The Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States, brian nicholsstated this Saturday, March 12, that the objective of the Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo regime in prosecuting the former workers of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCh) is to attack “the freedoms of Nicaraguans.”
The head of United States diplomacy for Latin America spoke a day after the Nicaraguan justice issued a guilty verdict against the political prisoners Christian Chamorro, peter chamorro, Freight Marks, Walter Gomez and Peter Vasquez. The regime accuses them of alleged money laundering and other crimes.
“Cristiana and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, and their colleagues convicted on baseless charges, suffered a terrible injustice at the hands of Ortega-Murillo. The true objective of the regime is the freedoms of Nicaraguans, which is why they have attacked those who have always defended them,” the US official posted on Twitter.
Former presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro Barrios was the opposition figure most likely to win the presidential elections on November 7, 2021. She was found guilty of the crimes of money laundering, goods and assets, improper appropriation and retention, abusive management and ideological falsehood, from the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, which he directed.
The Nicaraguan civil organization dedicated itself, for more than 20 years, to the promotion of freedom of expression, access to public information, the defense of human rights and the promotion of citizen initiatives for the common good, said Chamorro announcing its closuredue to the persecution of the regime against the NGOs.
Along with Cristiana, her brother was prosecuted Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, sons of the assassinated National Hero Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal and former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997). Both are members of the board of directors of the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa, which celebrated its 96th anniversary on March 2, and currently is occupied by the dictatorship.
Related news: Cristiana Chamorro to the judge: “I defend my father’s legacy of freedom of expression”
At least 104 attacks against press freedom occurred in Nicaragua last February, including the conviction of two journalists critical of the regime, reported the regional network Voces del Sur. The dictator Ortega is classified as a predator of freedom of expression, according to the blacklist drawn up by the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), published in 2021, because it attempts to silence critical voices through threats, persecution, harassment and defamation campaigns, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment.
