscar Rene Vargas revealed on the show In Contactof Article 66that the US State Department has initiated contacts with some visible opponents, to explore the possibility of participating in a dialogue process with the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship if the case arises.
“Look, I’m going to reveal another detail to you (…) speaking with Jaime (Arellano) a week ago, he revealed to me that the United States about three, four months ago was negotiating (or looking for) how to negotiate the possibility of a meeting between the government of Daniel Ortega with the opposition people,” revealed the exiled political analyst.
Vargas told the director of the program, Álvaro Navarro, that State Department officials called Arellano “to see if he wanted and could participate in that negotiation.”
For the political analyst, this initiative of US diplomacy indicates that the possibility of a negotiation with the Ortega-Murillo regime is latent, “in the logic of the North American government.”
Opposition is not prepared
The sociologist considers that, faced with the possibility of a round of negotiations with the dictatorship to put an end to the political and social crisis in Nicaragua, the opposition would not be prepared, especially because it remains fragmented, there are no true unity initiatives and because there are different expressions that are in favor of a negotiation, but others are not.
“I believe that it is one of the weaknesses there is, and the strength, as I say, the strength of the dictatorship is the weakness of the opposition, is the disunity of the opposition,” warned the sociologist.
Vargas insisted that the only way to “accelerate the process of implosion of the dictatorship” is to “tone the opposition” although he pointed out that it will be difficult for them to achieve a unity that includes 100% of the pro-democracy forces.
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However, the economist warned that the opponents, in addition to being fragmented, “are not preparing for that, and then they talk for the sake of talking and there is no concrete analysis. “I believe that the opposition is more media than real,” criticized the sociologist.
We will not fall into a negotiation trap says PUDE
The spokesperson for the Platform for Democratic Unity (PUDE), Enrique Martinezassesses that currently the conditions for a negotiation process with the dictatorship are not met and that a call for this could be a trap into which they are not going to fall.
“Any possibility of dialogue or negotiation with the FSLN will depend on the political context and the opposition’s ability to build a strong front,” he maintains.
It points out that they must be consistent with the demands of the victim and political plurality, as well as with the vision of all actors. “Today the conditions are not in place for a sincere dialogue, since the Sandinista dictatorship has shown that it uses negotiation as a tactic to gain time and deactivate pressure, especially on the international level, without giving up its authoritarian positions,” he warned. the leader of COULD.
However, he maintains that it cannot be ruled out that, in the face of a crisis of legitimacy or an absence of leadership or in the face of significant internal pressure, the opportunity for dialogue will open, and in this “the challenge for the opposition will be not to fall into traps.” that legitimize the regime without obtaining real concessions to the possibility of achieving full freedom, inclusive justice and democracy for all.
“Ortega does not have good intentions,” says Maradiaga
For his part, the opposition leader and also exiled former political prisoner Felix Maradiaga He believes that in the event of a possible dialogue, Ortega is not really prepared because he does not have good will. However, he highlighted that until now there has been no “explicit” invitation to a negotiation process with the dictatorship.
«Explicitly there has not been, to my knowledge, any type of direct invitation to a dialogue process, what has happened recurrently and I could see it recently in the invitation I received from the undersecretary of State for democracy and rule of law, who asked me to attend the meetings, It is a constant question: “Would you be ready for a crisis scenario? What is the strategy that you have, would you be open to seeking a peaceful, democratic, negotiated solution to the crisis?”», Maradiaga narrated
The president of the Nicaraguan Freedom Foundation (Fundación Libertad) insisted that “any opponent who adheres to democratic principles in a philosophical manner must always favor dialogue as an element in favor of the Nation and the country.”
In that sense, Maradiaga said that Ortega is the one who would not be ready to sit down for a dialogue or negotiation with the opposition because he does not believe that the dictator “offers real and sincere possibilities for a dialogue.” He also highlighted that, under the current conditions “with stateless opponents, political prisoners and repression, would be a mockery of Nicaraguans. “I believe that a dialogue process would be unthinkable under these conditions,” said the political scientist.
He recalled that the Sandinista dictator has already mocked the will of the Nicaraguan democrats before, and also warns that Ortega has shown that he only negotiates when he is on the knife’s edge and that is not the case for now, so he called the opposition to continue putting pressure on the dictatorship.
Ortega is strong and does not need to negotiate, for now
Meanwhile, the opposition lawyer in exile and member of the collegiate spokesperson of Monteverde Eliseo Nunez He stated that this organization has not received any suggestion of rapprochement from the United States with the regime. In addition, he warned that currently the Ortega dictatorship is strong, therefore it does not need to negotiate anything.
«I think that the regime in the current circumstances is too strong to attempt a dialogue with them. “We have to work on weakening it, work on organizing, because in the end what we are looking for is a peaceful solution that will lead to elections and that will only be achieved with pressure and a strategy that will get you there,” said the spokesperson for Monteverde.
He added that the opposition has made great progress in organizing spaces that allow “better dialogue,” however, he insisted that “there are no conditions right now for any dialogue with Ortega, unless, well, things change dramatically or there is some imponderable.” , something that is not seen for now.
