Nicaraguan diaspora meets to organize leadership against Ortega

Ortega has buried all opportunities for dialogue and compels us to take more forceful actions, says university leader Lesther Aleman.

By Keyling T. Romero  (Confidencial)

HAVANA TIMES – The first meeting of Nicaraguan leaders abroad, in which some of those forced into exile because of Ortega’s repression will participate, will be held this weekend in the United States, with the participation of academic and researcher Felix Maradiaga, human rights defender Alvaro Leiva and university leader Lesther Aleman.

The meeting is promoted by the Coalition Freedom for Nicaragua, a platform that aims to unite all those abroad fighting for democracy in the country, provide visibility to the socio-political crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing since April and follow-up on international actions against the regime of Daniel Ortega.

“With this space we can have a greater follow-up. There are meetings, there are actions, there are proposals, but we also need to monitor them. So, this is going to be a good opportunity to give continuity to those agreements,” stated the student leader and member of this coalition, Lesther Aleman, during the television program “Esta Noche” (Tonight).

As a Coalition, he affirms, they have met with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN) and have requested that the issue of Nicaragua remain on the agenda.

“The Secretary (Luis) Almagro, told us that the Government of Nicaragua is closing itself off more and more. There is no opportunity for dialogue, not even with an international organization. So, he is pushing towards more forceful actions on the part of organizations,” affirmed Aleman.

Lesther noted that the discourse on normality that Ortega intends to sell at the international level has not been effective, because in the meetings they have had with US authorities, they have found that they (US officials) do not believe the official version of the government. Rather, they claim that “they do not see Ortega staying until 2021” and that the sanctions against his government will continue.

However, Aleman stated that “we have never spoken about any interference or on how the government can harm us. It has always been said that the United States should act in the framework of the Organization of American States and must behave even more persistent in that.” But, they expect a greater number of countries to be more insistent in their legislative processes against the Government of Ortega.