Features

The Nicaraguan Parliament, controlled by the ruling Sandinista Front leader Daniel Ortega, today withdrew the legal status of five more non-governmental organizations (NGOs) considered critical of the leader, raising the total to nine in recent days.

In an almost unheard-of unanimous vote in these time of polarization, the US House of Representatives voted 435-0 to approve the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act (Nica Act), now one step away from becoming law. All that’s missing is the signature of President Donald Trump, expected to come in the coming days, if not hours, for the sanctions come into force.

If Olesia Munoz weren’t shut up in the La Esperanza women’s prison, together with a dozen other political prisoners, her soprano voice would be resonating in her native city of Niquinohomo, as part of the Nicaraguan celebration known as La Purisima. Her sister, Tania, would be selling bread, as she did before, from a stall in the town market. But both are in jail, accused of terrorism.

Entrepreneurs from Nicaragua’s private sector will hold an important assembly next Wednesday, December 12th in Managua. The executives are expected to present a message to the nation including their analysis of the current economic reality, and address the dire consequences of maintaining the status quo.

Human rights organizations in Nicaragua asked the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) to include Daniel Ortega’s Government on a list of countries that most fail to comply with international and national standards in human rights matters. It has to do with the inclusion of a country in Chapter IV of its annual report on the serious violations.

Daniel Ortega says nothing about the United States’ sanctions against his government and against his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo. Not a phrase, not a word has crossed his lips: no reference to the topic at all. He used the opportunity to attack his brother, former Army Chief Humberto Ortega, and the Catholic bishops.