A letter from WCCN’s Executive Director

In this letter, I would like to express my growing concerns with the latest developments in Nicaragua under the new government of President Daniel Ortega.

In his memoirs of the Nicaraguan Revolution, former Sandinista leader Sergio Ramírez wrote that democracy was the main outcome of the Revolution, despite the fact that it was never its main goal. In fact, there was a time when Daniel Ortega played a very important role on the process of rooting democracy in Nicaragua, especially once he allowed the first peaceful transfer of power in Nicaraguan history from one elected President to another. However, since that time, Ortega has not been a loyal supporter of democracy for the country or of the democratization of the Frente Sandinista. Once Ortega signed a political pact with former President Arnoldo Alemán, he even turned out to be one of the main problems for the consolidation and expansion of Nicaraguan democracy and the democratization of his own party. Now that he is in power, he has been widening the Nicaraguan democracy deficit, which could make that deficit irreversible, by eliminating the minimal characteristics of a democratic society.

There is a growing concern as the new Nicaraguan government continues weakening state institutions that are still in a state of infancy. One of the institutions that is suffering the most is the judiciary, which has been controlled by FSLN loyalists since the pact was signed in 2000. Now, the new government is increasingly using the selective power it has over the judiciary against their political enemies or even against those who are denouncing corruption.

Human-rights institutions are also in danger. A year ago, Sandinista leader Omar Cabezas was appointed as the Nicaraguan Ombudsman, the person in charge of protecting human rights. His appointment was strongly criticized by many sectors in the Nicaraguan society since Cabezas had a total lack of knowledge on human rights issues. Under the new FSLN government, Cabezas hasn’t even pretended to be an independent functionary, but has been characterized as being an unconditional supporter of the decisions made by the FSLN government. For instance, a few weeks ago, Cabezas paid for a full-page ad in Nicaraguan newspapers using money from the Ombudsman’s office to defend the decision of President Ortega to tear down a fountain in the center of Managua without even notifying the mayor of Managua of his plans. There have been accusations of a growing use of the judicial system by the FSLN for political purposes to intimidate people who criticize FSLN functionaries. Cabezas has not acted. On the contrary, he has attacked human rights organizations that become involved in the issue, such as the Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos (CENIDH). Cabezas attacked CENIDH for advocating for the rights of an entrepreneur that was sent to prison in a civil case as a way to pressure him to stop criticizing the FSLN. WCCN has had a very long relationship with CENIDH, and we know firsthand their professionalism and commitment to justice for everyone in Nicaragua.

We still have hope that things can be managed in a different way by the new administration. Nicaragua cannot reverse its democracy, the main gain of the Sandinista Revolution.

Sincerely,

Carlos Arenas
WCCN Executive Director