Nicaragua withdrew the approval of the designated ambassador of the European Union in Managua in response to his criticism of the repression in the Central American country, on the fifth anniversary of the start of the protests against the government of Daniel Ortega.
“Given his meddling, daring and insolent statement […]the Republic of Nicaragua […] has decided to suspend the placet that it had granted to Mr. Fernando Ponz, as ambassador of that overwhelming Power,” says a note signed by Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada.
“In these circumstances and in the face of the permanent siege of our People’s Right to National Sovereignty, we did not receive their Representative,” added the note addressed to Brussels.
Previously, the European bloc had issued a critical statement for the fifth anniversary of the start of the 2018 protests, which were violently repressed by the Ortega government with a balance of more than 350 deaths, according to the UN.
“Five years have passed since thousands of Nicaraguan citizens took to the streets to express their legitimate demand for human rights. […]. Instead of their demands being heard and respected, the people of Nicaragua have since faced systemic repression,” the EU said in its statement.
Hundreds of opponents were arrested in Nicaragua in the context of the repression that followed the protests against Ortega, in power since 2007 and successively re-elected in disputed elections.
Relations between Nicaragua and the EU have deteriorated dramatically in the last year and on September 28 the Ortega government declared the representative of the European Union in Managua, Bettina Muscheidt, persona non grata.
In response, the EU Council declared Nicaragua’s representative to the bloc, Zoila Muller Goff, persona non grata.
In addition, on October 13, the Council of the EU renewed for one year, until October 15, 2023, the sanctions against 21 citizens and three Nicaraguan entities “in view of the political situation” in the country.
The original package of EU sanctions against Nicaragua had been adopted in 2019 and included six people, although the list of those sanctioned was gradually increased, including children of Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
All these officials are prohibited from obtaining visas to enter the EU, and any assets they have in the European Union are frozen.
“New patterns” of repression
Meanwhile, Amnesty International denounced this Tuesday that Nicaragua is using “new patterns” of human rights violations, on the fifth anniversary of the start of the anti-government protests.
The Ortega government, which claims that the 2018 protests were part of a failed coup promoted by Washington, called for a march in Managua on Wednesday to commemorate the so-called “Day of Peace”, for the anniversary of the protests. .
The humanitarian organization expressed that the government of Ortega and Murillo resorts to the excessive use of force, criminal laws, attacks against civil society and forced exile in order to silence its critics.
“The Nicaraguan government’s policy of repression to contain dissident voices and any type of criticism continues to grow, reinvent itself and incorporate new patterns of violations,” Amnesty said in a report entitled “A cry for justice: 5 years of oppression and resistance in Nicaragua”./AFP
The Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, said that “in the face of the permanent siege of the Right of our People to National Sovereignty” we did not receive the representative of the EU./AFP file photo