The Nicaraguan activist Ronmell Lopeza member of the organization Nicaragua Nueva Generación (NNG), maintained that the international sanctions imposed on authoritarian regimes are not “to blame” for the massive migration, as Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega justified it.
For the graduate in immigration law, it is important to remember that “no citizen would leave the tranquility of his country if it was not for major reasons and the pain of being tortured or imprisoned” forces many people to leave their homeland.
“Are US sanctions to blame for migration? Absolutely not, the culprit of the sanctions are the policies of the countries, especially the violation of human rights, the lack of access to justice, social insecurity, the corruption of the State and coincidentally they are all applicable to the Ortega-Murillo government . The migration of Nicaraguans was minimal until 2018, when mass migration began due to the repression.
Related news: Overcrowding of Migration Delegations in Nicaragua Persists
According to Ortega, the exodus is due to Washington’s sanctions against these regimes by closing off job opportunities for their inhabitants. The statements were made during the act of the 43rd anniversary of the Ministry of the Interiorheld on Thursday, October 27, after the Joe Biden government applied new restrictions to his regime.
Thus, he referred to an issue that had been invisible until now, although he did not directly mention the Nicaraguan migrants despite the fact that the departure of compatriots has reached record figures.
López, a Nicaraguan living in the United States, recalled that “the pain of being tortured, imprisoned or losing a loved one due to government monopolization is a crime in itself, so Nicaraguans prefer to leave that option and risk their looking for a better and more stable life.
Related news: Migration from Nicaragua denies entry to the country to the priest Deyvis López, from Diriamba
“We must make it clear that the one who victimizes us is the dictatorship of (Daniel) Ortega and (Rosario) Murillo, (because) no citizen would be exposed to the uncertainty of immigrating and leaving their country in peace if it is not for major causes,” he declared. to the podcast NOW of Article 66.
He exemplified that «the exiles who left in the 80s and 90s have not been able to return. We have had to be resilient and adapt to the new life. Even those who leave today will have to make many changes and leave behind many of their loved ones, their families, whom they may never see again.
The Nicaraguan activist added that the situation shows that “socialist ideology does not work anywhere, it always fails, but why do even the socialists emigrate to the United States? Why don’t they go to Cuba, Venezuela or Nicaragua? The only culprit of migration are the political representatives of the countries, in our case it is Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo together with all their complicit associates.
Related news: Migration of Nicaraguans increases the sending of remittances by 44%
Various voices have deplored Ortega’s statements. Former ambassador Arturo McFields even warned that “the Nicaraguan dictatorship is causing, encouraging and, perhaps, sponsoring growing migration and disproportionate towards the north».
Since the sociopolitical crisis of April 2018, more than 200,000 Nicaraguans have left Nicaragua for exile in Costa Rica, that number is only of the people who have requested refuge, but the number could be higher. Between January and September 2022, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP, for its acronym in English) registered that 126 thousand 287 Nicaraguans irregularly crossed the border to enter North American territory.
The US authorities alleged that this mass migration is due to the fact that many citizens are fleeing “failed authoritarian regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, which is contributing to a greater number of migrants trying to cross the border.”
