Nicaragua’s exiled left denounces terrors of the Ortega dictatorship to the Foro de SP

A group of 15 of the main opponents of the dictatorial regime of Daniel Ortega, from Nicaragua, sent a letter to the Foro de São Paulo denouncing the violations of civil liberties in the country. In the statement, the exiles called him “the worst of the neoliberal dictators” and that they are far from “leftist and anti-imperialist” bias.

The signatories of the letter say that Nicaragua lives under a “regime of terror, which daily violates all civil liberties, annihilates democracy and justice and subjects the people to an oppression worse than that imposed by the previous dictatorship”, they state in reference to the regime of Anastasio Somoza, overthrown in 1980 by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, of which Ortega is one of the members.

Among the authors of the letter is Sergio Ramírez, former vice president during one of Ortega’s terms; the poetess Gioconda Belli and the ex-guerrilla fighter Dora María Téllez, one of the commanders of the revolution. All are former allies of the current dictator and were arrested, expelled from the country at the beginning of the year and having their citizenship revoked.

The letter was sent to the São Paulo Forum in reference to the movement’s meeting to be held in Brazil at the end of the month. “We ask the parties and organizations that make up the Forum to denounce and condemn the regime of terror in Nicaragua, which is incompatible with the principles of a left that intends to be an alternative to the injustices of the world we live in”, they complete.

Although Nicaragua lives under a dictatorship that has closed the press, the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) recently sent a text to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) asking for the withdrawal of criticism of the regime of country, as a way of softening diplomatic relations.

The OAS presented member countries with a text proposing measures against Nicaragua. However, the Brazilian government suggested modifications, especially regarding the point that the organization calls for the return of democracy in Nicaragua, while the PT government calls for the “strengthening of democracy”.