QCOSTARICA – Bianca Jagger, who was the first wife of The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, introduces herself like this on Twitter: “Nicaraguan Bianca Jagger by the grace of God.”
She is a defender of human rights, especially her countrymen, who for years have been trampled on by different political leaders and is currently no exception.
This shows that even though she has not lived in her country for years, she keeps her roots in the present and shouts them to the world with pride.
But who is this woman?
Her maiden name is Bianca Pérez-Mora Macías, she is an actress and activist born in Managua, Nicaragua, on May 2, 1945. She is currently 76 years old.
She married Mick Jagger in 1971 in France. Eight years later they divorced. They had a daughter named Jade.
She ventured into the defense of human rights since 1979, after a visit to her native country with the international Red Cross, where she verified the brutality to which his compatriots were subjected by the Somoza regime at that time and a history that has not changed much under the current administration of the presidential couple made up of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
She is currently the president and executive director of the human rights foundation that bears her name (Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation) and this Friday she participated in the forum “Elections in Nicaragua, an illegitimate process”, organized by the Arias Foundation and in which He thanked Costa Rica for the support provided throughout all these years to his compatriots.
“Costa Rica is once again playing a critical and highly important role as it is the recipient of thousands of Nicaraguans seeking international protection in their territory, but also plays a primary and essential role in international action in favor of democracy in Nicaragua, whose regime, once again, destabilizes the Central American region.
“I am eternally grateful to the Government and to the brotherly people of Costa Rica for their support and generosity. The leadership of Costa Rica, as a party directly affected by Ortega’s actions, must redound in the support of the international community to the Ticos and Nicaraguans in that country,” said Bianca.
Farce
The actress and human rights advocate was emphatic that classifying the electoral process that Nicaragua will experience on November 7 as elections is a farce.
“It is a mockery and a serious offense to democratic values, to international commitments to civil and political rights, and to Nicaraguans that we continue to be hostages of the Ortega-Murillo regime,” said Jagger.
She indicated that she participated in the forum to make an urgent call to the international community and the governments of the Central American countries, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and all the democratic countries of the world to declare the results of these alleged elections as illegitimate.
“Currently in Nicaragua we have a state of terror, the dictator Daniel Ortega and his accomplice (wife) Rosario Murillo repress the people with their police, their army, their paramilitary forces better known as mobs or death squads, party structures, neighborhood committees that force its people to spy on each other and a corrupt and subordinate judicial system,” added the activist.
150 political prisoners
She recalled that Daniel Ortega has unleashed a brutal persecution against any person or organization that dares to raise their voice, as happened recently to the newspaper La Prensa, the only independent newspaper that remained in circulation.
Read more: Nicaragua police raid the newspaper ‘La Prensa’ by accusing it of “customs fraud”
“These relentless persecutions have resulted in the imprisonment and exile of members of civil society, students, peasants, journalists, former politicians and families of victims. Let’s not forget that today there are more than 150 political prisoners in Nicaragua and that for me is always present in my mind,” added Bianca.
Read more: More than 22,000 Nicaraguans request refuge in Costa Rica in 2021
She reiterated that Ortega, from May of this year onwards, has carried out a coup against the democratic institutions of Nicaragua by using his position as commander-in-chief of the police to begin a hunt against the opposition and order the kidnapping and arrest of the country’s main presidential candidates and opposition leaders.
In addition, Ortega has used his absolute control over all the powers of the state to cancel the legal status of the last three opposition political parties, with those actions, eliminating any intention of legitimate electoral competition.
Read more: Already 29 opponents detained in Nicaragua as Ortega clears the way to the elections
Jagger warned the world must be ready for the surprises Ortega may give to pretend that he is complying with the demands of the United Nations and other world organizations.
“On November 7, Daniel Ortega will proclaim himself president and if the international community does not act clearly and forcefully, he will be able to consolidate his dynastic dictatorship equal to or worse than that of the Somoza family,” warned Bianca Jagger.
Possible solution?
For the human rights defender, the solution to what Nicaragua is experiencing is in the hands of the world.
“The international community, through the OAS, the UN, the European Union, the United States and the Central American Integration System, have to take forceful and effective actions that stop Ortega’s authoritarianism once and for all.
“The declarations, pronouncements and sentences are necessary and I appreciate them, but just 41 days after a new attack by Ortega against democracy, what we require in Nicaragua are forceful actions such as ignoring the electoral process and all its results, suspending the Ortega’s regime of the inter-American system, sanction Daniel and his allies, stop the international financing that oxygenates them, condition international financing and humanitarian aid to be assumed and executed by international or Nicaraguan NGOs,” she listed.
She clarified that despite the fact that she lives in England, she understands the difficulties that his compatriots experience, not only poverty, but also the brutal persecution they face every day and the fear they feel.
“We Nicaraguans have to wake up and I think the best thing is for the people not to vote, because even if they do not vote, Daniel Ortega could manipulate it and say that Nicaraguans came out to vote.”
