More than 35 opposition organizations, exiles and the Nicaraguan diaspora categorically reject the possibility of a dialogue with the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, which would be forging after January 10, once Ortega once again “hands over” the presidential sash to himself, as has happened since 2012, when he was reelected, breaking (first) the constitutional locks and imprisoning (now) the political and electoral competition in 2021.
The leaders of these organizations pointed out, from San José, Costa Rica, that “there have never been conditions” to dialogue with the ruling couple, whom they accuse of committing crimes against humanity and violating the human rights of the Nicaraguan people.
The Ortega regime has not officially summoned any national dialogue to solve the country’s socio-political crisis. However, the Sandinista deputy, Wálmaro Gutiérrez – sanctioned by the governments of the United States and Canada – announced on October 12 that this would be the strategy to follow after the reelection of Ortega and Murillo.
“If big capital wants to join us in this effort, welcome, that’s good. President Ortega has already said it as well, ”Deputy Gutiérrez said then in the hemicycle of the National Assembly. “After we, as an organized people, win the elections on November 7, a great national dialogue opens, where everyone will fit in,” said Gutiérrez.
Magdiel Galeano, from the Flor de Sacuanjoche organization, affirmed that “Ortega is calling for this dialogue with the people who matter to him, the Nicaraguan population and opposition are not really being taken into account there. He is going to sit with the great capital of Nicaragua“.
They will not negotiate with an “illegitimate” government
Nemesio Mejía, coordinator of the Peasant Movement in exile, assured that this organization is not willing to participate in a dialogue with a government that it considers “illegitimate”, since it is the result of an electoral process that is not very transparent and without political competition.
“We cannot sit with a government that does not exist in Nicaragua. We must dialogue, of course we do, but with ourselves, with the opposition, to seek an exit route and to provide the country and the international community with a horizontal line of work where we are all included ”, said Mejía.
María José Rivas, from the organization Growing With Wings, agreed that “you cannot dialogue with a regime that is totally illegitimate” and added that “while Ortega is in power, there will never be conditions for dialogue.”
The exile organizations also point out that they cannot dialogue when there are more than 160 political prisoners in different prisons in Nicaragua, which cannot be considered “currency” and much less can be the subject of negotiation.
“There are no conditions, there were not and never have been conditions. You cannot dialogue with a murderer who has committed crimes against humanity against Nicaragua, against the population; then, a dialogue does not exist and will not exist because there are no conditions ”, expressed the political prisoner, Snayder Suazo.
Orteguismo seeks legitimacy
Opponents and political analysts agree that with this attempt at dialogue Ortega seeks to legitimize past votes, in which the ruling regime was re-elected without political competition and that Nicaraguan society and the international community have described as “a pantomime.”
The former congressman and political analyst, Eliseo Núñez, pointed out during a meeting with exiles that “we are facing a third dialogue where Ortega has illegitimacy not only internally but also internationally.”
Meanwhile, Jesús Tefel, from the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB), considered that the possible dialogue with Ortega would be more “a monologue” and to reach that negotiation “would be to come to give you on a silver platter and give him more oxygen to win time, since all democratic spaces are closed ”.
Finally, María Laura Alvarado, also from UNAB, added that sitting down to dialogue with the regime “is not going to generate a solution to the crisis”, because the ruling couple “has not complied with the 2019 agreements” and therefore, Alvarado concluded , “We have no guarantees from those organizations that they will settle with Ortega and Dona Rosario.”
