Spain Will Grant Nationality to all “Stateless” Nicaraguans

stripped of their citizenship by Daniel Ortega

The extension of this humanitarian gesture was communicated by the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, to Nicaraguan author Sergio Ramírez

By Confidencial

HAVANA TIMES – The Government of Spain extended the offer to grant Spanish nationality to the 94 Nicaraguan citizens who, this week, were declared “stateless” by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. These including human rights defender Vilma Núñez ; the writers Sergio Ramírez and Gioconda Belli; and the director of Confidencial and Esta Semana, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, and his wife Desirée Elizondo.

The offer by the Spanish Government is extended “to any citizen of Nicaragua who in the future may be left stateless due to the decisions” of the Ortega Executive.

The Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, communicated the decision of this humanitarian gesture to Sergio Ramírez, who in turn wrote a letter to the President of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, as confirmed this Friday by the Ministry in an official statement.

This offer is in addition to the one made on February 10^th by Sánchez to the 222 people expelled from Nicaragua and whose Nicaraguan nationality was withdrawn.

Last week, the Spanish Government had explained that “the procedure that will be used is the granting of Spanish nationality by naturalization letter, is to prevent them from being stateless.”

Likewise, “it is a government decision that will take very little time” and that the process would be “immediate”. In response, several of the released political prisoners who were exiled to the United States thanked the gesture and affirmed that it will be one of the options for them.

There are 317 Nicaraguans declared “stateless”

In eight days, the Ortega regime has already accumulated 317 Nicaraguans stripped of their nationality. The first group was that of the 222 political prisoners exiled to the United States, which included seven people who tried to challenge Ortega for the presidency of the country last year and five priests. They were also disqualified for life from holding public or elected office.

On February 10, the dictatorship stripped the nationality of the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez,” who the same day was sentenced to 26 and 4 months in prison for the catch-all crimes of “conspiracy and circulating false news.” The spurious trial was scheduled for this week, but it was brought forward after the priest refused to accept banishment to the United States.

“What we have here is arrogant behavior, from someone who is considered the head of the Church in Nicaragua,” Ortega said on national television on Thursday, February 9, and then confirmed that the religious man was transferred to the La Modelo prison, where he remains isolated in a maximum security cell.

Then, on Wednesday, February 15, the Public Ministry —controlled by the dictatorship— stripped another 94 Nicaraguans of their nationality, including the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Baez; the former commander of the National Directorate of the FSLN in the eighties, Luis Carrion; the ex-guerrilla commander Monica Baltodano; former Foreign Minister Norman Caldera; the former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Arturo McFields; ex-prosecutor Yader Morazán, and ex-deputy Eliseo Nuñez Morales, among others.

The 94 were declared “fugitives from justice” and disqualified from holding public office, as well as holding positions of popular election, plus perpetual loss of their rights as citizen. Ortega’s minions also ordered “the confiscation in favor of the State of Nicaragua of all real estate and companies that the defendants have registered in their favor, either in their personal capacity, or of legal entities or companies in which they participate as partners, to answer for the crimes committed.”

*With information from EFE

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