The authoritarian drift of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has plunged Nicaragua into international isolation. His dictatorial actions and the commission of crimes against humanity forced the international community to impose sanctions on Ortega officials and the withdrawal of cooperation programs.
In various international forums, most of the world’s democratic countries have denounced the human rights abuses of the Sandinista regime, which has not been able to demonstrate or convince with its story that it was all a “coup d’état.”
This argument has been officially used by the dictatorship when it tries to defend itself to justify the massacre of more than 350 Nicaraguans murdered since 2018. As a result, the regime decided to leave the Organization of American States (OAS) in November 2021.
Related news: Nicaraguan regime uses proximity to Russia as an “escape” in the face of international isolation
In his hackneyed speech of “sovereignty and non-intervention” he also decided to break diplomatic relations with several countries, has lost foreign cooperation, has withdrawn its own ambassadors and expelled those of other countries.
It moves away from democratic governments and approaches communist countries where dictatorships rule such as Iran, China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and one or another distant, corrupt and violent state like the Sandinista regime.
Closing to international calls
The regime has been isolated because it has not complied with anything that has been asked of it, affirms José Antonio Peraza, a member of the Political Council of the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB). He adds that the OAS, the General Assembly, the Permanent Council, Canada, the South American countries and the European Union have demanded over and over again that the political prisoners be released, that liberties be returned, that an electoral reform be carried out and that the political transition begin. .
“If, in addition to that, you add the reports from the GIEI (Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts) first, now from the United Nations Human Rights Council where they declare that there were proven serious violations of human rights, that there were crimes against humanity, that there is persecution , harassment, intolerance, which controls all the powers of the State that it uses to repress and silence, then that must be reversed,” he said.
“When things are demanded of him, the only thing he says is that he has the right to self-determination, to the independence of Nicaragua, but that does not convince anyone, it is empty rhetoric simply because he does not want to give an opening, because that opening can cost power, but that kind of thing will have to see how they manage it because that’s not going to change. The vision of the world is not going to change to the criticisms and demands that are made to it every day,” he added.
Don’t stop putting pressure on Ortega
Peraza stated that as there is more pressure for Ortega, things are going to start to change. She indicated that he does not share the idea that Ortega must be released from the pressure; but you have to seek negotiation, but based on pressure.
«If you let go of the pressure on Ortega, he does not give you anything at all. The only way that he can grant you something or give you the opportunity to play politically within Nicaragua with him is through pressure and threats; otherwise you will not move anything at all. The United States and the European Union can put sanctions that can put it in check,” he explained.
Isolation deepened in 2022
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in its report “Nicaragua: Facts and Figures 2022 on the situation of human rights”, indicates that the international isolation of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “deepened” with the expulsion and declaration of personas non grata of diplomatic representatives, international humanitarian organizations and multilateral organizations, as well as with the rupture of relations with a European State.
Ortega ordered the expulsion of the apostolic nuncio, Monsignor Waldemar Sommertag, Vatican ambassador in Managua; Bettina Muscheidt, ambassador of the European Union and head of the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
He also withdrew the approval of the new ambassador designated by the United States; it broke relations with the Organization of American States (OAS) and confiscated its facilities in Managua; and also discontinued its bilateral relations with the Netherlands.
The expulsion of ambassadors from various countries or the non-acceptance of the nominees, according to the opponent, reflect the “discomfort” of the regime in the face of criticism from democratic governments that are pushing for Nicaragua to be a free nation.
“This only shows the isolation in the face of the inability to give an answer, to have a narrative that explains the sentences he has received internationally, that is the big problem. When the rulers claim him and he does not have a narrative to justify his actions, he gets angry and expels the people he considers to be annoying,” he said.
«That is not the action of a statesman, a statesman goes and asks what the criticisms are and seeks to answer them; If he does not have an answer, he seeks to find a solution so that the country does not stagnate, Ortega is stagnant, Nicaragua is stagnant and is hurting us all,” he mentioned.
more poverty
Poverty will increase, according to the opponent, due to international isolation and the numbers from the Central Bank are not reliable, he warned. In addition, he stressed that the basic basket is in the “air”, very low wages and the high cost of living is increasingly felt in homes. He explains that family remittances, due to the “wave of exiles and migrants,” are what “have saved” Ortega.
At the end of last year, the Latin American studies researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies of the United States Army War College, Evan Ellis, assured local media that the closeness of the Nicaraguan regime with Russia is an “escape” method against the international isolation imposed by the North American country and the European Union.
