OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF NICARAGUA
“The prophet is not silent. Tyrants do not have the last word.”
Mons. Silvio Báez
We, the representatives of Nicaraguan diaspora organizations, exiles, and the undersigned territorial organizations, express the following to the people of Nicaragua, the Mothers of April, the Nicaraguan youth, those who have been victims of the Ortega Murillo dictatorship, and the international community:
We welcome, with a lot of responsibility and commitment, the exhortation which Mons. Silvio Báez (Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua) proclaimed to all Nicaraguans on Sunday, May 7, 2023. We make his words our own where he calls us to the urgent need to build a different path to achieve the unity of the opposition, to dream big and to fight with perseverance.
These undersigned organizations in one voice echo the words of Mons. Silvio Báez, given that he invites us to deal with the problems of Unity with serenity and wisdom and to build a future of fraternity, peace and justice for all. Consequently, we commit ourselves to walk arrayed in authentic ethical, moral, democratic and human values with social justice in this process of unity and the unification of the opposition.
Our armor will be harmony, concord, and respect amid diversity of thought and ideologies; so that it might be those premises that guide and illuminate us toward a democratic transition with truth and justice, without impunity in light of the most genuine interests of the Nicaraguan nation.
We will be closer and more supportive of one another, with our responsibility being to bring about social and peaceful change in Nicaragua. Which is why, from this day on we are ready to put our plow to the fertile soil of sincere and participatory unification, which would allow opening vigorous furrows of trust full of hope toward a new and unpolarized society.
The people of Nicaragua have provided an example of resistance, grandeur and dignity. Because of this, we commit ourselves to act with an iron will, commitment and decision to achieve an authentic unity without personal, ideological nor partisan interests, and where the genuine aspirations of the people of Nicaragua expressed in the Civic Rebellion of April 2018 are never betrayed.
We recognize the arduous work, courage and bravery that the persecuted, political prisoners and exiles have demonstrated. Therefore, we will continue fighting to achieve peace with justice, truth and non-repetition in the face of the crimes committed by the Ortega dictatorship. We will sow the seeds for a different future in the search for that unity, so that we might arrive at a new common, participatory and honest agreement. Only in this way will we be able to build a New Nicaragua, without the vices of the past, without strong men, corruption, authoritarianism, and the opportunism of the few over the majority of the Nicaraguan people and society.
We demand the immediate liberation of Mons. Rolando José Álvarez, the current Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, and of all the political prisoners who currently are in the inhumane jails of the dictator.
We think that the international community should look on our suffering people with a more human face, and should accompany us in this democratic transition process with decisive actions which would allow once and for all to undermine the foundations of the Ortega Murillo dictatorship.
In good faith and for the well-being of Nicaragua we invite the rest of the organizations of the diaspora, exiles and territorial organizations to meet together as brothers and sisters to fight in the midst of differences and to jointly deal with this civic struggle, and that together we might install a space of dialogue and consensus for the benefit of all Nicaraguans, committed to not betray the aspirations and the Cry of April- Let them leave! which the people of Nicaragua cried out in 2018.
Let us not allow the ambition for power, the irrationality of violence and the lack of respect for personal liberty and dignity to prevail in the spaces for unity and unification. Let us trust in God and in our people, let us be guided by their longings and desires, let us not let our spirit be tainted in this process in the search for unity by selfishness, authoritarianism, exclusion and democratic anti-values.
Managua, Nicaragua on the twelfth day of May of year two thousand twenty-three.
SIGNING ORGANIZATIONS
