A new opposition coalition aims to deal with Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua

Students, peasants, businessmen, feminists, indigenous people, professors, evangelicals, civil society organizations, victims of repression, and even traditional political parties launched on Tuesday the opposition "National Coalition" in Nicaragua. The new and multiple bloc intends to force Daniel Ortega's regime to restore “confiscated” democratic freedoms, the release of political prisoners and achieve electoral reforms that lead to “clean and transparent” elections.

The conformation of the National Coalition was promoted by the Civic Alliance and the Blue and White National Unit (UNAB), two platforms that were born at the height of the social protests initiated in April 2018 in Nicaragua, and that were violently repressed by the Sandinista Government . Before the fatal balance of 325 murdered, almost a thousand prisoners and political prisoners, and an exile of 80,000 people, the different opposition groups finally converged under a single umbrella after months of conversations and meetings.

The opposition act was besieged by an exorbitant deployment of the Special Forces of the National Police. The Government of Ortega ordered the militarization of the capital and various cities of the country to prevent any protest or act in the streets, forcing opponents to retreat into a private bookstore to launch their coalition.

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Prior to the police deployment, Vice President Rosario Murillo threatened and lashed out against the opponents. He called them "evil", "ridiculous devils", "heartless" and "greedy". "We know perfectly well who they are and their fair of vanities and masquerades of hate we do not forget, nor will we ever forget," said Murillo. “And the sacred ark was shipwrecked. Like the Alliance (Civic) that presented its true face, between counterfeit crucifixes and more false prayers. The Alliance exploded, exploded, presenting the vivid face of the despicable, of the unworthiness, ”he added.

Without a defined leader

The National Coalition was made up of seven civic movements and political parties. However, they did not present or auparon any leadership as a figure of cohesion as, for example, it does happen in Venezuela with Juan Guaidó. “We do not have the privilege of having an independent Legislative Assembly. In Venezuela there was an election of representatives elected by the people. In Nicaragua it is a movement with multiple leaderships, ”explained Juan Sebastián Chamorro of the Civic Alliance.

“Here are the faces of many of the leaders of this fight. It is a joint and collegial work. In this new proposal that we propose, it is necessary to remove the concept of the leader, of the messiah who will come down from heaven to solve our problems. It is not time to talk about candidacies, ”he said.

According to Chamorro, the National Coalition intends to be an oppositional proposal beyond the strictly electoral level, an issue that it plans against the next general votes of the Central American country dated November 2021.

“The purpose of the coalition is to democratize Nicaragua, but it should not remain in an electoral condition just. That is an important part, but now we are working for the release of political prisoners, for putting pressure on the return of public liberties, so that they can leave in the country. To push electoral reforms, present an electoral option and thus govern under the plans of a nation plan, ”said Chamorro, who left his facet linked to entrepreneurship to join the Civic Alliance.

One of the most controversial issues in the creation of this National Coalition was the addition of traditional political parties, including the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), dominated by former Liberal president Arnoldo Alemán. Alemán is repudiated for having agreed with the Sandinista Front, in a political arrangement that cleared the way for Ortega to the presidency. However, the members of the National Coalition alleged that they are integrating “the bases” of the traditional parties and not their “domes”, they also assured that they will be governed “by a code of ethics”.

Opponents chose the date of February 25 to launch the National Coalition on the 30th anniversary of the electoral triumph of former President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, who in 1990 defeated Ortega and the Sandinista revolution. The date is emblematic for opponents as it symbolizes the unity of the fragmented opposition in the 1990s under the acronym of the National Opposition Union (UNO).

"Those of us who sign here are committed to putting all our efforts to seek citizenship and the missing organizations to join efforts, and we form a multilateral table that allows us to build a National Coalition design with clear, fair and transparent rules," he said. the former jailed politicians Yubrank Suazo. "We are inspired by the triumph achieved on February 25, 1990 and committed to the victims of the regime, to bring about the new and definitive birth of democracy, for the good of all Nicaraguans."