The Government assures that no application for nationality from Nicaraguan dissidents will go unanswered

Eduardo González The Government has assured that “no application” for nationality from Nicaraguan dissidents “will go unresolved,” in response to a question from the Sumar party regarding alleged contradictions between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice in processing applications for naturalization by naturalization from those persecuted by the Sandinista regime. In a written parliamentary question submitted on March 16 and signed by Deputy Agustín Santos Maraver (former Spanish Ambassador to the UN), the Sumar Plurinational Parliamentary Group asked the Government “what explains the apparent contradiction” between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ commitment to grant Spanish nationality by naturalization to Nicaraguan citizens deprived of their nationality by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo and the Ministry of Justice’s decision to dismiss many of the applications due to “administrative silence.” In its question, Sumar denounced that, “of the 43 people who submitted their applications for citizenship 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,” continued 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 warned. Therefore, Sumar asked 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 citizenship applications submitted by Nicaraguan citizens deprived of their citizenship by the Ortega regime.” The government also asked “whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued express instructions to the Ministry of Justice to process the applications of these stateless persons through a specific procedure commensurate with their urgent humanitarian circumstances, instead of subjecting them 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 individuals remain stateless as a result of administrative inaction.” In its response, registered on April 23 and published this week in the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament (BOCG), the Government stated that, “in cases where exceptional circumstances exist, nationality will be granted at the discretion of the government by Royal Decree, in accordance with Article 21.1 of the Civil Code, without any contradiction.” “Therefore, no application that meets the legal requirements will go unanswered,” it added. On February 9, 2023, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo released 222 dissidents accused of treason, expelled them from the United States, and revoked their citizenship. In response, the Spanish government announced its intention to grant these individuals Spanish 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 revocation 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 nationality” and the confiscation of all assets for 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, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies that the granting of Spanish nationality 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 nationality on September 5,” Albares stated on that occasion. “Spain, with our current foreign policy, is and always will be home to our Latin American brothers and sisters who defend freedom and democracy,” he added. 146 grants between 2023 and 2024 All the 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; journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios, founder of the local newspaper ‘Confidencial’ and son of former president Violeta Chamorro; sociologist Gertrudis Guerrero, wife of exiled Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez; and writer Gioconda Belli.

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