MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Mon. June 21, 2021– International criticism is being leveled at the office of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega after national police in the country detained up to 12 opposition members, four of whom are aspiring presidential candidates.
Elections in the country are set to take place later this year, and President Ortega, who is now serving his fourth year in office, has been facing opposition over the last few years. In 2018, mass anti-government riots led to the death of hundreds of citizens.
To date, those detained include presidential hopefuls Felix Maradiaga, Juan Sebastian Chamorro, Cristiana Chamorro and Arturo Cruz.
Juan and Cristiana Chamorro are direct relatives of former Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro.
Most of the persons detained have been longtime rivals of President Ortega, but the names of persons such as General Hugo Torres, a longtime comrade of the president, have also appeared on the list of those detained.
Gen. Torres fought alongside President Ortega in the Nicaraguan revolution. Dora Tellez, a former revolutionary commander, served as Minister of Health during President Ortega’s first administration. She later turned into one of the most active critics of his leadership. She too has been detained as a part of the countrywide purge of opposition and dissent.
Most of the detained persons are accused of plotting against the sovereignty of Nicaragua and organizing terrorist acts funded by foreign powers. In December, the Ortega-supported National Assembly passed treason laws under which these opposition members are now being held.
The government of Nicaragua is claiming that the country’s independence is under threat from the US imperialist powers and that they are protecting their sovereignty.
Top US diplomat for Latin America, Julia Chung, has stated that the international community has no choice but to treat President Ortega as a dictator.
“Presidential candidate Felix Maradiaga’s arbitrary arrest … should resolve any remaining doubts about Ortega’s credentials as a dictator,” Chung said.
Locally, Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Immigration, told the Cabinet that Belize issued a statement along with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Spain, “reminding the Government of Nicaragua that actions against important opposition leaders threaten the free exercise of democracy.”
President Daniel Ortega played a central role in the removal of dictator Anastasio Somoza and his family from Nicaragua. He formed the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), and seized power in 1979, after finally ousting Somoza.
Ortega was first elected president of Nicaragua in 1984 and was defeated in 1990. He returned to office in 2006, calling himself a “Christian Socialist”, and won the 2011 and 2016 elections following changes to the constitution which allowed him to run.