MIAMI, United States. – The team of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, established contact with at least one prominent figure of the Nicaraguan opposition, with the aim of uniting the exiled communities of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, according to the Nicaraguan opposition figure Félix Maradiaga to the agency Reuters.
Maradiaga, director of the Nicaraguan Freedom Foundation and vocal critic of Daniel Ortegareported from Miami that he received a “courtesy call” from Trump representatives to “open channels of communication with the incoming administration.” In addition, he indicated that he recently met with Trump campaign officials in Chicago.
“They expressed their interest in the opponents of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela uniting our points of view against three similar dictatorships, so that the actions coming from the United States have a joint impact in the search for democracy,” declared Maradiaga.
The Nicaraguan opponent also mentioned that he will soon meet with those who will manage foreign and security policy for Latin America in the Trump administration.
The Unity and Democracy Platform, an opposition coalition to which Maradiaga belongs, urged the president-elect to maintain support for Nicaraguan migrants fleeing political repression. According to estimates by humanitarian groups, nearly one million Nicaraguans have emigrated since 2018 due to political persecution and economic difficulties.
Reuters said it had sent a request for comment to Trump’s transition team but had not received a response.
Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate, was imprisoned by the Ortega regime in 2021 and, in February 2023, was one of 222 dissidents expelled to the United States and stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality.
