Human rights activists and defenders affirm that the inclusion of Daniel Ortega in the list of the 12 “most despotic tyrants in the world” for the year 2022, according to the British organization Index on Censorship, is the consequence of the “ brutal repression” that he exercises in Nicaragua.
“Ortega has been creating a national and international image of total tyranny for several years now and it is fair that they classify them as one of the main tyrants in the world, for this reason Ortega has eliminated and restricted all the basic rights of the people, the persecution to opponents that you don’t even need to be a great opponent to be censored,” said opposition activist and activist Ana Quirós in an interview with Article 66.
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He affirms that the title granted to the Nicaraguan president by the organization was consolidated during the last elections, “absolute repression of being able to participate, elect and be elected. In addition, the partial fraud in 2022 where it took over the 153 mayors, leaving the puppet parties even without any form of expression or exercising any leadership.
«It is very clear that with these two experiences and the repression reflected in the elimination of most of the civil organizations, having eliminated more than three thousand organizations, speaks to us of Ortega’s desire to destroy the entire citizen organization. On the other hand, the arrest and trial of opponents, including religious leaders, speaks to us of the tyrannical will of this regime,” Quirós added.
In the list of 12 candidates to become the greatest “tyrant” this year, Ortega is in fifth place in voting that will close on January 9, 2023 within the British organization Index on Censorship (Index of Censorship) that watches over For freedom of expression. The organization, which also publishes a quarterly magazine, highlights that the president of the Central American country became “a disappointing image. A revolutionary hero turned tyrant.”
The president of Nicaragua is with his ally, President Xi Jinping of China, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of Mexico, Tamim bin Hamad, of Qatar, Ebrahim Raisi, president of Iran; Vladimir Putin, from Russia; and Kim Jong-un from North Korea.
For her part, the human rights defender Hayéee Castillo highlights that “naming you “Tyrant of the Year 2022” for any worthy person should be a great offense. For Nicaragua and for a people who fought against Somoza and made a revolution (which was later betrayed), Daniel Ortega is an affront. Ortega, far from being a dignitary, a statesman, is a tyrant because he continues to make abusive and cruel use of the political power that he has usurped through electoral fraud and state terrorism,” the activist told this outlet.
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In addition, it affirms that Ortega holds power “not only illegitimate due to its origin, but also due to the crimes and State terrorism that characterizes his current exercise in power. He himself has built himself as a tyrant and as a dictator.
“Ortega is a tyrant who is far from representing the values of dignity, honest work and courage of the Nicaraguan people. It is a well-deserved title that he has built for himself and has earned with every decision and action that he takes every day against a dignified, unarmed and brave people like Nicaragua,” Castillo concluded.
Index launches an annual campaign to expose to the world and spotlight human rights defenders, activists, artists and journalists who have been making headlines because their freedom of expression has been suppressed all year by the authoritarian leaders of different countries.
