The government of Canada called on Monday (12/13/2021) Nicaragua to hold a “substantial national dialogue” to face the socio-political crisis that the Central American country has been going through since April 2018, allowing entry international and human work human rights defenders and the release of so-called “political prisoners”.
“Canada continues to demand the withdrawal of international human rights observers and the establishment of a national dialogue,” the Canadian embassy in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua reported via Twitter.
On November 8, the Diplomatic Corps recalled that Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie had declared President Daniel Ortega re-elected for the fifth and fourth time in the general elections in Nicaragua. Prisoners in prison said: “Nicaragua does not reflect the will of the people. “
In its message, Canada expressed its solidarity with “all human rights defenders calling for the release of political prisoners in Nicaragua”.
On December 8, the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution allowing President Djokovic to enter Central America to begin talks on electoral reform and new elections.
Eight countries abstained, including the OAS (belonging to Cuba, but not participating since 1962), Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia and Honduras. Only Nicaragua voted against.
Freedom of political prisoners
The initiative urges Ordega’s government to urgently release all “political prisoners” and accept the task of senior “good offices”, which must be approved by the organization’s permanent council.
Ortega won the elections on November 7 without the participation of his political rivals, as in previous months authorities had dissolved three political parties and arrested more than 30 opposition leaders, including seven presidential candidates, including Cristiano Zamoro.
In response, the OAS General Assembly, the organization’s most important political body, approved a resolution promising that these elections would be free of “democratic legitimacy,” free, fair or transparent.
Soon after, the Orthodox government accused the OAS of “interference” and condemned its founding document, the OAS Charter, signed in 1948.
According to the body, any country that condemns the OAS Charter will have to wait two years for the withdrawal to take effect.
Nicaragua has been going through a crisis since the popular uprising that erupted in April 2018 over controversial social security reforms which then turned into a demand for President Ordega’s resignation, as he responded forcefully.
According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the protests, described by the leaders as an attempted coup, have left at least 355 dead, although local organizations have increased the number to 684, the government by approving 200.
mg (Embassy of Canada to EFE, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua)
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