# data[].attributes.body
In an article posted on the UN's website regarding Nicaragua's limitation on fundamental human rights the UN is taking action to interfere. Experts stated "(T)he State of Nicaragua must immediately cease the judicial persecution of all dissenting voices, release those imprisoned for political reasons and ensure prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into allegations of human rights violations, resulting in those responsible being held to account and effective remedies being provided to the victims”, they insist that the Nicaraguan government must cease these activities. While this is a joint declaration that starts taking the steps to reinstating political freedom there is still a long way to go. I thought it was interesting how the UN is able to intervene however when Nicaragua completely blows them off not much is done.

# data[].attributes.body
In the 2023 world report which evaluated Nicaragua throughout 2022 there was a significant decrease in human rights throughout the country. There are a significant amount of political prisoners and President Ortega and his wife are continue to cut the rights of those in Nicaragua. In 2021 President Ortega was reelected for his 4th term due to political corruption and the imprisonment of his rivals. There is little to no freedom of expression in the state and anyone who voices an opposing viewpoint are thrown into jail. Reading this was shocking as there are many citizens living in silence and suffering everyday in fear. While I know many larger organizations and states are trying to interfere it feels as though not much is being due to prosecute President Ortega.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, deepened its systematic repression against critics, journalists, and human rights defenders. Dozens of people arbitrarily detained remain behind bars.

Since taking office in 2007, the government has dismantled all institutional checks on presidential power. Amid repression of critics and political opponents, President Ortega was elected, in 2021, to a fourth consecutive term.

The government closed over 2,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in 2022 and intensified its crackdown against members of the Catholic Church.

Abuses by the National Police and armed pro-government groups during a brutal 2018 crackdown that left over 300 protesters and bystanders dead remain unpunished.

Persistent problems include a total abortion ban and severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association.

Arbitrary Prosecution of Critics

As of September 2022, 209 people perceived as government critics remained in detention, according to local rights groups, including many who were arrested in the context of the 2021 elections.

Critics have been charged with undermining national integrity, propagating false news, laundering money, and related crimes. In many cases, they have been held incommunicado for weeks or months at El Chipote detention facility, some in prolonged solitary confinement. On the limited occasions when visits have been allowed, detainees have reported to family members abusive conditions, including repeated interrogations, inadequate medical attention, and insufficient food.

From February through May 2022, 50 government critics, including seven presidential candidates in the 2021 elections, received sentences of up to 13 years in prison and were disqualified from holding public office. Criminal proceedings were based on bogus charges and violated basic due process rights.

Hugo Torres, 73, a government critic, who was a guerrilla fighter in the 1970s revolution that first brought Ortega to power, died in detention in February 2022. Torres had been arbitrarily arrested in June 2021 and reportedly held in inhumane conditions, and incommunicado for prolonged periods.

In August 2022, police arbitrarily arrested Bishop Rolando Álvarez, an outspoken critic, along with five priests, two seminarians, and one cameraman, after holding them hostage at the episcopal curia of Matagalpa for two weeks. The police accused Álvarez of "acts of hatred" and "destabilizing the state." Authorities sent him to house arrest. The others are currently being held in detention. A judge granted prosecutors' requests to hold them 90 days in detention without charges.

In October, police arbitrarily detained Bishop Enrique Martínez Gamboa. He remained in detention at time of writing.

Freedom of Expression, Association

Human rights defenders, journalists and critics are targets of death threats, assault, intimidation, harassment, surveillance, online defamation campaigns, and arbitrary detention and prosecution.

Police frequently station themselves outside critics' homes, preventing them from leaving, in what in many cases amounts to arbitrary arrest. Those harassed are unable to visit friends and family, attend meetings, go to work, or participate in protests, religious events, or political activities. Some have been arrested repeatedly-sometimes abused in detention-for periods ranging from several days to several months.

Six journalists detained in the context of the 2021 elections were convicted of spreading "fake news," money laundering, and undermining national integrity, in 2022, and sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.

Police detained two La Prensa workers in July 2022, and a judge granted prosecutors' requests to hold them in detention for 90 days without charge. La Prensa then reported that an unspecified number of its reporters, editors, and photographers had left Nicaragua, citing constant police harassment. Since 2018, 200 journalists have reportedly gone into exile. La Prensa ended its newspaper's print edition in August 2021, when the Customs Authority withheld newsprint it had imported.

Authorities closed over 2,000 NGOs in 2022, including women's, religious, international aid, and medical groups. Many of these closures are based on abusive legislation, including a "foreign agents" law, passed 2020. At least 70 more were closed from 2018 through 2021. They also canceled the legal status of 18 universities, between December 2021 and February 2022, stranding thousands of students.

In August 2022, authorities closed at least 17 radio stations, including some run by the Catholic Church, citing, for example, lack of operating permits.

In September 2022, authorities suspended CNN's Spanish-language service from all cable channels in the country.

Legislators have passed several laws that severely restrict freedom of expression and association and have used them to forcibly close hundreds of non-profits, universities, and media outlets and to arbitrarily detain and prosecute journalists and human rights defenders.

In April 2022, the National Assembly passed a "Regulation and Control of Non-Profit Organizations" law that allows the Interior Ministry to ask legislators to cancel the legal status of groups that "promote campaigns to destabilize the country." Authorities can also seize the assets of associations that commit "unlawful acts," violate "public order," or hinder the Interior Ministry's "control and surveillance."

In 2020, authorities passed a cybercrime law that criminalizes a wide range of online communications, including by punishing with sentences of up to five years the "publication" or "dissemination" of "false" or "distorted" information on the internet that is "likely to spread anxiety, anguish or fear." The same year a "Foreign Agents" law was enacted, which allows cancellation of the legal status of organizations that obtain foreign funds for activities that "interfere in Nicaragua's internal affairs."

Right to Vote and Run for Office

Legislation passed between October 2020 and February 2021 has been used to deter critical speech, inhibit opposition participation in elections, and keep critics in prison without bringing formal charges.

After the National Assembly appointed Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) members loyal to President Ortega in 2021, the CSE stripped the main opposition parties' registration.

In July 2022, authorities dismissed five elected opposition mayors, de facto, citing their party's lack of registration, and appointed government party members to replace them.

Indigenous Peoples' Rights

Indigenous and Afro-descendant people face discrimination, reflected in poverty rates, precarious living conditions, and persistent violence.

Investigations into homicides and attacks related to territorial disputes in the Mayangna Sauni As Territory have stalled, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported in 2022.

Impunity for 2018 Crackdown

Police, in coordination with armed pro-government groups, repressed massive anti-government protests in 2018, killing at least 328 people, injuring some 2,000, and detaining hundreds. Authorities reported that 21 police officers were killed in the context of demonstrations.

Many protesters were detained for months, subjected to torture and other ill-treatment including electric shocks, severe beatings, fingernail removal, asphyxiation, and rape. Serious violations of due process and other rights also marred prosecutions against protesters.

No police officer has been convicted in connection with these abuses.

Women's and Girls' Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Nicaragua has, since 2006, prohibited abortion under all circumstances, even when a pregnancy is life-threatening or results from rape or incest. Those who have abortions face prison sentences up to two years; medical professionals who perform them, up to six years. The ban forces those confronting unwanted pregnancies to seek illegal and unsafe abortions, risking their health and lives.

Rates of domestic abuse, violence against women, and femicide, defined as a man's murder of a woman "in the public or private sphere," increased from August 2019 to December 2020, OHCHR reported.

The government did not publish figures on femicides and other forms of violence against women in 2022. A local human rights organization reported 46 femicides between January and October 2022.

Nicaraguan Asylum Seekers

Between April 2018 and March 2022, 200,000 citizens fled Nicaragua, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported.

The United States Border Patrol apprehended 164,600 Nicaraguans from January to September 2022, up from 50,000 in all of 2021 and only a few thousand in years prior. Many others fled to Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Europe.

Key International Actors

In March 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council established a group of human rights experts with a one-year mandate to investigate human rights violations committed in Nicaragua since April 2018.

No international monitoring bodies have been allowed to enter the country since 2018, when authorities expelled the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)'s Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI), the IACHR-appointed Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), and OHCHR.

Also in March, authorities expelled Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua Monsignor Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag. In July, authorities cancelled the legal registration and expelled the Missionaries of Charity Association of the Order of St. Teresa of Calcutta. In August, after the police arrested Bishop Rolando Álvarez, Pope Francis said that he was "following closely, with concern and sorrow, the situation in Nicaragua."

In September 2022, OHCHR reported a "deterioration of the human rights crisis," saying the government continued "silencing critical and dissenting voices" and was "drastically reducing civic space."

In November 2021, Nicaragua announced its withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS). The OAS General Assembly and Permanent Council had said that the 2021 elections were not free nor fair, and that Nicaragua had violated its commitments under the Inter-American Democratic Charter. In April 2022, the Ortega government said the withdrawal was "completed," seized the OAS office in the country; and revoked the credentials of OAS representatives; however, the OAS says that the OAS Charter remains in effect in Nicaragua until the end of 2023, requiring Nicaragua's compliance with obligations under the Inter-American System.

The US sanctioned additional Nicaraguan officials and the state mining company, bringing to 53 the individuals and entities sanctioned, as of September, under the Global Magnitsky Act of 2016, the Nicaraguan Human Rights and Corruption Act of 2018, and other US laws and executive orders. In October 2022, the US Department of State imposed visa restrictions on over 500 Nicaraguans and the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on the Nicaraguan mining authority, the General Directorate of Mines (DGM).

In November 2021, the US enacted a law to monitor, report on, and address corruption by the Ortega government and human rights abuses by Nicaraguan security forces.

In September 2022, the European Parliament denounced the "deterioration" of the rule of law and "escalation" of repression against the Catholic Church.

Also in September, the Ortega government expelled the European Union envoy to Nicaragua days after the EU delegation to the UN called for the restoration of democracy and the freeing of political prisoners. The government also severed diplomatic relations with the Netherlands after it cited concerns with human rights violations and deteriorating democratic institutions in Nicaragua when cancelling funding for a hospital project.

The EU maintains sanctions on 21 individuals and three state-linked entities in Nicaragua. They were renewed in October for a one-year period. The United Kingdom has sanctioned 13 individuals implicated in human rights violations, and Canada has sanctioned 35.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
World Report 2023: Rights Trends in Nicaragua

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, deepened its systematic repression against critics, journalists, and human rights defenders. Dozens of people arbitrarily detained remain behind bars. Since taking office in 2007, the government has dismantled all institutional checks on presidential power.

# data[].attributes.body
Includes tweets regarding political freedom journalist and other large organizations are bringing awareness to the problems through social media. The committee to protect journalist post a tweet in regards to the nicaraguan government suspending at least 17 radio and TV for religious programming. These channels were peoples only connection to national level news and media as well. Taking away these channels violates the right to religion as well as cuts them off from the world even further. UN is also using tactics to promote the need for change in the country through posting tweets like "Nicaragua: To move forward, the Government must address root causes of the crisis". As continued deterioration of human rights and growing political crisis is taking over the country these media platforms help draw attention to the problem in order to help Nicaraguans fight for their rights.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Expression
Media closures continue

#Nicaragua: The suspended radio station provided more than religious programming.

Cristopher Mendoza, a representative of @PeriodistasNica, told CPJ, "For these communities, this was the only contact they had with what was happening at a national level." https://t.co/tS8WTSwSIy
- Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) September 21, 2022

Nicaragua's authorities have continued to censor media by revoking outlets' licences and ordering the suspension of their operations. In August 2022, telecommunications regulator Telcor ordered the suspension of at least 17 media outlets, according to information from the Periodistas y Comunicadores Independientes de Nicaragua (Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua - PCIN). This included television channels and several radio broadcasters, many of which were owned and managed by the Catholic church in the northern region of the country.

For example, on 12th August 2022 Telcor ordered the suspension of Radio Darío, an independent news and opinion radio station in the northwest city of León. Two other radio stations belonging to the same owner, Anibal Toruño, were forced to shut down days later.

On 21st September 2022, the Nicaraguan government suspended CNN's Spanish-language service from all cable channels. The news outlet issued a statement saying the government did not explain why it took CNN's signal off the air, and did not respond to requests for comment. The president of the Inter American Press Association, Jorge Canahuati, commented on the removal of CNN's signal: "The regime continues its process of isolation, this time by attacking international media after it eliminated independent Nicaraguan journalism."

The IACHR's Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Pedro Vaca, also condemned authorities' arbitrary decision to block CNN, and said that censorship in Nicaragua had reached a "critical point." He said the suspension of media outlets was preceded by a sustained censorship operation that included arrests, media dispossession, prosecution, exile, police sieges, persecution of sources and closure of frequencies. This authoritarian scenario is made worse by the official propaganda and pressure for its replication. However, the Special Rapporteur underscored the resilience of Nicaraguan journalists who continue their work despite the tremendous personal costs of doing so.
Restrictive law

Para los críticos, la reforma a la Cinemateca tiene el objetivo de controlar toda producción audiovisual nacional o extranjera que se realice en Nicaragua https://t.co/OLKSpwjDs9
- LA PRENSA Nicaragua (@laprensa) October 15, 2022

On 13th October 2022, Nicaragua's National Assembly approved an amendment to the law on the National Cinematheque ( Law 909 of 2015) to enable greater oversight of audio-visual and film productions in the country. With the reforms, the state-owned Cinematheque, previously operating under the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, was converted into an autonomous body under the supervision of the Presidency. The body's regulatory functions were strengthened, with the amendment stating that the Cinematheque may prohibit the development, showing or commercialisation of productions. The legislation also mandates the creation of a registry for national and foreign individuals and organisations working in Nicaragua's audio-visual and film sector.

As reported by EFE, the president of the National Assembly's Education, Culture, Sports and Media Commission explained that the National Cinematheque will be in charge of authorising the pre-production, production, filming, exhibition and distribution of audio-visual projects. A group of independent filmmakers condemned the changes, saying they subvert the National Cinematheque's role of promoting and disseminating cinematography and audio-visual arts.

Association

🇳🇮#Nicaragua: New report shows further deterioration of the human rights situation, incl. violations of civil & political rights, shrinking civic space, deepening political crisis & isolation. To move forward, Gov must address root causes of the crisis.

👉 https://t.co/4sxJNucEgH pic.twitter.com/2YolMHK0nh
- UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) September 14, 2022

In a report to the Human Rights Council on 13th September 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) observed the further deterioration of the human rights situation in Nicaragua. The OHCHR said it continues to document acts of harassment, especially against human rights defenders, journalists, clergymen and actual or perceived political opponents. The organisation highlighted the continued reports of ill-treatment of political prisoners and the increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and association, with media and civil society closures.

According to the OHCHR's information, the legal personalities of 1,512 human rights, development and other organisations, professional associations, including medical associations, entities linked to the Catholic Church and others, have been cancelled in 2022 alone. University autonomy and academic freedom have also been restricted. The OHCHR underscored that all these restrictions, together with adverse living conditions, have led to a significant increase in the number of people leaving Nicaragua. The number of Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers rose to 200,000 persons, with three quarters of them in Costa Rica.
Arbitrary detentions and political prisoners

#CIDH y @DESCA_CIDH: urge inmediata liberación de las personas presas políticas que están en condiciones deplorables en #Nicaragua. https://t.co/4YYLWO0cmQ #DerechosHumanos pic.twitter.com/YryD7Vf7ty
- CIDH - IACHR (@CIDH) September 6, 2022

On 5th September 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA) urged for the immediate release of the political prisoners in Nicaragua. The organisations said they received complaints concerning political prisoners' conditions that included claims of lack of access to healthcare, worsening of illnesses, insufficient and poor quality food and the arbitrary application of isolation and punishment measures. The IACHR and REDESCA demanded that Nicaraguan authorities take appropriate measures to guarantee the health, life and integrity of all people detained. They also called on Nicaragua to release all those arbitrarily detained in the context of the socio-political crisis.

In early September 2022, amid criticism about the lack of information on political prisoners' conditions, authorities held "informative audiences" - private hearings in which 27 political prisoners detained in El Chipote were presented to an appeals court. According the IACHR and REDESCA, these hearings had no legal basis, were carried out without prior notification and in the absence of legal representation. In addition, pro-government media published photographs of the detainees, who were described as "criminal prisoners, coup-plotters, terrorists and traitors to the homeland." Independent news outlets said the images showed political prisoners' physical deterioration and weight losses.

Separately, in September and October 2022 exiled Nicaraguans began reporting that authorities had increased judicial harassment against their family members still in the country. For example, exiled Nicaraguan economist Javier Álvarez's wife, daughter and son-in-law were detained and charged in September 2022. Álvarez said the authorities had offered to release the three family members if he turned himself in. The Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos (Nicaraguan Human Rights Centre - CENIDH) said that family members of exiled leaders have mostly been accused of "conspiracy to undermine national integrity" and "dissemination of false information," charges used to convict political prisoners.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Media closures continue #Nicaragua: The suspended radio station provided more than religious programming. Cristopher Mendoza, a representative of @PeriodistasNica, told CPJ, "For these communities, this was the only contact they had with what was happening at a national level."

# data[].attributes.body
This news article from the wire articulates how Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega fought in the 70s in the anti-communist war to now become the leader he was trying to overthrow. Nicaragua has seen a major decrease in human rights and Ortega is the reason. Ortega used a neoliberal economic model along with social policy to keep the country stable and improve living standards. However, he has continued to reduced human rights especially, freedom of speech.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Nicaraguans go to the polls on Sunday November 7 with former revolutionary leader, Daniel Ortega, hoping to win a fourth consecutive term in office. He's not leaving much to chance, though. Prominent opposition figures (including presidential candidates) and critics have been imprisoned or forced into exile and newspaper offices have been raided.

It seems likely that his Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) will receive a significant portion of the popular vote and Ortega - together with his wife and vice-president Rosario Murillo - will continue to rule Nicaragua for the foreseeable future.

Ortega has come a long way from the young left-wing revolutionary in the 1970s who fought in the guerrilla war against the US-backed anti-communist dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza, whose family had been in power in Nicaragua for more than four decades. After the Sandinistas led a popular revolution to topple the Somoza dictatorship on July 19 1979, Ortega became a member of the revolutionary junta. It embarked on a radical programme of social change, including land reforms and a successful literacy campaign.

In 1984, with vice-presidential candidate Sergio Ramírez, Ortega won the first presidential elections since the revolution with a landslide. The 1980s were a period of economic hardship and counterinsurgency at the hands of the Contra rebels. There was also international pressure, principally from the United States, which mined Nicaragua's harbours in 1984 and provided financial backing to the Contras through the 1980s.

To the surprise of international observers, but largely as a result of a decade of hardship and turmoil, Ortega lost the presidency in 1990 as the Nicaraguan people voted for the opposition coalition led by Violeta Chamorro.
International acclaim
If their popularity at home often came into question, in Europe and the Americas the youthful and optimistic Sandinistas were immensely popular throughout the 1980s. Left-wing activists organised solidarity campaigns, fundraisers and protests to support healthcare reform, educational programmes and agricultural projects in Nicaragua. European social democrats including former German Chancellor Willy Brandt and Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González even launched a committee to defend the revolution from "external infringements and influences".

In Britain, Ortega and the Sandinistas were the darlings of the cultural scene. Leading rock group The Clash released a triple album entitled 'Sandinista!' in 1980 while in 1989, when Ortega made an official visit to the UK, playwright Harold Pinter threw Ortega a soirée at his London home, where the Nicaraguan leader met a who's who of arts identities.

Acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie, who travelled to Nicaragua in 1987 to observe the unfolding revolution, shared his rose-coloured view of the Sandinistas in a non-fiction book entitled The Jaguar Smile:

Father Miguel, Sergio Ramírez, Daniel Ortega: were these dictators in the making? I answered myself: no. Emphatically, no. They struck me as men of integrity and great pragmatism, with an astonishing lack of bitterness towards their opponents, past or present.

Ruthless in power
On Daniel Ortega, Rushdie could not have been more wrong. Since returning to power in 2007, the Sandinista leader has slowly and ruthlessly consolidated his power over the FSLN and the Nicaraguan state. Seeking to avoid a repetition of past mistakes, Ortega formed alliances with former enemies, including the Catholic church (declaring himself a Christian and banning abortion), and business organisations such as COSEP (the Superior Council for Private Enterprise) which had been a strong opponent of the FSLN in the 1980s.
Also read: Nicaraguan Police Raid 'La Prensa' Newspaper, Charge Directors with Fraud
Combining social policies with a neoliberal economic model that received praise from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Ortega regime kept the country stable and improved living standards. Not even the US, despite the occasional outburst on the state of Nicaraguan democracy, put much pressure on the FSLN leader. After all, the Sandinista government had adopted a strong stance against narcotics and implemented violent but effective policies to stop migrants and refugees travelling to the US. That all this came at the cost of transparency and democracy in Nicaragua did not seem to matter as much.

But in April 2018, these alliances with the church and the business sector broke down in the wake of a popular protest which was then violently crushed by the police and groups of Sandinista paramilitaries, leaving more than 300 mostly young people dead. From that moment it became impossible to deny that Ortega was starting to look more and more like the dictator he had overthrown.
Popular support
But Ortega and Murillo have managed to cling on to power. There are many reasons for their political survival, including the opposition's fragmentation, a repressive state apparatus, and a lack of international pressure. What is too often overlooked, though, is that for many Nicaraguans, the FSLN remains the only political party that represents the interests of the poor.

Freedom of speech and independent media are vital elements of a functioning democracy, but they matter less to the voter who is concerned about food, clean water, a stable house and healthcare. Even though the Sandinistas' social programmes are embedded in a neoliberal economic model, they still made a difference to the daily lives of many Nicaraguans.

If the opposition is serious about challenging the Ortega-Murillo regime, the answer lies perhaps in building a broad alliance that includes all sectors of society, particularly the marginalised. This, at least, was what the Sandinista revolutionaries needed to finally bring an end to decades of Somocista rule in 1979.
Eline van Ommen This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. , Lecturer in Contemporary History, University of Leeds

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nicaragua: Former Revolutionary Daniel Ortega Now Resembles the Dictator He Helped Overthrow

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nicaraguans go to the polls on Sunday November 7 with former revolutionary leader, Daniel Ortega, hoping to win a fourth consecutive term in office. He's not leaving much to chance, though. Prominent opposition figures (including presidential candidates) and critics have been imprisoned or forced into exile and newspaper offices have been raided.

# data[].attributes.body
In the article from the world political review president Ortega deemed the EU's envoy to Nicaragua "persona non grata" after the EU urged Nicaragua to restore their democracy. Ortega also severed ties with the Netherlands claimed that the dutch were repetitively medaling. He has also been imprisoning any credible challengers in order to strengthen his power in the country. In the article i found this quote interesting, "Other analysts have concluded that Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have “launched a new phase in their quest to seal a dynastic dictatorship,” having already “eviscerated democratic institutions and committed rampant human rights abuses.”  As the couple is continuously reducing the human rights of the entire country and are closing out anyone trying to stop them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A Nicaraguan citizen holds a signs that reads in Spanish, "Freedom for political prisoners," during a protest against President Daniel Ortega in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Nov. 7, 2021 (AP photo by Moises Castillo).

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has long had a contentious relationship with democratic countries. But in the past few days, Managua took jabs at the EU, the U.S., some Latin American neighbors and even the Vatican. It seems Ortega has settled on a new international strategy to strengthen and perpetuate his hold on power.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nicaragua's Ortega Has a New Strategy to Counter His International Critics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Nicaraguan citizen holds a signs that reads in Spanish, "Freedom for political prisoners," during a protest against President Daniel Ortega in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Nov. 7, 2021 (AP photo by Moises Castillo). Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has long had a contentious relationship with democratic countries.

# data[].attributes.body
In an article found on Aljazeera the EU declared the head of Nicaragua's delegation persona non grata in retaliation to Nicaragua declaring that a few weeks prior about the head of the EU delegation. President Ortega is facing more and more international criticism especially leading to his reelection in which he was called a "sham" for inprisioning his opponents. Ortega then went on to call the Catholic Church a dictatorship. I believe the political freedom in Nicaragua will continue to decline as President Ortega continues to cut ties and push out other countries.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Nicaraguan government recently declared the European Union's ambassador to the country 'persona non grata' [File: Maynor Valenzuela/Reuters]

The European Union has said it is declaring the head of Nicaragua's delegation to the European bloc "persona non grata", just weeks after the Central American nation expelled the EU ambassador.

In a statement on Monday, the EU said its decision was "a reciprocal response to the decision by the Nicaraguan government on 28 September to declare the head of the EU Delegation to Nicaragua as persona non grata".

"The EU considers the Nicaraguan decision unwarranted," it said.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has faced growing international criticism over his government's crackdown on opposition leaders and human rights activists, especially in the lead-up to elections last year that Western nations denounced as a "sham".

Ortega has defended his government's actions, saying those detained sought to destabilise Nicaragua, and he has rejected outside criticism as attempts to meddle in his country's internal affairs.

On October 2, EU Ambassador Bettina Muscheidt left Nicaragua after being declared persona non grata by the Ortega administration.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada verbally notified Muscheidt that she should leave the country after the EU delegation, speaking at the UN General Assembly, demanded freedom for "political prisoners" in Nicaragua.

This month, Ortega's government also announced that it was suspending diplomatic ties with the Netherlands over accusations of "interventionism", and it rejected the appointment of a new United States ambassador in Managua over his "interfering" attitude.

That US envoy, Hugo Rodriguez, had branded Ortega's administration a "dictatorship".

The administration of US President Joe Biden has slapped a series of sanctions on Nicaragua in recent months, including US visa restrictions on state officials and their relatives, in response to the crackdown.

The EU also has criticised Ortega and imposed sanctions of its own over the past year.

Several Nicaraguan opposition leaders and presidential hopefuls were arrested in the lead-up to November's elections, in which Ortega was re-elected to a fourth consecutive term. Dozens have since been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Last week, the Organization of American States (OAS) called on Nicaragua's government to release political prisoners and to preserve human rights.

Nicaragua in April said it had completed its withdrawal from the OAS, months after the organisation declared the country's presidential elections illegitimate.

In its statement on Monday, the EU called on the Nicaraguan government and opposition to resolve "the current political crisis ... through genuine dialogue".

"The EU remains open to dialogue with Nicaragua, provided that this dialogue is conducted in a respectful manner," it said.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
EU declares Nicaraguan envoy 'persona non grata' as tensions rise

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The European Union has said it is declaring the head of Nicaragua's delegation to the European bloc "persona non grata", just weeks after the Central American nation expelled the EU ambassador. In a statement on Monday, the EU said its decision was "a reciprocal response to the decision by the Nicaraguan government on 28 September to declare the head of the EU Delegation to Nicaragua as persona non grata".

# data[].attributes.body
In an article from BBC news the reporter discusses the events leading up to the reelection of President Ortega and his Wife the Vice President. President Ortega won by a landslide after having his biggest competitor placed on house arrest for "money laundering". Ortega then claimed, "They have as much right as we do to open trials against terrorists," he said, adding that the "immense majority of Nicaraguans voted for peace and not terrorism or war". He claims that his people are happy however continues to detain any one who opposes his views.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nicaragua vote: Ortega tightens grip on power in ‘pantomime election’

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Preliminary results suggest an overwhelming win for Mr Ortega in polls widely dismissed as a “farce”.

# data[].attributes.body
In an article by US News and World report Nicaraguas all low score on the Transparency Internationals corruption index. Nicaraguas repression of political opposition, human rights abuses, and limiting freedom of speech. I believe Nicaragua will continue to fall on the corruption index with Ortega reelected as president.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cuba reached all-time lows on Transparency International's corruption index released on Tuesday due to increased organized crime by public institutions, co-optation by political and economic elites and increased human rights abuses.

"Weak governments fail to stop criminal networks, social conflict, and violence, and some exacerbate threats to human rights by concentrating power in the name of tackling insecurity," said Delia Ferreira Rubio, head of Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption group.

Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The average for the Americas stands at 43.

In Latin America, Nicaragua and Venezuela are the lowest ranked as each struggles with public institutions infiltrated by criminal networks, the report notes.

Political Cartoons on World Leaders

Graphics: Corruption in Latin America | https://www.reuters.com/graphics/LATAM-CORRUPTION/zjvqjwkzmpx/chart.png

The governments of Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil, Cuba and Peru did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the report.

Guatemala has seen state institutions co-opted by political and economic elites and organized crime, the report said.

Over the past year, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has faced a growing chorus of critics claiming he has slammed the brakes on anti-corruption efforts, as well as forced some judges and prosecutors to flee the country, the main reasons for the country's decline in the index.

Repression of the political opposition, human rights abuses and cracking down on freedom of speech is what lowered Nicaragua's ranking, while Cuba has a historic low due to the "ongoing repression" and the "absolute lack of any kind of freedom in the country," one of Transparency International's researchers told Reuters.

The report adds that the combination of corruption, authoritarianism and an economic downturn proved "especially volatile" in Brazil where ex-President Jair Bolsonaro's term was marked by dismantling anti-corruption efforts, the use of corrupt schemes to favor allies and amass support in Congress, as well as promoting disinformation.

Neighboring Uruguay scored best in the region with a ranking of 74, the same as Canada.

Transparency International pointed to years of instability in Peru with its cycle of different governments including last December's ouster of then-President Pedro Castillo, himself a target of corruption investigations.

Weak law enforcement and high-level corruption have also allowed drug cartels to expand in the Caribbean, the report said.

"The only way forward is for leaders to prioritize decisive action against corruption to uproot its hold and enable governments to fulfill their first mandate: protecting the people," Rubio said.

(Reporting by Steven Grattan; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Lisa Shumaker)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Corruption Rife Across Latin America; Guatemala, Nicaragua Reach All-Time Lows: Report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cuba reached all-time lows on Transparency International's corruption index released on Tuesday due to increased organized crime by public institutions, co-optation by political and economic elites and increased human rights abuses.

# data[].attributes.body
In an article written by CNN following the release of 222 political prisoners in Nicaragua Spain has offered citizenship and welcomed them with open arms. The individuals voluntarily traveled to the US upon there release from Ortega's repression. They were given 2 years parole in order to apply for asylum if they would like to stay in the US. I thought it was interesting that the US was help to help these people travel following their release and that other countries are also willing to welcome them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Spain will offer citizenship to freed political prisoners from Nicaragua | CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Spain will offer a path to citizenship for 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners who were recently released from prison and many of whom were sent to the United States on Thursday, a spokesman for Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNN.

# data[].attributes.body
There is no local news in my hometown, Plant City, Fl, regarding the political crisis in Nicaragua. I looked to try to find news on the topic in Tampa, FL. However the only Nicaraguan news was in regards to Migrants.