The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), the political party of the Nicaraguan dictatorship, has always acted as a terrorist organization and has mixed and collaborated with international terrorism, and therefore it must be officially classified as what it is, insists political scientist and opposition leader Félix Maradiaga.
Recently, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo broke diplomatic relations with the State of Israel, justifying that it stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, while accusing the Hebrew country of genocide in the war it is waging in the Gaza Strip against the movement. Hamas terrorist.
As a result of this rupture, Israel’s diplomatic headquarters in Costa Rica accused the Sandinista regime of having turned Nicaragua into a base and refuge for terrorists such as the Hezbollah movement and militants from “other organizations” of international terrorism.
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“The Ortega family regime not only gives free passage to radical Iranians, but also to other terrorist groups that act freely on Nicaraguan soil and we do not know the purposes of their actions yet, but we are very concerned,” the consul recently said. of Israel in Costa Rica, Amir Rockmanin an interview with the Nicaraguan media Despacho 505.
The history of the FSLN’s relations with terrorist organizations and international organized crime goes back a long way and has been mentioned since the 1980s, during the first Sandinista dictatorship.
The Santa Rosa Mailbox, the most reliable evidence
In May 1993, an arsenal that went down in history as “the Santa Rosa Mailbox” exploded in the populous Santa Rosa neighborhood in Managua, constituting the most reliable proof of the FSLN’s links with international terrorism when it was exposed. It was discovered that this mailbox belonged to ETA and kept in its bowels, in addition to numerous and varied weapons, a list of 150 Latin American businessmen – Brazilians, Bolivians, Ecuadorians, Venezuelans and Mexicans – who could be kidnapped.
Passports from 21 countries, other immigration documents such as visas and identity cards, unused postage stamps, photographic negatives, driver’s license forms, among 42 other different types of documents, were also found. All obviously useful to be used in international terrorist operations. Furthermore, the people who were related to the mailbox are also related to Sandinismo.
How to Declare the FSLN a Terrorist Organization
In that sense, and taking into account all this background, political scientist Félix Maradiaga explained to Article 66 that opposition groups and human rights organizations, as well as, must join forces to lobby internationally in all possible instances so that the FSLN is officially classified as what it is: “a terrorist organization.”
The former political inmate, denationalized and banished by the dictatorship, points out that a “strategy” must be developed to achieve the designation of the Sandinista party as international terrorists, and that strategy must be developed and executed as part of “a collective effort.”
This strategy, says the political scientist, must focus on several fronts at the same time. First, we must continue to “collect solid evidence that clearly shows the FSLN’s links to terrorism and serious human rights violations.”
Sandinista alliances with international actors such as Iran and extremist groups already classified as global threats must be included in this process of collecting evidence. “This evidence is fundamental for any diplomatic or legal action,” explains the analyst.
Likewise, Maradiaga recommends, as a crucial action, “launch an international awareness campaign, taking advantage of the media and social networks to publicize these links. “We must demonstrate that the FSLN’s actions meet the criteria to be designated as a terrorist organization.”
Another step that must be taken to achieve the designation of the FSLN as a terrorist organization is “political lobbying”, that is key, and includes “working together with congressmen and leaders of allied countries to formally pressure for this designation.”
The former political inmate recalled that since 2011, contacts and lobbying have been carried out with important actors in American politics, including meetings that he held with Mario Díaz-Balart in 2011 and with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2015, to whom he raised “the importance of stopping the (terrorist) activities of the Ortega regime.
“These contacts and lobbying must continue, and must be supported by strategic alliances with human rights NGOs and with the Nicaraguan diaspora, which are already very active abroad,” advises the president of the Libertad Foundation.
Likewise, he highlighted the importance of bringing these arguments to international forums such as the UN and the OAS, “to highlight that the FSLN not only oppresses its own people, but also represents a regional threat due to its alliances with extremist actors.” .
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And as one of the most important factors, according to the analyst, the victims of FSLN repression, exiles and key witnesses who can give their testimonies in these international forums must be involved.
“These personal stories will help humanize the struggle and give a much more tangible dimension to our efforts,” Maradiaga specified.
Finally, he recommended that the strategy to achieve the official designation of the FSLN as terrorists “requires a combination of legal, media and political actions to build an international consensus that recognizes the FSLN as a terrorist threat. Only with a collective and sustained effort can we achieve this objective,” he stressed.
