Nicaragua opposition groups draw roadmap in exile

The call to the international community to disregard the results of the coming November 7 elections in Nicaragua, was made this Thursday by a number of opposition leaders in exile. They called the process a “farce” by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to remain in power, saying their statement is “a message of hope” to the Nicaraguan people and a warning to the regime that “the opposition is not dismantled” and “continues to work” for unity.

The participating opposition leaders gathered to read a joint declaration of the newly proclaimed “Oposicion Democratica Nicaraguense” (Nicaraguan Democratic Opposition).

After a press conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, Ana Quiros, from the Articulation of Social Movements, assessed that the declaration is “a first effort of unity in action,” which seeks to show the world that Nicaraguans “are capable of reaching agreements” on basic points.

The document was signed by: the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB); the Nicaraguan Democratic Front (FDN); the Peasant Movement (MC); the Articulation of Social Movement (AMS); the Union for Democratic Renewal (UNAMOS); the Initiative for Change (IPC); the Nicaraguan Medical Association in Exile; the Nicaraguan Assembly for Democracy (AND); and the Nicaraguan-American Foundation for Development (FUNADEC).

The opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy (ACJD) and the Citizens for Freedom party (CxL) argued that they did not sign the declaration for “security concerns,” and to avoid reprisals against its members who continue in Nicaragua.

Convergence points

The first point in which the opponents converge, after the imprisonment of 37 politicians, opponents, and former NGOs workers in the framework of the electoral process, is to put in evidence that the November 7 vote is nothing more than “a fraud.” They invited the population to abstain from voting and to monitor the Ortega-allied parties that participate in this election.

Prior to the electoral process in Nicaragua, the organizations that emerged from the mass protests of 2018 failed in their attempt to unite. At first, they created the National Coalition that promised to become the political force that would seize power away from Ortega and Murillo. Months later, it ended up disintegrating due to disagreement between the parties and the two political parties that appeared to be the election vehicle were stripped of their legal status.

In the declaration, the opponents expressed their “repudiation and rejection” of the elections, calling  the process “illegitimate and void.” They requested that the countries in the Organization of American States (OAS) exert “the diplomatic and economic pressure necessary” to suspend the regime from the regional organization.

The opponents also request the OAS to convene the region’s foreign ministers, in the framework of the Ordinary General Assembly to be held on November 10 in Guatemala, to approve “a resolution on the illegitimacy and non-recognition of the results of this farce election of November 7, 2021, and the application of Article 21 of the Democratic Charter,” the text reads.

Evidencing the fraud

María Laura Alvarado, from the political council of the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB), told the Esta Noche program that despite the fact that some of their leaders are imprisoned and others have had to go into exile for security reasons, the bases of the organization “continue to organize in the territories” of Nicaragua.

Regarding this vote, Alvarado said that “there are some allied organizations that are making efforts to monitor and report all the irregularities that arise in the process, which will help demonstrate to the international community why the elections in Nicaragua are not a legitimate process.

“The absence of voters is going to be the first big sign (of fraud),” Quiros warned. “The second is going to be the performance of the allied parties, which is what is already being evidenced, with the presence of people who were not even members of those parties. Thus, there are already a series of (fraudulent) elements and there are organizations that have dedicated themselves to collecting information, to be observing,” she added.

Marcela Guevara, from the Self-convoked Movement, urged Nicaraguan society not to despair and move forward, despite the fact that the main opposition leaders are in jail. “I know we have been battered, I know that it has hurts us a lot that we did not accomplish many things, but I also know that we must remain steadfast,” she stressed.

Guevara also indicated that the movement to which she belongs continues to work virtually. “We have been taking care of ourselves, but we are not asleep, we continue working,” she pointed out.

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