Nicaragua’s main opposition presidential candidate denounces Daniel Ortega’s regime seeking to avoid her candidacy

Christian Chamorro, Nicaraguan presidential candidate, runs the risk of being excluded from the November elections following a money laundering charge that could prevent him from facing President Daniel Ortega if he decides to run for office, as expected.

Chamorro, 67, rejects these accusations and seeks the unity of the opposition to defeat Ortega at the polls, as his mother Violeta did at the head of a coalition in 1990.

“I was born into a home linked to independent journalism and opposed to any kind of dictatorship, oppression or corruption. At that time he was against the Somoza dictatorship (which ruled from 1937 until the triumph of the revolution in 1979). My decision to say yes to Nicaragua and to serve the people was born precisely from the construction of another dictatorship, which is that of Ortega “, said in an interview with the agency AFP.

“People said it once again about dictatorships, as they did when Somoza, later against the Sandinistas in [las eleciones de] 1990. And in 2018, the population spontaneously took to the streets to protest and demand free elections … and early elections. Ortega’s response was to shoot to kill the protesters. Since then, Nicaragua has experienced a de facto state of siege, ”he added.

On May 21, the prosecution opened proceedings against the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH), led by Cristiana between 1998 and February 2021, for alleged money laundering during the period 2015-2019. If she is prosecuted, Nicaraguan law does not allow her to stand for election.

At least six journalists summoned by Nicaraguan public prosecutor (prosecutor) in connection with an investigation against the opposition presidential candidate

“I don’t know what they can accuse me of, I don’t know as a witness that I’m here, I don’t know what they are talking about money laundering,” the Univision correspondent said. Maria Lili Delgado, one of the aforementioned, and to whom they warned that they could summon him again.

The “urgent” summons was sent last Monday to Delgado, to the journalist Veronica chavez, co-owner of the digital medium 100% Noticias; at Roberto Carcamoby ABC stereo; and the businessman Fabio gadea, owner of Radio Corporación, one of the oldest in the country.

In addition, journalists were quoted Lourdes Arróliga Yes Guillermo Medrano, who worked at the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH), which closed its operations in February, affected by a law that required reporting the receipt of funds received from abroad and declaring oneself as a foreign agent.

Communicators refused to testify without the presence of a lawyer. But they were warned that if they passed with a lawyer, their status would be changed “from witness to accused,” reported Delgado, who at one point worked for the FVBCH.

He explained that his relationship with the NGO was to coordinate the media and train journalists. “It is not a crime,” he said.

The security forces of the Sandinista regime raided the offices of digital media Confidencial, which manages Carlos Fernando Chamorro, Cristiana’s brother, who covered the long anti-government protests of 2018 and who left 328 dead, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Following the regime’s brutal crackdown on protests, the Ortega government faced severe international sanctions.

Cristiana saw the case against her as “a crude joke” and denounced the freezing of her bank accounts and the lifting of bank secrecy. “I also see it as a revenge against the legacy of my mother, Violeta Chamorro, which we have collected at the Foundation that bears her name. In this atrocious way, he takes revenge for this defeat (of 1990) which he seems not to overcome. Ortega is a dictator who knows he has the majority rejection of the people, but he does not accept it because his plan is to continue to badly govern the country until his forces allow it ”.

The presidential candidate enjoys 13.3% of citizen support, according to a survey carried out in January by the firm Cid Gallup, and emerges as an opponent of Ortega, in power since 2007 and who, according to his opponents, will attempt a fourth consecutive term. “People put me at the forefront of electoral preferences. This is why the dictator ordered that they accuse me, it is revenge against the people “said the Nicaraguan journalist.

Facing the elections, he stressed the importance of “unity” in the opposition: “The main challenge of the opposition is unity. All serious polls agree that the people want to vote, but want to elect a single opposition candidate. Division is the worst case. I am sure the majority of Nicaraguans, including the public sector, want freedom, progress and dignified treatment. My approach is to defeat Ortega by peaceful means, that is, through free, transparent, honest and observed elections ”.

Ortega, 75, ruled Nicaragua during the revolution of the 1980s and returned to the presidency in 2007. He was re-elected in 2011 and 2016, and his opponents do not rule out that he will seek a fourth term. in the November 7 elections.

“Ortega is already defeated, which is why he hastened to approve an electoral reform which, instead of facilitating the elections, rather complicated them, put more restrictions and appointed a Supreme Electoral Council totally obedient to his orders ““, Concluded Chamorro, who indicated that Ortega and his wife, the vice-president Rosario Murillo, built” a monstrous family dictatorship “.

With information from AFP

KEEP READING: