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In a surprising announcement, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, Arturo McFields, denounced that the Government of Daniel Ortega is a “dictatorship” and that the elections held in 2021 are not “credible.” His statements, which were made in an OAS plenary session, come the same week that former presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Arturo McFields, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), condemned the practices of the government of President Daniel Ortega for the repression against the opposition.
The ambassador also referred to the Ortega Administration as a “dictatorship” and stressed that denouncing it “is not easy.” He added that “continuing to remain silent and defending the indefensible is impossible.”
“I have to speak, even if I am afraid, I have to speak, even if my future and that of my family are uncertain, I have to speak, because if I don’t, the stones themselves will speak for me,” he assured.
In a video posted on Twitter, MacFields said he was speaking “on behalf of more than 177 political prisoners and more than 350 people who have lost their lives since 2018,” the year protests broke out in the Central American country.
Words from the Ambassador of #Nicaragua Arturo McFields Yescas to the Permanent Council of the #OAS pic.twitter.com/cMNiv69CIh
— OAS (@OEA_oficial) March 23, 2022
McFields, who took office as ambassador in November 2021, assured that “there are no independent political parties, there are no credible elections, there is no separation of powers, but factual powers.”
In his surprise intervention, he also referred to the closure of non-governmental organizations, the restrictions imposed on the media and the elections, which he said, “were not credible.”
With regard to human rights organizations, he said that they do not exist in his country because “all of them were closed, expelled or shut down.”
Regarding people seeking asylum and fleeing the country, he stated that “170,000 Nicaraguans have fled” and that “others continue to flee while I am speaking at this moment.”
The OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, applauded his “courage” from his Twitter account.
We appreciate the courage of the Ambassador of #Nicaragua Arturo McFields Yescas and his commitment to the values of a @OEA_oficial. This is the ethically correct position. https://t.co/H5vb2WuDQ2
— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) March 23, 2022
Daniel Ortega has argued that opponents have been trying to overthrow him with the support of international governments.
According to a letter published by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arturo McFields “is not a representative before the OAS” of this country, assuring that the accredited ambassador is Francisco Campbell Hooker. Despite the fact that this Monday, March 21, in a communication published on the Nicaragua Diseña site, McFields was mentioned as the country’s representative before the organization.
The conviction of Chamorro and the political prisoners weigh on Ortega
The intervention of the ambassador before the OAS took place the same week that a judge sentenced the former candidate for the Presidency of Nicaragua, Cristiana Chamorro, to eight years in prison for alleged financial crimes.
The opposition has said that this conviction was politically motivated. The daughter of the former president of Nicaragua, Violeta de Chamorro, was ahead of Ortega in the polls for the Presidency. Another 46 opposition figures, including six presidential candidates, were arrested.
The United States and the European Union have said that Ortega’s last election was illegitimate, and have also pressured him to hold new elections and release the more than 160 political prisoners.
With Reuters and AFP
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