An organized group of Nicaraguans living in the United States reported this Sunday that they promote the economic isolation of the Nicaraguan authorities as a way to restore democracy in the Central American country, governed since 2007 by President Daniel Ortega.
The so-called New York New Jersey Work Table began “with complaints in 2018, large marches in New York and New Jersey” and the “fight is in another stage right now, to ensure that the Reborn Law is applied with all rigor,” he told Efe the coordinator of the Table, Damaris Rostran.
The so-called law to Strengthen Compliance with Conditions for Electoral Reform in Nicaragua (Be rebornfor its acronym in English), was signed by President Joe Biden last November, after the re-election of Ortega in an election without the participation of the main opposition leaders because they were detained or their parties were annulled.
The rule urges the US government to examine Nicaragua’s participation in the Free Trade Agreement with Central America (Cafta, in English) and, in addition, asks it to increase its sanctions against key players in the Ortega government.
The legislation, approved in the US Congress with the support of Democrats and Republicans, also urges Biden to expand cooperation with Canada and the European Union (EU) on policy towards Nicaragua, and expands supervision of loans from international financial institutions to the country.
“There is already talk of revising Cafta, because whoever has really benefited is the leadership of the dictatorship. The next thing is to keep pressing so that the dictatorship continues to remain isolated”, affirmed Rostrán.
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The Biden Administration On March 9, it included nine high-ranking Nicaraguan officials on the list that prohibits entry to its territory. of people it considers corrupt or undemocratic.
These are nine people involved in the arrest of Ortega’s opponents during the election campaign last November, in which the president was re-elected, and which include leaders of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) such as its president, Brenda Isabel Rock; o Edwin Ramón Castro Rivera, deputy of the National Assembly and member of the Sandinista National Front.
“The sanctions make their echo, maybe not in the short term, but if they didn’t make the echo and the damage, the dictatorship wouldn’t get so bad, because every time there are sanctions they get out of control,” said Rostrán.
The opponent recalled that “Nicaragua’s trade continues to depend on the United States,” and that “neither China nor Russia are going to replace it.”
Related news: Nicaragua increases exports to the US in the first months of 2022. China and Russia, with tiny purchases
Data from the Central Bank of Nicaragua indicate that between January and November 2021, the United States remained the main destination for Nicaraguan exports.
Frictions have marked relations between Nicaragua and the United States each time Ortega has led the country, first from 1979 to 1990 and then from 2007.
Since 2018, Nicaragua has been experiencing a sociopolitical crisis that has left hundreds dead, and hundreds of thousands have opted for exile, mainly to Costa Rica and the United States.
