Boric: “You Can’t Be Silent” about Nicaragua’s Prisoners
The Ortega regime currently holds at least 219 political prisoners
The statements of the Chilean president contrast with the silence from Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
HAVANA TIMES – Chilean president Gabriel Boric stated on November 24 in a speech to the Mexican Senate that “Latin America should not be silent” in the face of human rights violations in the region and expressly denounced the situation of “political prisoners” in Nicaragua. Boric’s address to the Senate took place on his last day of official visit to the country.
“We have learned that when the human rights of Latin American peoples are violated, one should not remain silent. I evoke the heartfelt Latin American solidarity that Mexico had with us,” said the Chilean president, referring to the “generous welcome” to Chilean exiles after the coup d’état of 1973.
“We must not look to the side in the face of the crisis that Haiti is experiencing; we must not look to the side in the face of the political prisoners in Nicaragua,” he added, acknowledging that both his country and Mexico “also” had suffered cases of human rights violations.
The statements of the 36-year-old president and representative of the new Latin American left, contrast with the silence regarding the situation in Nicaragua from the also leftist Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Lopez Obrador received Boric Wednesday at the National Palace, in the first official meeting between the two leaders.
Mexico has not joined the denunciations from the majority of the international community at various organizations, such as the Organization of American States (OAS), about political repression in the Central American country.
Nicaragua has been going through a serious political and social crisis since April 2018, which has worsened after the controversial general elections of November 7, 2021. On that day, Daniel Ortega re-elected himself for a fifth term, fourth consecutive and second along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with his main contenders in prison.
Ortega has been in power for nearly 16 consecutive years, amid accusations of authoritarianism, nepotism and electoral fraud.
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