The betrayed dialogue | People

By Fabrizio Casari (*)

Efforts to continue the political dialogue in Nicaragua are fragile. Although the government of Daniel Ortega, at the request of the opposition, the church and businessmen agreed to reopen the negotiating table, the same applicants, present from the beginning, signed the agreement on modalities of the dialogue. they abandoned the negotiation.

The Sandinista government has not imposed a limit on the issues under discussion by proposing a road map containing the main points: strengthening the institutions guaranteeing the electoral process, as agreed with the OAS, justice and reparation of the victims of the attempted coup d'etat. State in 2018 for peace, security and stability in Nicaragua, examining the records of prisoners who do not lead to impunity, call on the international community to suspend all sanctions against the Nicaraguan people.

The Episcopal Conference was invited to testify (and no longer as mediator of the dialogue, because of its role as political leader of the coup d'etat, which would have been ridiculous in this new phase). Bishop Brenes, President of CEN, and Waldemar Sommerstag, Apostolic Nuncio sent by the Pope, were invited to participate. They left out Báez, Mata and Álvarez, the three prelates of the coup d'état known as hatred of the government and the incessant. incitement to war during the attempted coup d'etat.

The latter, wounded in their own hypertrophic ego and concerned about their fame and their career, have constantly openly criticized the Nuncio and Archbishop Brenes, forcing the clerical delegation to withdraw from the negotiations.

After the church, the so-called Civic Alliance was withdrawn or, rather, the coup d'etat against the cacique of liberalism and conservatism with the names of the rich families of the country.

The Alliance is undoubtedly the political emanation of the national oligarchy. He was born under the impulse of Miami and with the desire to regain control of Nicaragua, just like the United States.

Fury dressed in cbadock

If for the church, the formal excuse was the non-recognition of his role as mediator and the invitation addressed to the evangelical churches of Nicaragua (40% of Catholic faithful adhere to it), for the 39 Civic Alliance, the real motivation remains that of: always: to participate in the political life of the country, which implies to renounce the subversion and to work during the electoral mandate of 2021. The difficult thing to do is to present a proposal Global politics, since the hatred of Sandinismo and the surrender of the country to Trump does not represent a project that can be sold to the electorate. But here, here, lies a good part of the problem.

The United States is aware that its supporters can compete without winning, as is happening in Venezuela. for this reason, they order the opposition not to participate in the political life of the country, let alone in negotiations with governments. Because?

The last example is last week's elections on the Caribbean coast, a traditionally simple area for Sandinism: the FSLN won more than 55% of the vote. That is why the coup considers it best to avoid defeat safely and try, in the absence of this power, to delegitimize the democratic trajectory and the government, until the United States decides what to do. to do and how to do it.

The Alliance also has another reason to withdraw from the negotiations: the work program of the national dialogue includes an invitation to the international community to suspend any sanctions against the country. This seemed to him indigestible, as his exhibitors were genuflected in Miami and Washington to obtain the Nica Act.

On the other hand, the right, because of its historical vocation as a proxy, believes that only a withdrawal of socio-economic indices can undermine part of the FSLN consensus. working on the basis of Washington imposing heavier sanctions in Nicaragua.

The future of terrorists

The issue of detainees following the vandalism caused by the coup that shook Nicaragua continues on the negotiating table. The Civic Alliance calls for the release of arrested terrorists "conditio sine qua non" to deal with other problems. An instrumental request to which they do not even believe. The so-called "political prisoners" are in fact people who have committed blatant crimes or who have been arrested by audio and video testimonies or by people present during terrorist episodes.

Some are direct perpetrators and others only people implicated in looting, imprisonment, burning of houses and public Sandinista buildings, kidnappings, rapes and the murder of 22 policemen (some burned alive in front of the barricades) , the very essence of "peaceful" demonstrations. All the misdeeds were consumed thanks to the availability of the government which, to foster dialogue, had accepted the request of the Church to withdraw the police from the barracks. Finally finishing Sandinista's patience. The final balance? More than 200 dead and 1.8 billion dollars in damage to the national economy.

As part of the negotiations, the government proposed a judicial review of the cases of previously convicted prisoners and defendants awaiting trial, thereby closing any leniency case for murderers, torturers and instigators. In essence, show the willingness, along with the punishment of criminals, to look into the cases of those who did not directly stain their hands with blood, provided that this is part of an agreement of national reconciliation and peace in the supreme interest of the country. To shout that all are political prisoners would be to put murderers and rapists at the same level as generic protesters.

At this stage, the fate of prisoners, apart from political conciliation in the national dialogue, is exclusively related to the judicial dimension. It is difficult for families of the subjects in question to appreciate the choice of the Alliance, whose interests remain functional for the release of political and military leaders who will not benefit from any reduction at the time of the election. 39, probationary examination with the resulting penalties.

Electoral reform

With regard to the reform of the electoral system and in accordance with previous agreements, aware of the subordination of the opposition to its extreme wing, the Government has deliberately invited the Organization of American States to accompany the process of dialogue with a view to of the elections of 2021.

The OAS immediately adhered to this proposal by sending its representative, Luis Ángel Rosadilla, to Managua. In a joint statement with the Government of Nicaragua, the OAS believes that the proposal is positive and would seek to optimize electoral mechanisms and consolidate the democratic system within the constitutional framework. The departure of the opposition and Vatican hierarchies from the dialogue table makes dialogue with the OAS the only area of ​​government mediation in this regard.

As for the entrepreneurs, they are still in open confrontation with the government, in accordance with the guidelines of Washington and Miami. Cosep is the only international example of national confederation sent abroad, that is what it is about.

Nicaraguan entrepreneurs (who see themselves as the owners of large capitals, which are actually microbes in the globalized global economy) should value their role in terms of national interests. Democratic confrontation is the salt of democracy and the negotiating table is the only instrument, beyond parliament, to discuss what should be discussed and reform what needs to be reformed.

Getting off the table means giving up democratic participation and a national responsibility that, when it is not recognized as fundamental, leads the company to fall back on the management role of the organization. ;employer. The hope of becoming a ruling clbad is thus buried under the pavement of the roadblocks, reaffirming the usual surrender of the homeland abroad, which is the very essence of its vision of the country system.

Nearly a year after the 2018 coup attempt, the political situation remains clear: the country is trying to recover economically, beyond dialogue, in absolute calm. The government continues to respect its full powers and functions; with the necessary force to contain any coup attempts and with the necessary consensus to continue to win victories before the 2021 elections.

(*) Italian journalist