Eduardo González
The Council of Ministers approved this past Tuesday the granting of Spanish nationality by letter of nature to a fifth group of eight Nicaraguan opponents expelled and stripped of their nationality by the regime of Daniel Ortega, bringing to 83 the number of beneficiaries of this measure. The new list includes a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former vice-presidential candidate, Francisco Aguirre Sacasa.
The nationality to the eight opponents was granted by the Council of Ministers at the proposal of the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, by letter of nature, an exceptional and much faster procedure than the usual channels, which prevents these people from prolonging their statelessness for a long time.
As published yesterday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the Government has granted Spanish nationality by letter of nature to Francisco Xavier Aguirre Sacasa, 76 years old, Chancellor during the Presidency of Arnoldo Alemán (1997-2002), former ambassador of Nicaragua to the United States, opposition deputy between 2002 and 2007 and candidate to the Vice-Presidency of the Republic in 2011, who was kidnapped and accused by the regime of conspiring against national integrity.
The list includes environmental biologist Amaru Ruiz Alemán, convicted for “propagation of false news, through information and communication technologies”; former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Arturo McFields Yescas, who rebelled against the Ortega regime in March 2022; and a leader of the opposition National Coalition, José Bernard Pallais Arana, accused of “inciting foreign interference in internal affairs, requesting military interventions” and receiving financing from foreign powers “to carry out acts of terrorism and destabilization”.
Four journalists also appear on the list: Aníbal Enrique Toruño Jirón, director of Radio Darío in León (burned down in April 2018 by pro-Ortega sympathizers and closed by the regime in August 2022), Gema de María Serrano Morales (accused of terrorism and coup d’état), Jennyfer Tatiana Ortiz Castillo (director of Nicaragua Investiga) and Carlos Raúl Valle Guerrero (accused of terrorism and threats to the State).
This new group joins the 46 Nicaraguans who obtained Spanish nationality during the month of May and the 29 who benefited from the same measure in mid-June. On May 11, the Government approved the nationalization of fourteen Nicaraguans, including sociologist Gertrudis Guerrero, wife of exiled Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramirez, who was already in possession of Spanish nationality. Also appearing in that first group were journalist Cristiana Chamorro, presidential pre-candidate who in the 2021 elections appeared as the most likely candidate to defeat Ortega; and journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios, founder of the local newspaper Confidencial and son of former president Violeta Chamorro. On May 24, the list was expanded with fourteen other Nicaraguans, among them Desirée Elizondo Cabrera, wife of Carlos Fernando Chamorro.
On May 31, a third group of 18 Nicaraguans was granted nationality and on June 13, another 29 were granted nationality, among them a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the US (between 2007 and 2009, already with Daniel Ortega) and former presidential candidate, Arturo José Cruz Sequeira, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Norman Caldera Cardenal (between 2002 and 2007, under the presidency of Enrique Bolaños) and the civil servant Claudia León York, the wife of former president Arnoldo Alemán (1997-2002) and former congresswoman María Fernanda Flores Lanzas.
Last February 9, the Ortega regime expelled 222 opponents (diplomats, former state officials, human rights defenders, Sandinista dissidents, opponents, journalists, academics, students, businessmen and traders) accused of treason from the country to the US and stripped them of their nationality. After learning of the Ortega regime’s decision, the government of Pedro Sanchez offered to grant Spanish nationality to those declared “stateless” by the Nicaraguan regime.
On February 16, Daniel Ortega decreed the withdrawal of the nationality and the seizure of the assets of another 94 opponents for the same reasons. The day after Ortega’s decision, the Spanish government extended its offer to this second group of 94 Nicaraguans. In addition to Spain, the governments of Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico have also offered nationality to the regime’s “stateless persons”.
