The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo continues to accumulate a long list of fugitives from justice from various Central American countries, naturalized Nicaraguans, now it was the turn of Ebal Díaz and Ricardo Cardona, former Minister of the Presidency and former private secretary during the government of Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), respectively in Honduras.
Various resolutions of the Ministry of the Interior (Migob) of 2020, 2021 and 2022, published in La Gaceta Diario Oficial No. 111 of this Friday, June 17, reflect that the two former officials of the Hernández Government were nationalized along with their family by the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
The first nationalized in 2020, according to Resolution No. 3238-A, is Ebal Jair Díaz Lupian, former Secretary of the Presidency of Honduras during the Government of JOH. Díaz is accused of diversion of funds and the alleged crime is in the investigation stage.
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The request for Nicaraguan nationality was also made for his family: his wife, Jahel Rivera Pantoja, and his daughter, Salma Jahdai Díaz Rivera, also received the same benefit. The entire family is now Nicaraguan.
Díaz and six other officials were denounced by the National Anticorruption Council (CNA) for committing alleged acts of corruption linked to the “container house” project for families that suffered the ravages of hurricanes Eta and Iota that hit Central America.
The other nationalized former Honduran official is Ricardo Leonel Cardona López, former private secretary and chief of staff of former President JOH. The nationality was also received by his wife Claudia Mercedes Matute Vargas and his son José Ricardo Cardona Matute.
Last April, the CNA published the findings of the line of investigation “Sedis senior officials who closed their corruption concert with a flourish”. The complaint states that Cardona and other former officials granted 581 appointment agreements with high salaries and many of those hired did not meet the requirements.
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“According to the CNA, an economic loss of 178,845,912 lempiras was verified as a result of the payment of an eventual salary leveling for salary variation in each of the positions created a few days after the end of the government,” Honduran media report. .
The Migob resolutions do not explain since what date they reside in Nicaragua, but they do indicate that they had “permanent residence” in the country. The two former Honduran officials received their Nicaraguan nationality while serving in the JOH Government.
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, 53, was extradited to the United States and is accused of three crimes allegedly committed between 2004 and 2022: conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and heavy weapons, and conspiracy to possess said drug. weapons, so he could face life in prison if found guilty.
Ortega has also given nationality to Salvadoran officials persecuted for corruption in his country, including former presidents Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sánchez Cerén, as well as the relatives of those politicians.
