A group of 21 opposition organizations in exile once again sent a letter to the Board of Governors of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) requesting that “no further disbursements be approved to the State of Nicaragua until human rights are respected and democracy and the rule of law”.
These organizations had previously protested before CABEI’s Board of Governors in November 2021 in the framework of the construction of the new headquarters of the institution regional finance company in Managua.
The building was inaugurated on March 18, 2022 by the ruler Daniel Ortega and the president of CABEI, the Honduran Dante Mossi, but the members of the Board of Governors were not present.
“We remind CABEI that the Framework Treaty on Democratic Security indicates that the sustainable development of Central America can only be achieved with the formation of a regional legal community that protects, protects and promotes human rights. Therefore, regional entities should not be outside these parameters, much less provide economic resources to regimes that have been openly identified by the international community as violators of human rights, including crimes against humanity”, quotes the letter sent by the opposition organizations.
In a press release, the signatory organizations indicate their “shock” at the recent statements by CABEI’s executive president during his recent visit to Managua, where in addition to trying to “legitimize the regime’s actions, they seriously compromise Nicaragua’s financial stability in the medium term. term, since to date, the country’s total foreign debt exceeds 100% of GDP.
During his speech in ManaguaMossi said that “CABEI is ready to meet the demands that the country presents.” He also assured that in Nicaragua “the programs are well implemented,” and announced that they will support the recovery from the pandemic, including a financing component for small businesses in the dry corridor to develop sustainable agriculture programs. “We are about to create a regional debt market so that Nicaragua can finance itself,” Mossi added in his speech.
After some multilateral financial organizations they will close their sources Ortega, in response to the human rights crisis caused by state repression and the police state Since April 2018, CABEI has become the main provider of resources for the Government, to which approved $2.289 billion in new projectsbetween January 2017 and June 2021.
The press release of the signatory organizations quotes Violeta Delgado, a member of the Political Council of Blue and White National Unity (Unab), who said that “CABEI has guaranteed that authoritarian regimes, questioned in their acts and violations of human rights, have with financial resources to continue violating and repressing their peoples.”
“The allegations of the use of bank funds for political proselytism, without the participation of civil society in citizen audit mechanisms, exemplify, among other aspects, CABEI’s lack of interest in the principles of transparency, citizen participation and human rights,” he added.
Damaris Rostrán, a member of the New Jersey Work Table and of the Nicaraguan diaspora in the US, is also quoted, who stated that with this letter, “we are sending a message to the CABEI authorities, since it is of utmost They need to review their actions and stop financing the Ortega Murillo dictatorship.”
The organizations call on the governors of CABEI “to reassess the financial and reputational risk that this bank means to continue granting financing to an illegitimate government like the one usurped by the Nicaraguan State.” They also ask that “note be taken about this situation of violation of human rights and illegitimacy of the Ortega-Murillo regime to prevent further disbursements to the Nicaraguan State from being approved.”
