Despite having used a conservative tone in his most recent pronouncements on exile and stripping of the nationality of Nicaraguan political opponentson behalf of the government of Daniel Ortega, a statement from the Colombian Foreign Ministry was more forceful this Thursday and rejected the “dictatorial procedures” of the Nicaraguan head of state.
According to the text of the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Relations, the South American country “has registered with revulsion the measures taken arbitrarily” by Ortega against political prisoners, “whose only crime has been to defend democracy, the right to criticism and the rights universal humans”.
Last Friday, a statement of the Chancellery expressed “concern” before the withdrawal of nationality from 94 citizensand regretted the dispossession of this to more than 200 former political prisoners sent to the United States, but said that his release and transfer was “an important step for the national dialogue.” And he called for “generating measures of confidence that contribute to national reconciliation, respect for the rule of law and the well-being of the Nicaraguan people.”
But in less than a week, the government of President Gustavo Petro hardened its words by pointing out that Ortega’s actions evoke “the worst moments of the Atanasio Somoza dictatorship that the Sandinistas managed to overcome.”
Likewise, he condemned the “surprising and inhumane” exile of Nicaraguans who have fought “for the international community” and the use of “vulgar police measures”, and highlighted the struggle of those who have decided to stay on Nicaraguan land, taking as an example the case of the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Colombia also urged the world “to react” and asked the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, to request authorization to visit the Nicaraguans still in prison, since they are “victims” and “international humanitarian law covers them.” .
“The authoritarianism that has been imposed on the sister republic has infringed jus cogens norms,” the statement added.
The Foreign Ministry also confirmed that it seeks to contact exiles who wish to obtain Colombian nationality: “They would greatly honor us.” Precisely, on Wednesday, Colombia offered nationality to the writer Sergio Ramírez, who met with the Colombian Foreign Minister, Álvaro Leyva Durán, on Tuesday, in Madrid.
Argentina was the first country on the continent to offer nationality to “stateless” Nicaraguans. Subsequently, Chile, Spain and Mexico they did their own.
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