EU urges Ortega regime to return sovereignty to the Nicaraguan people

The delegation of the European Union to the United Nations (UN) urged on Monday, September 26, that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “return the sovereignty of Nicaragua to the Nicaraguan people” and to “restore democracy” in the country, where the human rights of the population are systematically violated.

“The EU urges the Nicaraguan authorities to comply with their own commitments, the Nicaraguan Constitution and international human rights laws and standards,” the EU delegation said during its intervention at the 77^th UN General Assembly.

It also warned that, since the November 7, 2021 elections, repression has continued, and the situation has further deteriorated.

“The Nicaraguan authorities must put an end to all repression, including that against political opponents, the clergy, independent media outlets, civil society and human rights defenders, and guarantee full respect for human rights, including freedom of assembly, association, expression, and religion or belief,” the delegation stated.

Likewise, the EU reiterated its “urgent” call to the Nicaraguan authorities to release all political prisoners “immediately and unconditionally” and to annul all judicial proceedings against them, including their sentences.

The EU delegation also advocated for the reestablishment of “an inclusive dialogue between the government and the opposition, and genuine democracy” and the return to the country of international human rights organizations, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister says “there is peace”

Meanwhile, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, used most of his speech at the UN General Assembly to condemn “colonialist imperialism,” express solidarity with his political allies, and maintain that “there is peace” in Nicaragua.

“It is time to bring people’s rights closer to the United Nations that represents us all and that does not submit to the designs of any imperialist power,” Moncada warned at the beginning of his speech.

“It is time to continue rejecting criminal blockades…aggressions, so-called sanctions that are illegal, arbitrary, illicit, which make more evident the perversion of a system and a model, imperialist and capitalist, which continues and intends to continue “punishing” and bleeding the world, in plain sight and docile patience of the organizations that should defend it,” added Moncada.

The sanctions to which the Foreign Minister referred have been implemented by countries such as the United States, Canada and the European Union against officials of the Nicaraguan regime, who have been accused of committing serious violations to the human rights of Nicaraguans and acts of corruption.

“It is time to uphold the principle of “sovereign equality of States” in all international organizations and forums, so that the multipolar and non-aligned world that we have sought so much, becomes a reality, is strengthened, grows, and includes us all… In Nicaragua, sisters and brothers, there is homeland, and because there is a homeland, there is peace!”, concluded the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister.

Latin American governments are concerned

Although the Ortega regime ignored the sociopolitical crisis in Nicaragua during the UN General Assembly, several Latin American Governments expressed their concern about the constant human rights violations of Nicaraguans and the migratory wave that it has generated in recent years.

The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, made a call to “contribute” to the release of Nicaraguan political prisoners, and said during his speech Tuesday that the problems that afflict different societies are solved only with “more democracy and not with less.”

Boric called “to carry out the necessary actions, and not only declarations, and put an end to the abuse of the powerful anywhere in the world, and to continue working to contribute to the release of the political prisoners in Nicaragua.”

President Jair Bolsonaro also invited those religious men and women who are “persecuted” by the authorities in Nicaragua to seek refuge in Brazil. He also spoke on Tuesday before the UN General Assembly.

Bolsonaro, who as President of Brazil, following the UN tradition, was the first of the heads of state and government to address the General Assembly, condemned the religious persecution that exists in the world and cited the case of Nicaragua.

“I want to announce that Brazil opens its doors to welcome the priests and nuns persecuted in Nicaragua,” stated Bolsonaro, who is a staunch defender of the conservative values associated with Christianity.

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times.