Sumar denounces contradictions between the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry regarding granting citizenship to Nicaraguan dissidents

Eduardo González The Plurinational Parliamentary Group Sumar has asked the Government “what explains the apparent contradiction” between the Foreign Ministry’s commitment to grant Spanish citizenship by naturalization to Nicaraguan citizens deprived of their nationality by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and the decision by the Ministry of Justice to dismiss many of the applications due to "administrative silence". In a written parliamentary question submitted on March 16 and signed by MP Agustín Santos Maraver (former Spanish ambassador to the UN), Sumar recalls that on February 9, 2023, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo released, expelled to the United States, and revoked the citizenship of 222 dissidents accused of treason. In response to this decision, the Spanish government announced its intention to grant these individuals citizenship by naturalization, an “exceptional procedure provided for in Article 21 of the Civil Code and in accordance with the obligations arising from the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, both ratified by Spain.” A week later, Daniel Ortega decreed the withdrawal of citizenship and the confiscation of assets from another 94 opposition members for the same reasons, after which the Spanish government extended its offer to this second group. Likewise, on September 5, 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the "loss of Nicaraguan citizenship" and the confiscation of all assets of another 135 political prisoners exiled to Guatemala for promoting "violence, hatred, terrorism, and economic destabilization, disrupting peace, security, and the constitutional order." Almost a month later, on October 4, 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies that the granting of Spanish citizenship would be extended to this new group. "I announce that we will extend it to the 135 political prisoners who were exiled and stripped of their citizenship on September 5," Albares stated on that occasion. “Spain, with our current foreign policy, is and always will be a home for our Latin American brothers and sisters who defend freedom and democracy,” he added. However, Sumar warns, “of the 43 people who submitted their applications for Spanish nationality to the consular offices in Guatemala and San José, Costa Rica, only two have received a favorable decision.” “The rest have received communications from the Ministry of Justice informing them that, after one year from the date of the express decision, their application will be considered rejected by administrative silence,” continues the minority party in Pedro Sánchez’s coalition government. “This response applies the ordinary procedure, without specific instructions or special consideration that takes into account the particular gravity of these people’s situation,” it warns. Therefore, Sumar asks the Government “what explains the apparent contradiction between the public commitment made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs before this House and the treatment that the Ministry of Justice is giving to the applications for Spanish nationality submitted by Nicaraguan citizens deprived of their nationality by the Ortega regime.” It also asks “whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given express instructions to the Ministry of Justice to process the applications of these stateless persons through a specific procedure in accordance with their inherent humanitarian urgency, instead of being subject to the general regime of negative administrative silence,” and what “concrete measures the Government plans to adopt to effectively fulfill the announced commitments and ensure that none of these people remain stateless as a result of administrative inaction.” 146 grants between 2023 and 2024 All naturalizations granted to Nicaraguans were issued between 2023 and 2024, and all the beneficiaries are dissidents expelled and stripped of their citizenship by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo (husband and wife and co-presidents of Nicaragua). To date, Spanish nationality has been granted by naturalization to 146 Nicaraguan dissidents (98 in 2023 and 24 in 2024), including diplomats, former state officials, human rights defenders, Sandinista dissidents, opposition members, journalists, academics, students, businesspeople, merchants, and prominent figures such as Cristiana Chamorro, a presidential pre-candidate in the 2021 elections; and journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios, founder of the local newspaper ‘Confidencial’ and son of former president Violeta Chamorro. The sociologist Gertrudis Guerrero, wife of the exiled Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez; or the writer Gioconda Belli.

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