The prestigious American newspaper The New York Times revealed this Thursday that, last March, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, through their son Laureano Ortega Murillo, “quietly approached Washington” to seek a dialogue, according to officials and diplomats familiar with the rapprochement, although the agreed meeting never took place.
“A high-ranking official from the US Department of State was sent to Managua to meet with Laureano Ortega in March, but the meeting never took place because the Ortegas apparently chickened out,” says the text signed by the journalist. Maria Abi-Habib.
The son of the presidential couple, as US officials explained to the newspaper, “had the objective of securing relief from the sanctions for the Ortega family and their inner circle in exchange for the release of political prisoners, a priority for the Biden Administration.”
The meeting proposal was taken by Washington as “high level”, and “as a sign that the autocracies of Latin America could be reconsidering their alliance with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, since the Army of his country is bogged down in Ukraine and its economy devastated by sanctions.”
The New York Times explained that the spokeswoman and vice president Rosario Murillo did not respond to questions about the talks and in response “sent emails with revolutionary slogans.” “In the past he has denounced the sanctions as imperial aggression,” the publication detailed.
They managed the meeting
The post titled “Nicaragua’s secretive ruling family sneaks up on the US.” He mentioned that one of the possible reasons for the meeting is because the sanctions “have hit the family and his inner circle hard” because many officials and several of the president’s sons, including Laureano, have been sanctioned by Washington and their companies have been included. on the blacklist accused of laundering money for the regime.
“Nicaragua’s ruling regime is in a precarious financial state,” said The New York Times text.
The prestigious newspaper consulted Arturo McFields, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), who assured that he was informed about the approach, shortly before resigning his position. “Russia cannot give them money now and the Venezuelan wallet is closed,” he said.
“The children of the president (Ortega) cannot live the comfortable life they have grown accustomed to, while the money needed to pay pro-government paramilitaries or expand the police force to handle growing dissent shrinks every month,” McFields said. .
The reason is not clear
A senior State Department official told The New York Times that it was unclear whether Laureano Ortega’s approach was due “to fears that Russia’s growing isolation would affect the Ortega regime, which much of Latin America increasingly views as once again as a pariah state” or if it was the product of pressure and internal dissidence between the family and the Sandinista “old guard”.
“As the family increases its control over the state, members of the old guard are increasingly at odds with the Ortega family, uncomfortable with its growing dynastic ambitions, and are also affected by Washington sanctions,” he said. the US official on condition of anonymity.
The official said that if the Ortega Murillo family is willing to discuss the release of political prisoners, “Washington will commit,” but if not, “it is preparing to put additional pressure on the regime with more sanctions.”
“Laureano Ortega approached Washington through a third party, the official said, but refused to comment further,” the text highlighted.
Another person familiar with the talks said Ortega approached the State Department through Nicaragua’s ambassador to Washington, Francisco Campbell Hooker. However, when the Nicaraguan diplomat was contacted by phone, he denied this and said that he had no knowledge of the matter.