Despite the fact that Nicaragua has endured four years of sociopolitical and economic crisis, added to the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo ensures that 2021 closed with an unemployment rate of less than four percent. In other words, a little more than 96 percent of Nicaraguans would have a job.
According to the Continuous Household Survey (ECH) that published by the Nicaraguan Institute of Development Information (Inide)the unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, a reduction compared to the statistics for the same period in 2020, when it stood at 4.8 percent
“Almost always, according to the government, the rate has remained close to six percent, that means that, according to them, there is a situation of full employment in Nicaragua and that is something completely crazy,” explained economist Marco Aurelio Peña.
The general manager of La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, was sentenced to nine years in prison for the alleged crime of money laundering. Upon hearing the sentence, read on March 31, the political prisoner stated that “he is strong and will remain so.” He expressed his gratitude to all those who have prayed for him during this time and asked that they continue to do so in the hope that “this will happen.”
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He sent messages of affection to his wife, daughters and mother, whom he hopes to see soon. During the political trial, the director of La Prensa maintained his innocence and stated that “if he is going to receive a punishment for bearing the surname Chamorro, (then) he is willing to comply with it.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bacheletstated that the sentence to prison of the general manager of the newspaper La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, shows that the Nicaraguan authorities “opted a hard line instead of a negotiated solution to the crisis that began in 2018.” He indicated that “unfortunately it is not the first time” that the standards for a fair trial are not respected in Nicaragua.
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Likewise, the Inter-American Press Association (Yep) pointed out that the sentence against Holmann It is another of the absurdities of the Ortega-Murillo regime that “without any shame, provokes the international community and violates all the principles of due process.”
The Human Rights Collective Nicaragua Never Again rejected the approval of the recent “General Law for the Regulation and Control of Non-Profit Organizations”. The organization alleged that the regime intends to persecute and criminalize the right of association and citizen participation in the country.
The Joe Biden administration recalled, once again, that United States is the largest trading partner of Nicaragua. The US Embassy published official figures from the Central Bank of Nicaragua that reveal the increase in beef exports to the northern country. Sales of this product reached a record amount of 361 million dollars in 2021, which impacted “the sustainability of 650,000 jobs and more than 100,000 ranchers.”
The candidate for the Presidency of Costa Rica, Jose Maria Figueres, affirmed that he will distance himself from the Daniel Ortega regime. Months ago, he had declared his interest in establishing diplomatic relations with Nicaragua, but in his new speech he said he was in favor of democracy and the Nicaraguan people. Figueres stated that he does not share the values of the Ortega government, and in international forums he will maintain his position of respect for human rights.
However, he added that “the important thing here is to keep the door open for dialogue and in that sense, diplomatic relations with Nicaragua must be respectful.”
