Dante Mossi, president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), affirmed that the Daniel Ortega regime is “legitimate” to justify the millionaire financing that it grants to the dictatorship accused of committing crimes against humanity.
In statements to La Voz de América, Mossi also revealed that the regional bank has a “plan B” in case international sanctions prevent it from granting more loans to the Nicaraguan regime.
Related news: Related news: CABEI has “plan b” to continue financing Ortega if the sanctions are tightened
According to Mossi, CABEI would ask the Office of Asset Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury to grant them a license to approve funds, indicating that they are loans for humanitarian issues in Nicaragua.
Mossi, who seeks to be re-elected as president of the regional bank this 2023, has tried to evade the accusations of experts and opponents who describe him as an “accomplice” of Ortega.
In his defense, he maintained that the loans approved for Nicaragua depend on the vote of the members of the board of directors.
Following these statements, United States congressmen wrote a letter to the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras to stop financing the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
The letter was signed by Democratic Congressman Bob Menéndez and his Republican colleague Michael McCaul, Chairman of the Senate and House Foreign Committees, respectively.
Related news: US senators and congressmen ask Central American governments to stop CABEI loans to Ortega
When asked why CABEI member countries have not done anything to stop financing the dictatorship, the political analyst Elisha Nunez and the lawyer Juan Diego Barberena They agree that these countries do not want Nicaragua to also block the loans they manage at the regional bank.
The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo expelled from Nicaragua the Vatican’s charge d’affaires in Managua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf.
According to the Confidencial media, diplomatic sources in Rome revealed that the monsignor left this Friday afternoon by land, and is already in Costa Rica.
On March 12, the same outlet revealed that the Nicaraguan dictatorship had given the representative of the Nunciature a week to leave the country, after Pope Francis described the Nicaraguan regime as a “rude and guaranga dictatorship.”
With the departure of the Vatican’s charge d’affaires, the Nunciature in Managua is considered closed.
Related news: Vatican charge d’affaires leaves Nicaragua and closes Nunciature
According to the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, the suspension of diplomatic relations with the Holy See was an issue that it was considering. However, some voices point out that, in practice, the dictatorship would be breaking with the Vatican.
With this decision, Ortega would join the club of North Korea, China, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and nine other countries in the world that do not maintain diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
The fear falls on what will happen to the priests imprisoned by the dictatorship and the Catholic hierarchy. In the cells are Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, a firm voice against the dictatorship; Monsignor Leonardo Urbina and the priest Manuel García are also in prison, while several religious have considered fleeing religious persecution.
Human rights defender Bianca Jagger, of Nicaraguan origin, stated that she “is deeply concerned” about Bishop Rolando Álvarez.
“No one knows of his whereabouts. His family has been trying to find out where he is, asking to be allowed to bring him medicine, food and water,” so he asked Ortega and Murillo to provide “proof of life” for the religious leader.
Related news: Unab demands “proof of life” from Monsignor Rolando Álvarez
Bank executives are violating the Nicaraguan Penal Code by blocking the accounts of citizens declared stateless by the Daniel Ortega regime, said economist and lawyer Enrique Sáenz.
He explained that “article 280 of the Penal Code establishes” crimes against the banking and financial system “and establishes a penalty of six to eight years in prison for the bank official, manager or administrator who causes property damage to depositors.”
BAC Credomatic, Banco Avanz, Banco de Finanzas (BDF) and Banco de la Producción (Banpro) are the entities that have blocked the accounts without notifying the situation to those persecuted by Ortega. Sáenz questioned them on their social networks, telling them “if today they enjoy protection from the dictatorship, tomorrow, when the gangsters are not there, who will protect them from criminal and civil actions?”
The Intercultural Association for Human Rights (ASIDEHU) based in San José, Costa Rica, requested the deputy director of Migration of that country, the expansion of “service fields” to people who request refuge for the first time.
Jhoswel Martínez, president of the association, explained to Article 66 that the request is due to a series of anomalies that are occurring with the processing system, “the impossibility of making an appointment and insufficient spaces.”
Related news: They request Costa Rican Migration to expand appointment numbers for refugee applicants for the first time
Therefore, they reiterated their call to “the Refuge Unit to expand the places provided for the attention of people who request refuge for the first time from 70 to 150, and to try to solve the problem of appointments by telephone line or platform ».
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday for the deportation of children in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, which he denounced as a legally “null” decision.
The Hague-based court also called for the arrest for the same reason, considered a war crime, of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia.
The ICC did not specify how it intends to execute the arrest warrants, taking into account that Russia is not a member of that court, as Moscow immediately recalled.
However, the issuance of an arrest warrant against a sitting head of state and member of the UN Security Council is an unprecedented step for the court.
