Central America
Arrested opponents are ‘criminals,’ says Nicaragua’s Ortega
AFP
Nicaragua’s leader Daniel Ortega said Wednesday that 19 opposition figures arrested just five months before a presidential election are not politicians but “criminals” who want to “overthrow the government.”
In raids that began on June 2, security and paramilitary forces have arrested five opposition presidential challengers as well as journalists, businessmen and a banker.
Cristiana Chamorro — daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and a favorite to face Ortega in November’s poll — was among those held.
“We are not dealing with pre-candidates, but criminals who have attacked the country,” Ortega said in an official televised ceremony, while accusing the imprisoned of being “agents of the Yankee empire” who “conspire against Nicaragua to overthrow the government.”
“That is what we are pursuing, that is what is being investigated and that is what will be punished in due course.”
Those held face charges of “inciting foreign interference” under a new law initiated by Ortega’s government and approved by the legislature in December purported to defend Nicaragua’s sovereignty. The law has been widely criticized as a means of freezing out challengers and silencing opponents.
The recent arrests have increased international condemnation.
At a session of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, 59 nations issued a statement saying they were “deeply concerned that recently enacted laws unduly restrict political participation, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association” in Nicaragua.
The Organization of American States’ (OAS) human rights council on Wednesday denounced a “new phase of repression” in the country, and urged the body’s judicial arm to protect four of the detained opposition politicians.
During the OAS session, the United States’ representative Bradley Freden, quoting Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said it was time for Ortega’s government “to change course” and “allow the Nicaraguan people to fully exercise their rights — including their right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections.”
Ortega has been accused of authoritarianism by the opposition and international community, following the brutal repression of demonstrations against his administration in April 2018, which left more than 300 dead and thousands of exiles, according to human rights organizations.
A firebrand Marxist in his younger days, Ortega and his Sandinistas toppled a corrupt autocratic regime to popular applause and seized control of the country in 1979.
He ruled until 1990, returned to power in 2007 and has won two successive reelections. His vice president is his wife, Rosario Murillo.
The 75-year-old is widely expected to run again in the November election, though he has not said so.
Central America
Nicaragua’s Ortega and Murillo Mourn Pope Francis, Acknowledge ‘Difficult’ Relationship
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who also serve as co-leaders of the country, expressed their condolences on Monday following the death of Pope Francis, acknowledging that their relationship with the late pontiff had been “difficult” and “troubled.” Nicaragua officially suspended diplomatic ties with the Vatican during his papacy.
“Our relationship, as Nicaraguans who are believers, devoted and faithful to the doctrine of Christ Jesus, was difficult and troubled—unfortunately shaped by adverse and painful circumstances that were not always understood,” Ortega and Murillo wrote in a message of condolence.
“Despite the complexity and hardships, despite the manipulation we all know occurred, despite everything, we kept our hope alive through Christian faith,” they continued. “We understood the distance, and above all, the complicated and strained communication that prevented better relations. We also recognized the confusion caused by strident voices that disrupted any attempt at genuine interaction.”
Pope Francis had previously compared the Ortega regime to communist dictatorships and even to Hitler, a remark that further strained relations between Managua and the Holy See.
Central America
Cardinal Rodríguez to Attend Funeral of Pope Francis: “He Was Very Dear to Me”
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral services of Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta due to a stroke.
“We will be there throughout the novena and then, God willing, at the burial,” Rodríguez said in a phone interview with HRN Radio in Tegucigalpa, apparently calling from Spain.
He added that the last time he saw Pope Francis was in October 2024, during and at the end of that year’s synod, and that they remained in contact through email. “Sometimes, the Pope would even call me,” said Rodríguez, who was born on December 29, 1942, and was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 2001.
Rodríguez expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Pope Francis, saying: “He was a very dear person to me.”
However, he also shared a message of hope, pointing out that the Holy Father passed away during Easter: “This is a sign. He gave his life completely like the Lord Jesus, and though he died, we believe in faith that he has risen, now with Christ in eternal life.”
Rodríguez, who for ten years coordinated the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals, was one of the eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to help govern the Catholic Church and reform the Roman Curia.
In January 2023, upon turning 80, Rodríguez stepped down as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and Pope Francis appointed Spanish priest José Vicente Nácher Tatay as his successor.
Central America
Senator Van Hollen Meets with Deported MS-13 Member in El Salvador; Trump and Bukele React
U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, representing the state of Maryland, held a meeting in El Salvador with deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, a member of the criminal group classified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
“Kilmar Ábrego García, miraculously resurrected from the ‘extermination camps’ and ‘torture chambers,’ now sipping margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” wrote President Nayib Bukeleon X (formerly Twitter), sharing photos of Van Hollen, Ábrego García, and a lawyer sitting together at a Salvadoran hotel.
The deported gang member is seen wearing a plaid shirt and a flat-brimmed cap, seated at a table with glasses and coffee cups. The senator also shared images of the meeting on his own social media accounts.
Bukele reaffirmed that Ábrego will remain in El Salvador and will not be returned to the United States.
“Now that his health has been confirmed, he has earned the honor of remaining under the custody of El Salvador,” Bukele added.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the senator’s meeting with Ábrego on Truth Social, calling Van Hollen “a fool” for advocating for Ábrego’s return to the U.S.
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