A group of Nicaraguan opposition organizations in exile announced on Tuesday a new proposal for unity between diaspora organizations and within the country “for the liberation of Nicaragua.”
Organizations in Nicaragua include Conexión Nica-USA, Nicaragua Texas, Amigos de Nicaragua Azul y Blanco, and Movimiento Campesino.
“We want to build the single road map for the end of the dictatorship,” the organizations said in a statement during the launch of the proposal, where they also called on “other opposition groups and leaders to seek consensus through reflection.”
This would be the second initiative of Nicaraguan opponents seeking to unify forces. The first was announced at the end of June and is made up of former presidential hopefuls, former political prisoners and prominent people in Nicaraguan politics.
Robert D’Andrea, from the Acción Ciudadana party in exile and a member of the new proposal, told the voice of america that the initiative arose between six organizations that came together. “We got only one out of those six unit proposals,” he assured.
Oppose dialogue and elections
The group of organizations also claimed to oppose a dialogue with the Nicaraguan government or elections “while the dictatorship exists,” and said that they are aware of the existence of other similar unity initiatives, but that this did not divide the opposition.
“We are not dividing because it is not a platform, it is a plan, a proposal for unity for the liberation of Nicaragua. Five groups are no longer going to go to the OAS to say five different things. We are no longer going to lobby in disorder. It’s going to be one big voice,” D’Andrea concluded.
Since the political crisis of 2018, when social protests against the government of Daniel Ortega broke out, leaving more than 300 dead and hundreds injured and detained, the Nicaraguan opposition has been dispersed, although attempts at unification have emerged.
In October 2018, the so-called Blue and White National Unity emerged, a democratic movement that sought to “make a common front” against Ortega. In February 2020, the National Coalition emerged, seeking to defeat Ortega at the polls. However, not all the opposition leaders were in the blocks.
The Citizens for Freedom Party, for example, led by Carmela Monterrey and one of the most important in Nicaragua, refused to join. The Ortega government canceled the legal status of the party a few months before the 2021 elections.
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