Q COSTA RICA — In a brief press release, the Costa Rican government condemned the dictatorship in Nicaragua and Daniel Ortega’s intentions to perpetuate himself in power.
“Costa Rica has always supported and will continue to advocate for free, democratic, transparent, and pluralistic elections in the Republic of Nicaragua. Costa Rica reiterates its deep concern regarding the systematic closure of civic spaces and the persecution of dissenting voices,” said the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry.
This Sunday, Ortega asserted that no further elections will be held in the country. The dictator has ruled Nicaragua since 2007 and yesterday announced that the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling party, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), will work to approve “laws to put up a wall, a blockade against the coup plotters, against the traitors.”
“They would love to win elections to make money from the schools. But they can forget it, there won’t be any more elections here, so they (the opposition) can’t try to seize the government, seize power,” Ortega said during an event in Managua commemorating the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.
In its statement, the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry emphasized that “it is worth remembering that, due to the absence of the required conditions and guarantees, Costa Rica did not recognize Nicaragua’s last electoral process, held in 2021.”
“Peaceful and harmonious relationship”
Despite international concerns about human rights violations in Nicaragua, in mid-June, President Laura Fernández defended maintaining a cordial relationship with Nicaragua.
“We maintain a long-standing trade relationship… we don’t have extensive diplomatic channels, but we do have a cordial relationship between two nations that share a border,” Fernández stated during an interview with NTN24.
The president avoided elaborating on the allegations of a lack of democratic freedoms in Nicaragua, arguing that each nation defines its own political path and distinguishing Nicaragua’s situation from that of Cuba and Venezuela in economic terms.
“God be with Nicaragua, God be with Costa Rica, and God be with all of them, with their internal problems and the form of government they have chosen, and we here are maintaining our neighborly relations in a peaceful and harmonious way, in every way possible,” Fernández stated.