Nicaraguans Abroad Condemn Regime Violence and Call for Early Elections

They ask for elections by the middle of 2019.  In a pronouncement they endorse all sanctions and measures “that seek to punish violators of human rights.”

By Yader Luna  (Confidencial)

HAVANA TIMES – Dozens of Nicaraguan organizations and groups abroad gathered in Washington over the weekend declaring themselves in favor of advanced general elections, at the latest by mid-2019, to resolve the crisis that the country has experienced for nearly seven months.

“We reject the image of false normality of Nicaragua imposed by the current dictatorship and we join the clamor of the Nicaraguan people asking for the departure of dictator Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-dictator Rosario Murillo, through free early elections with an agreed date at the latest in mid-2019,” says the statement of the “First meeting of leaders of Nicaraguan organizations and groups in the world.”

The document indicates that the Ortega-Murillo regime “has violated and continues to systematically violate” the human rights of the population and “has turned a deaf ear to the clamor of the people of Nicaragua, and to the repeated calls from the OAS, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights of the UN and organizations such as Amnesty International and the national commissions, to stop the repression, assassinations and torture, and return to the dialogue table from which it unilaterally withdrew.”

In the pronouncement of 16 points, the diaspora declares itself ready to influence the international community “with greater strength” to achieve a “peaceful transition towards a free, just and democratic Nicaragua.”

They support sanctions

“We support all those sanctions and measures by the United States, other countries and international organizations that seek to punish the violators of human rights acting under the direction of the government and their accomplices. These include the corrupt Nicaraguan officials and their relatives who have authorized the use of public funds and State institutions to suppress human and civil rights, including denying the right to health, and/or embezzlement of public funds and goods for personal and/or political gains,” indicates the statement.

Faced with the violations of human rights by the Ortega-Murillo regime, they ask the Human Rights Council of the United Nations to hold a special session to analyze the Nicaraguan crisis.

“We call on the international community and international and multilateral organizations to support the people of Nicaragua by contributing to a peaceful transition towards a free, just and democratic Nicaragua. We ask you to consider specific resolutions and decrees condemning the repression perpetrated by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and take all measures of pressure within your reach to isolate the dictatorial regime and restore constitutional order,” they request in the statement.

The diaspora calls on all Nicaraguans, both inside and outside the country, to subscribe to this pronouncement. Adhesions can be sent by electronic mail to the following E-mail: [email protected]

The entire statement can be read here in Spanish.