A cautious national dialogue reopens in Nicaragua

Quietly, almost without wanting to attract attention, in times when all eyes

they are based on Venezuela,

Nicaragua

He reopened the long-awaited national dialogue this week. Note: nobody wants to move one more chip. Neither the international community nor the negotiators of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy. Because, although it is said in a low voice, fear exists and the following question arises: what happens if it is another gesture of the man? ; Ortega?

After ten months of
a violent socio-political crisis that plunged the country and caused the deaths of more than 325 people,
the arrest of at least 700 political prisoners and the
the exile of thousands of Nicaraguans, the secret with which the situation is managed is not accidental, nor is the mistrust caused by the acts of the president

Daniel Ortega

Much less if we take into account the failure of the previous dialogue, in May 2018, which ended abruptly and was followed by a cascade of violent acts. The ghost is still there.

If anything characterizes this crisis, it is the unusual speed with which it was developed and the management or mismanagement of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, who have made a situation that has has been compared – reducing distances – worse the one crossing Venezuela. In addition to maintaining close commercial relations, Ortega and

Maduro

the mirror gives them a similar image.

In the case of Nicaragua, the portrait is that of a nation without division of powers. A completely blurred justice that "works" to the taste and resemblance of the executive, like the police and paramilitary forces, which claimed in principle to be independent and then showed that She was answering the presidential couple. However, faced with the threat, Ortega is now looking for another thought or an outcome. After all, your country has no oil and that leaves you less time than Maduro.

According to the information to which he has subscribed
THE NATION, beyond the weight of

the crisis in Venezuela,

Daniel Ortega gave "the arm to the twist" for several reasons. There is on one side the pressure exerted by the European Union (EU) with the threat of sanctions and the other action of the United States, which has already decreed a series economic sanctions, such as the Nica Act.

One of the issues that is also worrying for the future is the economic recession that Nicaragua is going through. And, of course, the number of victims and political prisoners keeping the international community on alert. "It is in Ortega's interest to reach an agreement before the departure of Maduro," said a source close to the dialogue table.

"Where are they taken?", Asked a group of parents who were going to La Modelo's prison service as they left the place filled with political prisoners. Later, we would know that he was
a group of over 100 detainees who left prison under confused and uncertain legal conditions. Although there was no response from the other side – as it usually is – every mother began to pray that a few hours after the start of the national dialogue, it would be the turn of his son. It does not matter that the release is nothing more than an additional demonstration that it is the government that dominates the judicial system.

For the moment, negotiations are at a standstill. "It's the process of approving a sort of roadmap that sets the rules of the game," says José Pallais, a full member of the Civic Alliance. Apparently, we seek to schematize the formal questions first, then establish the real dialogue, which will address the substantive issues: early elections and the release of political prisoners.

Then, the goal will be to establish a model of transitional justice, consisting of a true truth commission, courts proposed by the international community, in which the victims will be repaired. However, this week, the dialogue table will have to agree on the guarantors of the agreement and the participation of the Catholic Church and the international community.

Once the dialogue has begun, the approval of these two points seems to be decisive for Nicaragua's future. This also explains the caution and secrecy of many. "Nothing is agreed until everything is approved," said Pallais aloud.

Difficult negotiation

Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua

Against the ropes

Pressed by the EU and the United States, without the Venezuelan oil, the Sandinista leader eventually gave up.

L & # 39; s calendar

In this first case, we seek to establish a road map to then deal with the underlying dialogue: early elections and release of political prisoners.