Global alert to the arrest of Cristiana Chamor …

Cristiana Chamorro Barrios began Thursday with house arrest, incommunicado and police custody, relatives reported. Charged with alleged money laundering, Chamorro was also barred from participating in the November elections. His arrest was received with concern by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The United Nations, the European Union and the United States have also demonstrated against this arrest.

The director of Human Rights Watch for Latin America, José Miguel Vivanco, rejected the measure of the Ortega government. “It is a blow to any hope for a fair election in Nicaragua and a critical test to determine whether the Biden administration can help protect human rights and democracy in the region,” Vivanco wrote on his Twitter account.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) He also criticized the arrest of the opposition candidate. “The IACHR expresses its concern regarding the measures of political disqualification requested by the prosecutor’s office of the candidate (Cristiana Chamorro) for the presidency,” they wrote in a tweet published by the commission.

For its part, the Directorate General of the United Nations (UN) “We are very aware of the recent legal actions taken against Cristiana Chamorro. These events create the risk of a deterioration of confidence in the next elections, ”he said. Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Antonio Guterres, general secretary of the association.

during Pierre Stano, spokesman for the chancellery of the European Union, demanded the immediate release of Chamorro. “@Chamorrocris’ lawsuits are incompatible with a credible, transparent and open electoral process to the opposition and their candidates,” he tweeted.

Politics of the United States and Central America

Meanwhile, the US Chancellor, Antoine Blink, said Nicaragua is going in the “opposite direction” to what it sees as fair and free elections. The Secretary of State was in Costa Rica within the framework of negotiations to fight against Central American migration to the United States, rejected the measure of the Nicaraguan prosecution and assured that the situation of the Central American country worries not only the United States, but also to the hemisphere in general.

“Within the Organization of American States (OAS), Nicaragua has been called upon to take the necessary steps to have free and fair elections, and instead of doing so, instead of fulfilling its responsibilities, including the responsibilities with which he undertook to sign the Inter -The American Charter of 20 years ago goes in the opposite direction, ”declared the head of the North American diplomacy.

Cristiana Chamorro was under house arrest on Wednesday, a few days after the expiry of the deadline set for May 2021 by the OAS Assembly, and whose objective was for the Nicaraguan government to implement electoral reforms guaranteeing free elections , fair and transparent and restoring democratic guarantees. in the countryside.

A court of the capital Managua issued a search and arrest warrant against him for “abusive management, an ideological lie in real competition with the crime of laundering money, property and assets, to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua and Nicaraguan society”. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation – dedicated to the promotion of the freedom of the press and of expression – did not respect its obligations vis-à-vis the regulatory body. “From the analysis of the financial statements, period 2015-2019, clear indications of money laundering were obtained”, explained the ministry. Earlier this year, Chamorro Barrios announced the closure of the Foundation after the Legislative Assembly approved a law that orders organizations that receive money from international cooperation to register as “foreign agents”. “We would renounce our Nicaraguan citizenship,” Chamorro said.

The opposition woman has dismissed the prosecution’s charges and said it was a joke to prevent her from participating in the elections to be held on November 7. A few days ago, Chamorro requested its inclusion in the Citizens for Freedom Alliance (CxL), from where she would run as a presidential candidate. Cristiana Chamorro is currently the opposition figure most likely to win the November elections, according to pollster Cid Gallup. Although Ortega has yet to confirm his participation in the November elections, his opponents believe he will run for a fourth consecutive term.

The Chamorro family

Chamorro, 67, was born into a media owner family and has a long political career. Daughter of the famous journalist and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper La Prensa, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, assassinated by the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, a few months before the triumph of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Christine’s mother, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, defeated Daniel Ortega in the 1990 elections and was President of Nicaragua until 1997. During the government of Violeta Barrios, her daughter, Cristiana Chamorro was in charge of communication and public relations tasks for the Executive and was also in charge of the newspaper La Presse.