On the eve of the November 7 voting, members of the international community called on the governments of the region to “draw red lines to the dictatorship” of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. They consider that “it is not enough“ with repudiate the “electoral farce ”and point out the“ illegitimacy of the regime ”; It is necessary to “go far beyond words” and move on “to what is truly effective”, such as the application of more economic sanctions and —inclusively— the expulsion of Nicaragua from the Organization of American States (OAS).
During the forum: “The international community before the electoral farce of 7/11 in Nicaragua”, the former president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, warned that if the international community does not react effectively to what happens in Nicaragua, “the cost will be very high” for Nicaraguans and also for “regional democratic stability.”
“Nicaragua will become a stimulus for other leaders with few democratic convictions who will be watching and will want to follow the path that Daniel (Ortega) has followed in these years,” Chinchilla said.
Only in Central America, the enthronement of Ortega could turn the country into “a factor that will hinder the economic reactivation after the pandemic (of the covid-19)”, it will contribute to the humanitarian crisis “that is already being experienced in the countries of the northern triangle” and cause “an imbalance of forces “due” to the weapons it has incurred with the support of Russia, “he added.
For MEP Javier Nart, from the Renovar Europa group, it is necessary that the political statements of the international community have “necessarily economic” consequences, since individual sanctions only cause “discomfort” to some members of the regime, but the fundamental thing “is that let us have a political action with decisive and determined economic consequences ”against the regime and its collaborators.
CABEI, “the main financier of the dictatorship”
Meanwhile, the regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA-International), Daniel Zovatto, who spoke in an individual capacity, claimed that multilateral organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF ), the World Bank or the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) continue to finance the Nicaraguan regime, thus demanding “consistency” between financial and human rights organizations.
“The application of Article 21 is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one. We have to go much further “Zocatto warned. “It cannot be that the international financial organizations are the ones that are financing this dictatorship, we must put an end to that and the Act (Law) Renacer can help. In particular, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, which from its president down, is the main financier of this dictatorship, this must also be denounced, “he added.
For former President Chinchilla, the international community needs to “align economic sanctions with a correct and consistent strategy”, in such a way that it is possible to “align the decisions of international financial organizations with human rights organizations”, since, she valued, “Just as macroeconomic balances matter, respect for the rule of law must matter.”
Similarly, Zovatto pointed out that the sanctions of the international community also have to be directed towards “the Armed Forces and against the provision funds that the Armed Forces have mainly deposited in the United States, to make them feel that now they are going with everything.
Latin America must respond accordingly
The group agreed that the efforts of the international community should be articulated with the work of national actors, keeping Nicaragua’s sociopolitical crisis on the international agenda and, above all, responding forcefully to the electoral farce.
The regime has “the determination to go for everything, killing, murdering, torturing, jailing candidates of the opposition, canceling political parties, doing everything he has to do to stay in power and consolidate this dictatorship ”, warned Zovatto. It is for this reason that Latin America has to respond “up to the challenge.”
MEP Alicia Homs, from the Socialists and Democrats group, stressed that “there is a unity around (what happens in) Nicaragua”, and considered that “the authoritarian system that Ortega has set up is not sustainable” and that “not all countries they have a critical society like the one Nicaragua has ”.
