U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on allies to respond to the Murillo-Ortega government’s continued assault on democracy and human rights in Nicaragua.
“The United States urges international partners to immediately stop business as usual operations with this brutal dictatorship,” he said in a statement.
The call is in response to the Nicaraguan National Assembly’s recent constitutional rewrite, which provides initial approval for sweeping constitutional amendments that delay elections, extend presidential terms and effectively ban opposition parties. Secretary Rubio noted that the rewrite is the second in two years and “guts what was left of Nicaragua’s democracy and indefinitely deprives Nicaraguans of free and fair elections.”
The attempt at constitutional change comes after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega received condemnation for a July declaration that under his family’s dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections. The Murillo-Ortega government has been responsible for significant human rights abuses including arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment and arbitrary arrest and detention, according to State Department reports. The government conducts religious persecution and restricts freedom of expression and media freedom, including through violence, threats and prosecution.
“Dictatorships that deny the unalienable rights of their citizens should not enjoy the same economic or political benefits as governments committed to defending hemispheric peace and security,” wrote Rubio.
The U.S. joined Argentina, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay last month in calling for an urgent “Convocation of a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to Consider the Situation in Nicaragua” at the Organization of American States.
In remarks to the Permanent Council of the OAS, Ambassador Michael Kozak, then Senior Bureau Official for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said the situation in Nicaragua “is not solely an internal matter.”
“Murillo and Ortega have imprisoned, tortured, denationalized, and forcibly exiled anyone they view as a threat, driving hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans to flee and burdening our region with displaced persons,” he said. He noted deliberate facilitation of illegal mass immigration, assassinations against Nicaraguans in exile and deepening security and financial relationships with Russia, China, Iran and Cuba as further threats to the region.
“Murillo and Ortega’s war on democracy threatens our hemisphere’s stability and prosperity,” wrote Secretary Rubio. “The Trump Administration remains committed to identifying and implementing actions to address the Murillo-Ortega’s violations of human rights. We stand in support of Nicaraguans’ right to decide their country’s future.”