On January 18th the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN), one of the student organizations that is part of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Peace, issued the following press release. In a context where opposition groups are debating about whether to participate in the elections of Nov 2021 due to the lack of basic freedoms and conditions for democratic elections, the AUN here takes the step of emphasizing the importance of encouraging people to participate, with the expectation that they will be able to achieve the proper conditions for free and fair elections.
2021: Year of the Electoral Defeat of the Sandinista Dictatorship
January 18, 2021
We Nicaraguan youth are the generation of change and we reaffirm our commitment to a civic, peaceful and democratic solution to a serious political, social and economic crisis that our country is experiencing, and the profound desire to build a better Nicaragua, with justice, peace, security, development and opportunities for all Nicaraguans.
This 2021 is a decisive year in the struggle against the Ortega Murillo regime. As a country we must prepare ourselves to continue our battle for freedom and defeat the dictatorship through free and transparent elections. This 2021 is the year of freedom: it is the year of the electoral defeat of the Sandinista dictatorship.
Defeating the dictatorship is a task that needs the collaboration and effort of different political, social and economic sectors in the country through concrete actions, commitment and clear positions, for which purpose we as AUN [Nicaraguan University Alliance] state the following:
- We reaffirm our commitment to continue to join forces for the freedom of all political prisoners, as well as the restitution and respect for the fundamental rights of movement, organization and press.
- We support the call and invitation to the formation of a broad and representative alliance of sectors of Nicaraguan society made by the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy and the Citizens for Liberty Party on January 13, 2021.
- We echo the 6 basic points presented by consensus between the Civic Alliance and the Citizen for Freedom Party as the starting point for a clear, organized and strong opposition to confront and defeat once for all the dictatorship in this year 2021 and build the country that we Nicaraguans deserve.
- We call national and international organizations to increase joint demands and pressure to hold electoral reforms that would ensure unrestricted national and international observation, naming of independent magistrates and the independence of the electoral branch, as well as compliance with the resolution of the General Assembly of the OAS on electoral reform issues.
- We invite all Nicaraguan youth to continue joining our platform through the site: aunnicaragua.com and thus together build a better country for all Nicaraguans.
As the AUN we will continue with the organizational efforts to increase the participation of Nicaraguan youth at all levels and to strengthen the clear option that will defeat the dictatorship in the national elections this year 2021.