At least 20,983 Nicaraguans were detained at the southern border of the United States during the month of October, according to official data, which means a new record in the statistics of migrants from this country who enter irregularly.
The data published recently by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reflect the “hopelessness” experienced by Nicaraguans in the face of the lack of a solution to the political crisis that began five years ago after the protests against President Daniel Ortega, analysts say in statements the voice of america.
During fiscal year 2020, Border Patrol apprehended 3,164 Nicaraguans, however, in fiscal year 2021, the number rose sharply to more than 50,000.
This substantial increase began to take place four months after the general elections in 2021, in which President Ortega won a new five-year term, after jail leading opposition candidates. The elections were branded as “an electoral farce.”
Number of migrants could increase
Analysts and researchers, consulted by the VOA, believe that the number could increase. In fact, a recent survey by the firm CID Gallup revealed by the Nicaraguan magazine Confidential revealed that 57% of citizens are willing to migrate due to the high cost of living, unemployment and the socio-political crisis.
“We are losing the vast majority of this population forever, because they are not leaving for political reasons, they are leaving because the regime does not offer them opportunities,” says economist Enrique Sáenz in this regard.
Former congresswoman Edipcia Dubón also agrees with Sáenz and comments for her part that the deterioration of economic conditions in Nicaragua “is brutal” and this is also added to the “lack of hope, which I think is the most devastating thing.”
The Nicaraguan president blames the United States for the increase in the migration of its citizens and recently warned that it could increase in the coming months.
“The reality of the sanctions in Nicaragua is different: the impact of the sanctions has been on a fraction of the corrupt circle of the regime, and has affected its reputation and at no time has it affected Nicaragua or Nicaraguans by default,” he responded to VOA News in this regard Manuel Orozco, consultant for the Inter-American Dialogue.
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