Human rights defender Pablo Cuevas decided to go into exile with his family, after receiving —according to reports— constant death and arrest threats by paramilitaries and the Police at the service of the Daniel Ortega regime.
In interview with Article 66, the 53-year-old lawyer, assured that in October 2021 he was informed that there were intentions to assassinate him. «A couple of opponents came to my house. They told me that “intelligence” —from the Police— had coerced him into assassinating me, with the promise that they would clear his file if they executed me along with another CPDH (Permanent Human Rights Commission) official,” Cuevas declared.
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He also pointed out that on the first March of this 2022, he received a notice that he was going to be arrested, so on the eighth of the same month he decided to leave the country with his family. “On March 11, the police were asking for me in the neighboring Villa Libertad neighborhood, where I lived. On the 13th they came to my house, they asked about my whereabouts and my son, then they went to my in-laws’ house and set up surveillance all day », he recounted.
The former official of the Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH) said that it was already unsustainable for him and his family to continue in Nicaragua. “My wife couldn’t sleep thinking that at any moment I would be arrested and my son was emotionally unstable,” he said.
Despite already being out of Nicaragua, Cuevas said that the police and civilian motorcyclists maintain constant surveillance of his home. “The motorized ones stay with communicators, they even asked one if he didn’t know where I was”, he affirmed.
Installs Nicaraguan Human Rights Ombudsman
Once in exile, Pablo Cuevas said that together with other defenders they set up the office of Nicaraguan Human Rights Ombudsman in order to support Nicaraguans in exile with legal advice.
“Without legality, the situation of Nicaraguans in exile is worse, that is why this organization was born in Miami, United States, where I am the president. The intention is to be where every Nicaraguan who needs legal support is, “he said.
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Cuevas explained that “in Miami I named a slim man named Douglas Villanueva.”
Marcos Carmona, executive director of the CPDH, pointed out that “unfortunately when we have a government that does not respect human rights, defenders see us as enemies (it forces them into exile). Everyone owns their own fear of him. Every defender is exposed to these situations of insecurity.”
Human rights defenders have been one of the groups most persecuted by the Nicaraguan regime. The lawyers María Oviedo and Róger Reyes are in prison. They were found guilty of “conspiracy”.
