Declaración del Primer Encuentro de Líderes de Organizaciones y Grupos Nicaragüenses en el Mundo

The member organizations and groups of the Nicaraguan diaspora around the world, profoundly alarmed at the new repressive onslaught by the criminal Ortega-Murillo regime against civil society, including emblematic and prestigious human rights organizations and the independent press in Nicaraguan, declare before our fellow compatriots and the international community, the following:

1. We condemn the Daniel Ortega regime, the National Police and their accomplices for their action or omission that have contributed to the attempt to silence the independent voices of CENIDH, 100% Noticias, IEEP, Instituto de Liderazgo de las Segovias, Popol Na, Fundación del Rio, IPADE, CISAS, Radio Darío, CINCO, Esta Semana y Confidencial, among other organizations that for decades have been protecting and defending human rights and informing the Nicaraguan people.

2. We give our Solidarity to the opposition and the organizations of the Nicaraguan civil society and individuals, that for exercising their right to dissent, have been repressed, intimidated, threatened and attacked, their offices looted, their legal charters cancelled, suffered physical aggression, persecution, illegal detentions, kidnappings, spurious trials and sentencing, tortures, and extra- judicial executions, which the regime has perpetrated relentlessly.

3. We demand the immediate restitution of the legal status, records, and equipment of the affected organizations, freedom of all political prisoners, elimination of laws that criminalize the right to peaceful protest, and the immediate cease of the state of siege.

4. We, emphatically urge the private sector, that jointly with all members of the society, now that we are more united than ever, to take firm actions of non-violent resistance and civil disobedience, that could include a National Strike, to which we the Nicaraguan communities abroad will give our unconditional support.

5. We urge the United Nations and in particular, the High Commissioner on Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, to publicly denounce and demand the end of the human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime with the urgency and firmness that it merits.

6. We ask that the member countries of the OAS, and in particular the countries forming the Working Group on Nicaragua, to unilaterally and multilaterally denounce the regime and impose sanctions and restrictions of entry to their countries to those in violation of human rights in Nicaragua.

7. We ask the Secretary General of the OAS to urgently convene a meeting before the Permanent Council to consider the immediate application of the Democratic Charter of the OAS to the regime in Nicaragua.

8. We call upon our Central America brethren, particularly, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, not to remain silent and impassive before the suffering of the Nicaraguan people at the hands of the tyrant, reminding them that the blue and white present in all our flags covers us all.

9. We respectfully request the Government of United States, where hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans have made it their home, that President Trump signs without delay into Law, the

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Human Rights and Anti-corruption Nicaraguan Act of 2018 recently passed by Congress, and urgently initiate its enforcement against those in violation of human rights of the Ortega regime.

1. We send an urgent SOS to all civil society organizations and the press around the world, asking for their solidarity with their Nicaraguan counterparts, and to join us in denouncing the human rights abuses of the Ortega-Murillo in Nicaragua.

December 15, 2018

Nicaragua Freedom Coalition (NFC), Washington, D.C.
Contact: Oswaldo León-Fariello, Media & PR: Tel 1(202)213-6714, oswaldo.leon@me.com

SOS Nicaragua-Global
Contact: Adolfo Chávez, Tel. +61415522650, info@sosnicaraguaglobal.com

Abuenica (Abuelas Unidas por Amor a Nicaragua)
Alianza Democrática Nicaragüense (ADN), Washington, D.C.
American Fraternity, Florida
Asociación Cívica Nicaragüense (Washington DC, Maryland y Virginia). A.C.N. Asociación Hijos del Arco Iris - LGBTI (Nicaragua - Costa Rica)
Asociación Nicaragüense de Massachusetts
Bay Área Autoconvocadxs, Estados Unidos
Comité SOS Nicaragua NYNJ, New York y New Jersey, Estados Unidos Comunidad Católica Nicaragüense del Área de Washington, DC
Comunidad Nicaragüense de Houston
Comunidad Nicaragüense en Sídney Incorporate (Inc.), Australia
Despertar Democrático Nicaragüense de Miami
Grupo CONICAEU en Nueva York
Grupo Nica Libre en Los Ángeles, California

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Grupo por la Vida, la Paz y la Democracia en Nicaragua. Berlín, Alemania Fundación Unidos por Nicaragua, Miami, Florida
Hermandad Nicaragüense Azul y Blanco (HNAB)
La Estrella de Nicaragua Newspaper, Miami, Florida

Movimiento Acción Joven Nicaragua (MAJN)
Nación Guardabarranco
Network in Solidarity with the People of Nicaragua, Boston, Massachusetts NFC Capítulo Florida “Ángel Eduardo Gahona”
Nicaragua Primero, Estados Unidos
Nicaragua's International Care Alliance
Nicaraguan American Center for Democracy, Florida
Nora Sandigo Children Foundation
SOS Nicaragua Derechos Humanos desde Costa Rica, Costa Rica
SOS Nicaragua Ottawa-Gatineau, Canadá
SOS Nicaragua-Suecia, Suecia
SOS Sacramento, Estados Unidos
SOS Suecia, Suecia
SOS Nicaragua-Madrid, España
Unidad Azul y Blanco de Alemania
Unidad Azul y Blanco del Reino Unido, UNAB UK
Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco, New York, New Jersey
Unidad Nacional de Autoconvocados, UNA
Unidos por Nicaragua, Washington D.C.