Gustavo Petro’s government has now firmly joined the international condemnation of Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua after 222 political prisoners were exiled on February 9th. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Thursday “rejected the dictatorial procedures of those who recall the worst moments of Anastasio Somoza’s dictatorship,” in a nod to the autocrat overthrown by the 1979 Sandinista revolution led by Ortega. “Colombia has registered to defend itself against the arbitrary actions of the leader of the sister and longtime Republic of Nicaragua against citizens of their country whose only crime was to defend democracy, the right to criticism and universal human rights,” the statement said.
The State Department’s tone is different from a few days ago, when another statement lamented the loss of citizenship of the 222 detainees expelled on February 9 and expressed “concern” about the deprivation of citizenship of another 94 opponents on February 15. “The Colombian government is calling for confidence-building measures that contribute to national reconciliation, respect for the rule of law and the well-being of the Nicaraguan people,” he said at the time. According to the text, the State Department was “closely following” Nicaragua’s decisions regarding a key group of people still detained in the country.
The Andean country is now asking the international community for various measures. He has asked the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, to obtain permission to visit the prisoners still in Nicaragua. “They are victims. International humanitarian law covers them,” he explains. Furthermore, Colombia calls on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to act: “The authoritarianism imposed on the sister republic has violated the norms of jus cogens. Those that have been defined as essentially predominant, non-derogable, absolute, imperative and immutable”.
Colombia has stepped up its act, offering citizenship to all who have been abused “by the intolerant power of Nicaragua.” “We would be very honored,” the statement said. The measure comes after weeks of silence during which it was surprising that other countries like Spain took the initiative. Pedro Sánchez’s government on February 10 offered Spanish citizenship to the 222 political prisoners the regime had put on a plane bound for the United States the day before. Later, on February 17, he extended the initiative to the other 94 opponents who were stripped of their citizenship on February 15 of this month. Meanwhile, caution has been exercised in Latin America.
The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, was the one who eventually took regional leadership against Ortega. “The dictator does not know that homeland is in his heart and in his actions and will not be deprived of it by decree,” he wrote on Twitter on February 18. His Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro opted for a more moderate message the next day. “I repeat, Latin America must be an area without political prisoners and without social prisoners. Any violation of human rights must be condemned by the entire international community. My solidarity with the 94 Nicaraguans who have had their citizenship revoked,” he said.
Argentina and Chile on February 21 offered citizenship to writer and former Vice President Sergio Ramírez, one of 94 opponents stripped of their citizenship in the second round of reprisals. Colombia announced the following day that it reiterated the decision: “Yesterday in Madrid, Spain, interpreting the solidarity of the country as a whole and the sentiments of President Gustavo Petro, I offered Colombian citizenship to the Nicaraguan politician, intellectual and writer.” declared Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva.
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