The government of Daniel Ortega seems to be collapsing internally after two high-ranking officials abroad recently denounced the president for human rights violations.
The “boomerang” effect that has triggered the resignations has surprisingly been the conditions in which political prisoners are found in Nicaragua, many of them Sandinista dissidents, like the mythical ex-guerrilla Dora María Téllez.
The most recent resignation was announced by US attorney Paul Reichler, who was serving as international legal adviser for Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In a public letter published by the digital newspaper Confidential Last weekend, the lawyer who defended Ortega internationally for years criticized him for “ruthlessly repressing” the demonstrations against him in 2018, leaving certain dead, but also criticized the trials of the more than 50 “outstanding citizens who are confined in intolerable conditions.”
“It is inconceivable to me that the Daniel Ortega whom I proudly served would have destroyed the democracy in whose construction he participated decisively and would have established a new dictatorship, not very different from the one he himself helped to overthrow, with false elections, a submissive legislature, a judicial system that is corrupt and incapable of imparting justice,” says the official’s letter.
In the same way, he harshly reproaches Ortega for the “forced exile” in which several prominent figures of Sandinism find themselves, such as the writers Sergio Ramirez and Gioconda Belli, also of the dissidents Carlos Fernando Chamorro, Edmundo Jarquín, Julio López Campos “and many other Sandinista and non-Sandinista heroes of all political tendencies whose freedom has been denied or threatened.”
Reichler’s complaint has matched that of Arturo McFields Yescas, who was a representative of Nicaragua in the Organization of American States (OAS) and recently exposed the situation in Managua.
“We are forced to pretend, we are forced to fill vacancies, we are forced to repeat slogans, but I said ‘enough’ and many officials are going to say ‘enough’, and hopefully they will say it out loud,” McFields said. In a past interview with Voice of America.
The former diplomat also revealed that many other officials in Nicaragua are resigning secretly and anonymously for fear of reprisals.
But although the phenomenon seems new, it is not. In 2018, when the demonstrations against President Ortega began, several resigned, including the magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, Rafael SolisFor this reason, the ruling party imposed obstacles to leave the country to its own officials.
cracks
According to analysts consulted by the voice of americaThis shows that internally there is disagreement within the ruling party over the decisions of the Executive, but above all the guidelines of Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is the second in command.
The former opposition deputy Enrique Sáenz considers that the resignations show that the government of Daniel Ortega is full of fissures that are breaking little by little and is represented in its officials.
“I cannot say that it is a general symptomatology, but it is that of at least one sector that is dissatisfied,” says Sáenz.
The opponent adds that the resignations, in addition to being a political coup, are a blow to the state of mind of Ortega’s remaining followers “and encourage others who are beginning to feel the same or similar to McField.”
For his part, Juan Pappier, senior researcher at the Americas Division of Human Rights Watchcomment to the VOA that because there is “a brutal dictatorship that systematically represses the human rights of the population”, there is criticism and dissension.
“Human rights are constantly abused and anyone who dares to exercise freedom of expression, freedom of association, dissent, to criticize the presidential couple of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, is persecuted, they cancel their legal status to operate as NGOs and some people have been sentenced unfairly,” says Pappier.
What do the Nicaraguan authorities say?
In the first instance, the Ortega government reacted last week with a letter issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating that McFields did not represent Nicaragua and that his representative before the OAS was Francisco Campbell Hooker. The appointment was actually made this Thursday, when it was notified in the official gazette.
“Repeal the appointment of Arturo McFields in the position of permanent representative of the Republic of Nicaragua, with the rank of ambassador to the OAS,” says the presidential agreement published on The Gazette.
The brief note did not mention the reasons for the dismissal and included other similar announcements.
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