During the Democracy Summit that was held in Costa Rica, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, met with Costa Rican government officials, including President Rodrigo Chaves, and with Nicaraguans who have gone into exile. in the neighboring country due to the repression of the Ortega-Murillo regime.
On Thursday, after a working lunch at the Presidential Palace with President Chaves, the ambassador, through a press conference, thanked Costa Rica for condemning the Nicaraguan regime that stripped 317 citizens of their nationality, as well as for supporting to migrants and refugees.
He also denounced the repression that exists in Nicaragua. “The regime targets anyone it sees as a threat and has used repressive laws to strip thousands of NGOs of legal status trying to help local communities,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, emphasizing the forced closure of more than 3,300 nonprofits as of 2018
“The result has been a complete loss of hope. Refugees, vulnerable migrants, asylum seekers are fleeing their homes in search of a better life, somewhere where the Government supports the people”, she reinforced.
The president of Costa Rica, when asked about the situation of migrants, indicated that he has obtained resources, a donation of 20 million dollars from a special World Bank fund with a contribution from the United States, for the issue of migration , although he insists on the problem of economic migrants.
“We have even discussed the IOM (International Organization for Migration), to see if we make the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the IOM pay more attention to the problems of those of us who live here. in this hemisphere. It is not fair that a small town has to shoulder the entire burden of what is actually an international responsibility in difficult fiscal situations,” Chaves stressed.
This Friday, the United States ambassador to the UN held a meeting with Nicaraguan exiles and refugees to learn first-hand about the police state that Nicaraguans live under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and the stripping of the nationality of 317 citizens, the persecution against the Catholic Church, the imprisonment of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, and the prohibition of religious processions commented the director of CONFIDENTIALCarlos Fernando Chamorro, who participated in the meeting.
“I explained to him extensively about the persecution against the media and journalists, the confiscation of Confidencial, 100% Noticias and La Prensa, the closure of more than 50 media outlets, and the exile in which more than 120 journalists find ourselves, in Costa Rica, the United States and Spain Despite the censorship and criminalization of our sources, independent journalists continue to report, investigate corruption and human rights violations, and defeat the official lie,” Chamorro said.
One of the Nicaraguans who participated in the meeting affirmed that Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield highlighted the achievements obtained at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where the Report of the Group of Experts documented the crimes against humanity in Nicaragua, to demand justice. She also indicated that the United States is working with other countries at the UN politically and diplomatically.
“Nicaraguans are not alone in this fight to recover freedom and democracy in their country,” the United States ambassador to the UN told the Nicaraguan refugees.