“Pepe” Mujica signed a letter of repudiation against Daniel Ortega

Former Uruguayan President José Pepe Mujica is one of more than 140 signatories of a letter in which left-wing intellectuals in the region denounce recent actions of the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. It was also signed by Lucía Topolansky, current senator and former first lady of Uruguay.

“It is unclear whether Daniel Ortega has fallen ill with power or is ill with the maintenance of power or both, but that – now and for practical purposes does not matter,” begins the letter which points out that the Sandinista president “has been transformed. in an autocratic and authoritarian president, allied until recently to great fortunes (Conseil Supérieur de l’Entreprise Privée – Cosep-through) capable of ruthlessly repressing its populations with whom it has not known, wanted or been able to build a quality of life or a democratic institutionality and transparent ”.

The document accuses the Sandinista Front of have gone through a long process of deterioration “This records episodes of corruption, abandonment of principles, illicit enrichment, maneuvers and accommodation with the worst right, intended to amass fortunes and perpetuate themselves in power.

Besides Mujica, the Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska added his signature to the political declaration signed by more than 140 intellectuals and left-wing leaders in the region.

Latin American intellectuals remind him his “enormous enrichment” When the 1990s arrived, the pacts with Arnoldo Alemán and the business world, the persecution of Sandinista veterans, the harassment of the poet Ernesto Cardenal, the violent reaction against the demonstrators in April 2018 and the recent arrests of presidential candidates, and they made it clear that It does not match the visions of freedom that were conquered with lives in the past Somoza dictatorship.

“Human rights are not a gracious concession from States and their governments, they are conquests of peoples. States which recognize them and embody them in various legal instruments have the duty to promote and respect them” , specifies the text.

The signatories recognize that they cannot be silent before the abuses committed by the Ortega-Murillo family in Nicaragua, despite this, they present themselves as socialists.

“It is not worthy or decent to defend them when for “political reasons” it suits us and shut up when not. Nor is it valid to “justify” their violation because others “violate them more”; nor the hypocrisy of politicians, parties and governments inclined to see the straw in the eye of others and not the beam in theirs. Once again with concern, pain and force, we sympathize with the victims and demand that the Nicaraguan government end the persecution and repression, release political prisoners and respect the rule of law, ”the letter reads.

They also warn “those who were silent yesterday, they must wonder how much their silence has inadvertently contributed to the arrogance and impunity with which Ortega leads a new satrapy and how much this silence hurts the humanitarian conscience how much we must contribute to a more just, free and fraternal world “.

In July 2018, Pepe Mujica had already spoken about what happened in Nicaragua.

“I feel that something that was a dream is deviating, falling into autocracy, and I understand that those who were the revolutionaries yesterday have lost the meaning of life, there are times when you have to say, I’m leaving “, Mujica dojo on this occasion.

Many former allies of Daniel Ortega who shared his ideology have decided to turn their backs on him. The most recent position has been taken by Mexico and Argentina, which ultimately expressed concern over the repression in Nicaragua and called on the Sandinista president to resume dialogue with the opposition and ensure transparent and transparent elections. civil liberties in the country.

In response, Daniel Ortega’s son Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo accused Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of “cowardice” over the weekend.

In January 2019, the Socialist International expelled the Sandinista National Liberation Front from its ranks, denouncing serious human rights violations and stating that “socialism is incompatible with tyranny“.