Amid the political persecution promoted by Daniel Ortega’s government, Nicaraguan police arrested another pre-presidential candidate. Journalist Miguel Mora, 57, was arrested this Sunday evening (20).
According to the police authorities, Mora was arrested for “having committed acts undermining the independence, sovereignty and self-determination of the country”, as well as “for inciting foreign interference in internal affairs”.
The detention took place under Law 1,055, enacted in December and identified by international bodies as a legal mechanism to prevent critics and opponents of Ortega from the 2021 presidential elections.
This is the second time that Mora has been arrested by the country’s dictatorship. The premiere took place in December 2018, alongside fellow journalist Lucía Pineda Ubau. At the time, both were accused of “incitement to hatred”.
He is the fifth pre-presidential candidate held under the 1,055 law in the past three weeks. The first to be arrested was also journalist Cristiana Chamorro on June 2, who is now under house arrest. Former ambassador Arturo Cruz, academician Félix Maradiaga and economist Juan Sebastián Chamorro, cousin of Cristiana, were also arrested.
In addition to them, several other opposition leaders were arrested a few months before the presidential elections, scheduled for November 7 – Ortega will seek re-election for the third time in a row.
Faced with the advance of the repression, a joint statement from the diplomatic representations of Mexico and Argentina in the country, published on Monday (21), announced that the ambassadors will return to their countries to assess the serious situation underway in the country. Central American country. . The document states that the embassies continue to monitor the situation in Nicaragua and “promote full respect for the promotion of human rights, civil, political and expression freedoms for all”.