The group of MEPs “Renew Europe” (Renew Europe), which constitutes the third political force in the European Parliament, promised to continue supporting the struggle of the Nicaraguan people for their democracy and to constantly influence the EU authorities to increase pressure on the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, in order to achieve a return to democracy in the Central American country.
Renew Erope’s commitment was declared on July 20, during a meeting of the parliamentarians with the opposition leader and former politician Félix Maradiaga, who attended the meeting as a representative of the Nicaraguan Freedom Foundation and collegiate spokesperson for the Monteverde opposition unity process.
The meeting was chaired by the parliamentarians Jordi Cañas, vice president of Eurolat; Javier Nart, vice president of the Commission for Central America; Isaskun Bilbao, vice president of the commission for the Andean Community; and the MEP Soraya Rodríguez, who explored ways in which the European Parliament and the European authorities can “put pressure (on the Nicaraguan dictatorship) and collaborate to achieve a transition towards democracy”.
Maradiaga explained to the parliamentarians details of the repression within Nicaragua, with emphasis on political prisoners and the persecution of the Catholic Church, as well as the precarious situation of migrants and displaced persons as a result of the repression, and stressed that the Nicaraguan opposition is working in a process of “unity in action.”
For their part, the MEPs agreed to show support for the Nicaraguan opposition. They promise to continue accompanying the citizens in their civic struggle to recover democracy and hailed “the efforts to achieve greater unity in the opposition’s action.”
Criticizes that Europe receives representatives of the dictatorship
During the meeting with the MEPs, Maradiaga took the opportunity to criticize that the EU, committed to supporting the Nicaraguan struggle, receives the representatives of the dictatorship even on the red carpet, as happened recently during the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), when the foreign minister of the dictatorship, Denis Moncada, arrived and was received by all the European authorities.
“For Nicaraguan citizens, who feel far from these complex diplomatic spaces, it is confusing and even outrageous to see how sanctioned people can participate in multilateral summits in Europe. It is essential that the European continent, which is characterized by its adherence to the principles of human rights, make its position clearer against dictatorships,” said the Nicaraguan opponent.
