The interdisciplinary team Urnas Abiertas criticized that the president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mosi, defend once again the economic financing of more than three million dollars to the Daniel Ortega regime, accused of crimes against humanity.
The group’s reactions come after the public debate between Mossi and Manuel Orozco, from the Inter-American Dialogue, and Ryan Berg, a researcher with the Americas Program at the Center for International Strategic Studies (CSIS), in which He addressed the issue of financial support offered by the entity to the Government of Nicaragua.
Related news: Mossi defends loans to Ortega: “We do not work for political complaints”
In the analysis carried out by Urnas Abiertas, it found a series of inconsistencies, also noting that the statements of the CABEI president “do not coincide with the reality of Nicaragua.”
Regarding the allegations of Dante Mossi, in which he stated that CABEI finances projects in the “humanitarian service range” and not for political reasons, the experts indicated that public investment projects such as roads, hospitals, water systems and others , has been used “to carry out propaganda and proselytism in favor of the FSLN.”
“Citizens are the ones who end up paying for these projects, through taxes, but at each inauguration Commander Daniel Ortega and compañera Rosario Murillo are thanked,” said Urnas Abiertas.
He also recalled that the recent report of the United Nations Group of Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) pointed to at least seven public institutions in the commission of crimes against humanity, “which maintains that the systematic strategy of persecution of the dictatorship is not maintained Only with the purchase of weapons, there is no “humanitarian service” in continuing to finance them ».
Nicaragua without transparency
Regarding Mossi’s statements that “audits and transparency” are important for the bank, however, the observatory maintained that “international organizations such as CABEI are ignoring that the capacity of social auditing in Nicaragua is reduced.”
In turn, he remarked that Nicaragua does not have a government infrastructure for the evaluation of public investment projects and that “the International Monetary Fund (IMF) itself has indicated that” all countries, especially emerging markets and developing countries low-income, have significant scope to improve the governance of their infrastructure and increase the effectiveness of public investment.
Related news: Nicas in Costa Rica will demand the non-reelection of Dante Mossi as president of CABEI
Urnas Abiertas indicated that despite the fact that CABEI finances 60% of public investment, it has not taken into consideration that only with better governance can the efficiency of this investment be guaranteed.
He also said that “CABEI does not seem to care that transparency standards are met within the countries or that the projects it finances lack sufficient public information.”
«Nicaraguan citizens cannot influence or audit these loans and projects because public information is totally limited. The government wants us Nicaraguans to pay a debt for projects that we cannot influence or audit,” the organization criticized.
Macroeconomic performance is not enough
On the other hand, the experts affirm that although it is true that international organizations evaluate countries for meeting the criteria of macroeconomic behavior, fiscal and monetary policy, “the GHREN has included in its recommendations that it is extremely important to include the parameter of human rights”.
He also stressed that “it is important that the opposition that aspires to take political power in the future democratic transition begins to raise the parade and announce the non-payment of this odious debt that the illegitimate government of Nicaragua is acquiring.”
Related news: CABEI is the main “sponsor” of the Ortega dictatorship
CABEI is the main “sponsor” of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. In recent years, the financing of this regional entity went from representing 21.39% of the Public Investment Program (PIP) in 2017 to 39.14% in 2022, which has led to it being highly criticized for the lack of transparency in the use of funds by the Ortega dictatorship.
On March 29, Urnas Abiertas, together with the Center for Research and Political Studies of the University of Costa Rica (CIEP-UCR) will publish a collaborative book regarding the transparency of local governments in the country.
