Opposition in Nicaragua is impossible
In the context of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, the evaluation of European policy towards Latin America and the current situation of the Nicaraguan opposition have been put on the table by the FNF in Madrid (Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, by David Henneberger, Head of FNF Madrid Office), which has organised a meeting between this political prisoner and the international press. Félix Maradiaga announced that he "will never accept the shooting of my Nicaraguan brother as a way out".
He has also alluded to the march towards a concerted effort by all the forces opposed to the Ortega regime as a sum of individual leaders who accept the process, that is, a space that agrees on joint actions, respecting the individual identity of each group, and which is born within a clandestine Nicaragua. Most importantly, they are the counter-power to Daniel Ortega, and crave the recognition of the international community and Nicaraguans themselves
Who is the leader or founders of the Monteverde platform, and are they willing to listen to all proposals from different positions?
I am the official spokesperson. Bearing in mind that the initiative of the Monteverde Group and the prisoners released by the regime emerge from the underground in Costa Rica, we have reached an agreement: the beginning of a process that recognises spaces, without exercising a monopoly.
The groups have little in common and extremism has done damage because it closes the doors to plurality. The values that materialise the union are moderation, reasonableness, liberal values..., I am attacked by the ultra-right and the Sandinistas. So I must not do badly. If Latin America does not take a firm position against Ortega, the international community even less so. The opposition was already divided before. We could all counter-attack Ortega. There is no united opposition per se. The formations that exist are: Unión Nicaragüense Autoconvocada, Partido Ciudadanos de la Libertad, Movimiento Campesino, Alianza Cívica (with two factions), Partido Humanista Social Cristiano and Izquierda Socialdemócrata.
What agreements have been reached between the different factions?
The first pillar is to exert as much international pressure as we can. For Europe to suspend funding channels and for the European Parliament (EP) to impose sanctions on Ortega. We are concerned and worried about the little consequence and the little pressure from the international community in the face of Ortega's actions. We are talking about a sultanic dictatorship. Our plan of action is based on international advocacy, moving the correlation of power, that is, that Ortega has less international space to be able to isolate him.
What is the current situation of the opposition to Daniel Ortega's regime?
When I am asked about the existence of a fragmented opposition, I say that the opposition is not perfect without going as far as being a hero or a martyr. You have to understand the extreme living conditions in Nicaragua. Regarding our organisational process through Monteverde, today we cannot speak of monolithic political positions.
I do not accept that the way out is to shoot my Nicaraguan brother. I do not go through civil war. We do not accept an armed solution.
What line of action are you going to take against the Ortega regime?
The most immediate thing we have decided is to take action with regard to human rights and the international community. That is: cut off funding channels to isolate the regime (I am referring to European and American companies, multilateral bodies and investment funds). Ortega accesses financial emergency funds for public spending and what he does is to strengthen the organs of repression. We will require an audit and exhaustive control of these funds.
Could you explain to me why the Red Cross has been closed and why measures are being taken against the Catholic Church?
Ortega is a ticking time bomb of the Catholic community. We are talking about the first persecuted evangelicals. The current situation of the Nicaraguan opposition is due to the radicalisation of the dictatorship. The number of declared illegal civil society organisations amounts to 3,400, which have already been closed down. A total of 20 private universities and other think tanks have also been shut down. In the first wave, civic centres and human rights organisations were closed without any political action, and in this third wave, a total of 77 clerics have been expelled from the country. The Red Cross has been stripped of its licence to operate. The White Cross is the new owner.
The Catholic Church has not issued any official pastoral letter against Ortega's actions. Privately, they tell you that the religious have to survive in Nicaragua, but every time a priest makes a statement he ends up in prison. The world is silent and that makes it difficult for us to make progress. Father Jaime Montesinos Saudeda, in the department of Boaco, said mass and has been in prison since 23 May this year. Ortega's unimaginable actions are accepted. A left-wing president in Honduras was ousted by the military and the world turned against him. Cooperation must be cut off now; there is enormous romanticism in Europe about the Sandinista revolution.
There are ghosts haunting the imminent death of Daniel Ortega. What support would this new platform have among the Sandinista ranks, in a possible scenario marked by the possible death, as I say, of Daniel Ortega?
The truth is that he leads a hermetic life and has already positioned his wife as the head of the family's political apparatus, not to mention his children, who are now ministers. Sometimes, I think it is better not to interrupt him lest his actions lead to a counter-attack from the international community (which there never is), and he becomes a victim of his own mistakes. Ortega has made his position more vulnerable by aligning himself with Putin and I don't think China is serious about Nicaragua, China wants a simple relationship. It is only interested in one domain: the political-military relationship with anti-American states.
What actions could the international community take to support them? Could the campaign of media attacks against Spain and the EU be resumed? I am talking about the European Parliament's (EP) sanctions against Nicaragua, the European Union's (EU) recognition of this opposition group and the awarding of the Sakharov prize to Bishop Ronaldo Álvarez for being a symbol of freedom of conscience.
Spain is in a complex situation. We are entering a new stage in which it is trying to generate a "good cop" approach, and it cannot be that Daniel Ortega, who is generating a whole campaign of attacks against Spain, is being given flexibility. He expels the Spanish ambassador or expropriates the property of European citizens.
We do not, of course, expect the solution to come from Europe or the United States. We have a long way to go. What makes it difficult for us is when Ortega makes these attacks on Spain, the Vatican and the EU and there are no consequences. Curiously, it gives him energy to take more and more radical measures.
Carmen Chamorro, CIP/ACPE board member and SEI graduate in International Relations