[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                  THE ORTEGA-MURILLO REGIMES WAR AGAINST
                  THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND CIVIL SOCIETY
                  IN NICARAGUA: BISHOP ALVAREZ, POLITICAL
                  PRISONERS, AND PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTE ON GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL
              HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

                                   of

                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION
                             March 22, 2023

                               __________


                            Serial No. 118-5

                               __________

        Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs





                 [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]





 Available:  http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov, 
                       or http://www.govinfo.gov

                               ______
                                 

                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

53-190PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2024












                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                   MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Chairman

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey     GREGORY MEEKS, New York, Ranking 
JOE WILSON, South Carolina               Member
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania	     BRAD SHERMAN, California
DARRELL ISSA, California	     GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
ANN WAGNER, Missouri		     WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
BRIAN MAST, Florida		     DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
KEN BUCK, Colorado		     AMI BERA, California
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee		     JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
MARK E. GREEN, Tennessee	     DINA TITUS, Nevada
ANDY BARR, Kentucky		     TED LIEU, California
RONNY JACKSON, Texas		     SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania
YOUNG KIM, California		     DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota
MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR, Florida	     COLIN ALLRED, Texas
BILL HUIZENGA, Michigan		     ANDY KIM, New Jersey
AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, 	     SARA JACOBS, California
    American Samoa		     KATHY MANNING, North Carolina
FRENCH HILL, Arkansas		     SHEILA CHERFILUS-McCORMICK, 
WARREN DAVIDSON, Ohio		         Florida
JIM BAIRD, Indiana		     GREG STANTON, Arizona
MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida		     MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
THOMAS KEAN, JR., New Jersey	     JARED MOSKOWITZ, Florida
MICHAEL LAWLER, New York	     JONATHAN JACOBS, Illinois
CORY MILLS, Florida		     SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE, California
RICH McCORMICK, Georgia		     JIM COSTA, California
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas		     JASON CROW, Colorado
JOHN JAMES, Michigan		     BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois
KEITH SELF, Texas

                    Brendan Shields, Staff Director

                    Sophia Lafargue, Staff Director

                                 ------                                

 Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International 
                             Organizations

                  CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey, Chair

MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR, Florida	     SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania, Ranking
AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, 	         Member
    American Samoa
FRENCH HILL, Arkansas		     AMI BERA, California
RICH McCORMICK, Georgia		     SARA JACOBS, California
JOHN JAMES, Michigan		     KATHY MANNING, North Carolina


                       Mary Vigil, Staff Director
                      Allie Davis, Staff Director








                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               WITNESSES

Jagger, Bianca. Founder, President, and Chief Executive, Bianca 
  Jagger Human Rights Foundation.................................    14
Maradiaga, Felix, J.D., President and Founder, Fundacion Para La 
  Libertad De Nicaragua..........................................    24
Chamorro, Dr. Juan Sebastian, Executive Director, Civic Alliance 
  for Justice and Democracy......................................    31
Ullmer, Deborah, Regional Director for Latin America and the 
  Caribbean Programs, National Democratic Institute..............    36

                                APPENDIX

Hearing Notice...................................................    63
Hearing Minutes..................................................    65
Hearing Attendance...............................................    66

            RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

Responses to questios submitted for the record...................    67







 
                  THE ORTEGA-MURILLO REGIMES WAR AGAINST
                  THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND CIVIL SOCIETY
                  IN NICARAGUA: BISHOP ALVAREZ, POLITICAL
                  PRISONERS, AND PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE


                       Wednesday, March 22, 2023

                          House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, 
        and International Organizations, joint with
                Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere,
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.

    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 4:00 p.m., in 
room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. 
Smith (chairman of the Subcommittee on Global Health, Global 
Human Rights, and International Organizations) presiding.
    Mr. Smith. The subcommittees will come to order.
    And, first of all, let me welcome everyone to the joint 
hearing. I am joined by my good friend and colleague, Ms. 
Salazar, who is the chairwoman of the Western Hemisphere 
Committee, as well as Ms. Wild, who is the ranking member on my 
committee, the Global Health, Global Human Rights, and 
International Organizations Subcommittee.
    And, Mr. Stanton, I think you will be filling in, I think.
    Mr. Stanton. I am acting today.
    Mr. Smith. Acting. That is very good. We are all acting.
    But thank you so much for joining us, and all of my 
colleagues who are here today and, of course, our incredibly 
distinguished witnesses, at today's hearing.
    I want to convey my deepest thanks to Bianca Jagger, who is 
going to be joining us in a moment--she is an amazing human 
rights champion--and, once again, for her continued tenacious 
advocacy on behalf of the Nicaraguan people, including 
Archbishop Alvarez and other political prisoners.
    Is the United States doing enough? Are we doing enough in 
Congress? Is the President doing enough? Frankly, I am 
concerned.
    Yesterday, Owen Jensen, an EWTN correspondent, asked 
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby--and this is 
what his question was--Nicaragua is my question, OK. So you may 
know that Daniel Ortega recently threw into prison Bishop 
Alvarez, well-known, well-respected bishop throughout the 
world. He was thrown into prison for 26 years on trumped up 
charges.
    The question: Are you aware of any efforts the United 
States is making to free Bishop Alvarez?
    The National Security spokesman John Kirby responded: I am 
going to have to take the question and get back to you, sir. I 
am not tracking that particular case.
    We all need to up our game. We all need to do more, and we 
need to do it immediately.
    For the record, as co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights 
Commission, I convened a hearing on religious persecution as 
recently as December 22--December 2022, I should say, and then 
held another hearing focused on Nicaraguan political prisoners 
back in July 2021.
    With great courage, eloquence, and resolve, Berta and 
Victoria, or Vicky, testified at the 2021 hearing about their 
suffering husbands, Felix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastian 
Chamorro, and other political prisoners, that they were 
enduring at the hands of Ortega. Berta told us that it was very 
clear that Daniel Ortega will do anything he can to maintain 
his grip on power. By arresting the leading Presidential 
candidates and dozens of other critics, Ortega has shown the 
world that he cannot win reelection if the opposition is 
allowed to participate.
    The oppression is not news, she went on. For years, Felix 
has been the target of attacks by the Ortega regime because he 
speaks truth to power. He has been beaten, confined to house 
arrest, and threatened for months. He endured 24/7 surveillance 
by the police, she went on. Then again and again they tried to 
silence him, but he would never stand down.
    Vicky then testified and said, since Juan's arrest, the 
Ortega regime has systematically violated all of his rights. We 
identified at least 10 violations of international law in their 
cases. Ortega has completely eliminated any due process rights 
and manipulated Nicaragua's justice system to maintain his grip 
on power.
    Vicky then went on to say: Juan has always fought for 
Nicaragua. He has always wanted to be involved in improving his 
country, contributing to its economic and social development, 
so that all Nicaraguans can live prosperous and peaceful lives 
in dignity.
    My husband, she went on, is a peaceful and honest man, but 
Daniel Ortega feels threatened by him because he dares to speak 
out against the regime's oppression.
    Thankfully, Felix and Juan Sebastian were among the 222 
political prisoners that arrived in the United States on 
February 9 of this year. However, in clear violation of article 
15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they were 
stripped of their citizenship. Another 94 dissidents were also 
stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality. And today, at least 
37 political prisoners continue to be unjustly incarcerated and 
grossly mistreated.
    It is especially meaningful that these two men, these two 
giants, these two heroes, are here and will speak to us and 
that they are finally free.
    However, they, like other amazing pro-democracy leaders, 
yearn for the day when Nicaragua will be free and its 
government robustly defending the fundamental rights, human 
rights of every citizen.
    So today, again, we will hear from them directly, and my 
hope is that their words spoken today animates, gets every one 
of us to be more motivated to do all we can possibly do.
    Today we, once again, send a clear message to the world 
that the United States stands with the brave Nicaraguans who 
are committed to democracy and respect for the internationally 
recognized human rights.
    We are inspired by the incredible faith and bravery of 
those like Bishop Alvarez who nonviolently resist tyranny and 
refuse to give in to the demands of dictators.
    As we work to ensure that President Ortega and his cronies 
are held accountable for these heinous acts, I would note that 
the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned more than 43 
individuals and 11 entities, and has restricted hundreds of 
visas. So that is definitely a step in the right direction.
    Nevertheless, the extreme repression that the Ortega regime 
is committing against the people of Nicaragua deserves even 
greater attention from the United States and from our allies. 
Under President Ortega, Nicaragua has become a pariah 
dictatorship in league with other human rights abusers like 
Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and the People's 
Republic of China.
    The Ortega regime continues to eviscerate basic rights and 
fundamental freedoms, a decline which has been markedly 
increased over the last 5 years. Beginning with the 
government's crackdown on protestors in 2018, which left over 
300 dead, thousands injured, and hundreds in prison, President 
Ortega has shown the world his blatant disregard for everything 
except consolidating his own power.
    I note parenthetically that we got a mere glimpse of this, 
a few of us, back in 1984, when Frank Wolf and I and two other 
Members, Tony Hall and Bob McEwen, went and met with him in 
Managua, raised human rights issues directly with him. Thinking 
that we were coming to praise him, we spent 2 hours talking 
exclusively on human rights. They gave us drinks. Three of us 
drank the drinks. We got very, very ill. And Tony Hall, who 
perhaps was wise enough not to take a sip, never got sick.
    We saw when he did this to the students. It is one of their 
terrible ways that they deal with dissidents. They sent in 
rancid food, and many of them got very sick as well.
    The Catholic Church is under siege, as we all know. He is 
waging a war against them.
    So, again, we are doing everything we can to raise these 
issues. This hearing is but another step, and I cannot thank 
you enough for being here to be our witnesses.
    I would like to yield to my good friend, Chairwoman 
Salazar.
    Ms. Salazar. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And delighted to see you here, Mr. Maradiaga, Mr. Chamorro. 
We really never thought that probably we were going to be able 
to see you again, and I am delighted that we were able to do 
everything possible in order to have you here.
    And thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the chairwoman of the 
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere and a relentless fighter for 
the people of Nicaragua because I know them very well, I lived 
there, I know what a great country you have. And it is an honor 
to host you this hearing today and with the rest of my 
colleagues.
    As we were saying, the Catholic church is under siege. 
Almost three-quarters of Nicaraguans belong to the Catholic 
church. To have complete control over them, the now dictator in 
chief, Daniel Ortega, needs to replace the Almighty God with 
his dictatorship. And that is why he is systematically hunting 
down and silencing the most sacred, sovereign institution in 
Nicaragua's history--the Catholic church. The church is the 
last, the loudest voice against his regime.
    There have been over 400 attacks on the church in recent 
years, and let me just name a few so everyone can remember.
    In 2018, police went into the Divine Mercy parish located 
in Managua, locked in young protestors and rained bullets on 
them. They were looking for a sanctuary, but instead they found 
death.
    In 2020, a fire bomb was thrown in Managua's cathedral, 
destroying the famous image of Blood of Christ, an almost 400-
year-old crucifix beloved by thousands and thousands of 
Nicaraguans.
    Last year, Daniel Ortega escalated his attacks on the 
faithful. He ordered the dissolution of hundreds of NGO's. He 
expelled 18 of Mother Teresa's nuns, holy women who worked in 
the most dangerous areas of Nicaragua, including el Mercado 
Oriental.
    This breaks my heart because as a journalist working for 
Univision, I interviewed those women. They were saints. And I 
felt their holiness when I walked into their humble clinic and 
spoke with them for hours.
    He also shut down 19 Catholic radio and television 
stations.
    Not only that, last month he broke relations with the 
Vatican, and they are to expel el Nuncio Apostolico, the 
Apostolic Nuncio.
    And now he wants us to be impressed by his goodness. Few 
weeks ago he released you, 222 political prisoners to the 
United States. He let them go--some of you free--but he took 
away your citizenship, your families, your property, everything 
except your lives.
    If Ortega were to be so compassionate, as you said, then 
Bishop Rolando Alvarez would have not been sentenced to 26 
years in the most brutal prison called La Modelo for leading a 
powerful demonstration just crying for freedom.
    From Managua, the message is clear: Ortega has made 
Nicaragua a prison for anyone who kneels to God the Father y La 
Santisima Virgen.
    In a shocking moment of clarity, Pope Francis called--
himself, he called Ortega the new Hitler, and compared the 
Sandinista movement to the Russian Revolution. Bravo for Your 
Holiness.
    It is time for the international community to wake up to 
this historic evil and for the Biden administration to take 
action.
    First, the White House must continue increasing the RENACER 
sanctions on Ortega that I proudly passed in Congress.
    Second, the White House must communicate to American 
investors the danger of doing business in Nicaragua. The No. 1 
danger is that you could be expropriated and lose your money. 
And we wish luck to that textile company which just opened a 
100,000-square meter factory in Nicaragua. Good luck to you.
    Third, we must call on our Central American partners to 
shut down lending to this dictator. The Central American Bank 
for Economic Integration has approved $3.5 billion in funding 
for the Ortega-Murillo regime in the last 5 years. Shame on 
you. All this money only provides economic oxygen to the regime 
so they can keep oppressing the people.
    So having said all that, this is a message directly to 
Ortega-Murillo: You would be wise to remember that the Catholic 
church throughout history has defeated greater demons than you 
and your satanic wife, Rosario Murillo. It must humiliate you 
that everyone knows that, despite your title of President, she 
has the real power. For that reason, it won't surprise anyone 
that you are too small of a man to take down a 2,000-year-old 
legendary institution.
    And in case you haven't been reading the Scriptures lately, 
let me just tell you what Daniel chapter 5 says: You will learn 
that the last king of Babylon was also drunk on power and 
defiled God. And then the writing on the wall appeared.
    And the warning is the same for you. Your days are 
numbered. You have been measured and failed, and everything you 
have stolen from the people of Nicaragua will turn to ash.
    But I am going to say it in Spanish so he can hear me.
    [Speaking in Spanish.]
    I yield back.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much for that very powerful 
opening statement.
    And I would like to now yield to Mr. Stanton.
    Mr. Stanton. Thank you very much, Chair Smith and Chair 
Salazar, for calling this critically important hearing.
    I want to thank the witnesses who are here today for your 
testimony in advance. I want to especially welcome Mr. 
Maradiaga and Dr. Chamorro, and commend you for your bravery in 
standing up for democracy in Nicaragua.
    While I am grateful that you both have finally been 
released from your unjust imprisonment, I am deeply disturbed 
that Daniel Ortega chose to strip you both and 220 others of 
Nicaraguan citizenship shortly after your arrival in the United 
States last month.
    These political and business leaders, journalists, and 
students cannot go back to their homes. They remain separated 
from their families. They have had their property seized. They 
cannot study, work, or participate in political or civil life 
in their homeland, and that is appalling.
    From his reelection in 2007 through today, President Ortega 
has worked to consolidate power for himself. Our hearing today 
focuses in particular on his regime's brutal attacks on the 
Catholic church and civil society. Ortega has targeted both 
since retaking power 15 years ago, but his violent repression 
tactics intensified in 2018 after countrywide protests, 
protests that the Ortega regime cracked down on, resulting in 
the deaths of more than 300 Nicaraguans.
    Then in 2021, Ortega jailed every potential political 
opponent, dropping any pretense of democratic legitimacy. Those 
who dare to speak out against his crimes against humanity, 
including faith leaders, students, journalists, and human 
rights defenders, face the same arbitrary detentions or worse. 
In fact, a U.N. delegation found that the Nicaraguan Government 
has and continues to participate in serious and systemic human 
rights abuses, including extrajudicial executions and torture.
    And while 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners were freed and 
most flown to the United States in February, dozens remain, 
including Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez, who refused to be exiled 
from his country and now faces 26 years behind bars. He and 
nearly 20 other priests have been stripped of their 
nationality, and more than a dozen have been prosecuted for 
speaking out with moral clarity against Ortega's human rights 
abuses.
    Last year, Ortega expelled the Apostolic Nuncio, the 
highest ranking diplomat of the Catholic church, from the 
country, and early this month officially severed diplomatic 
ties with the Vatican after Pope Francis harshly criticized the 
regime.
    These are calculated and consistent attacks, and it is 
clear that the Ortega regime assault on the church and its 
leaders is part of a larger effort to consolidate absolute 
power in Nicaragua.
    But Ortega has not limited his attack to the Catholic 
church. Instead, he has worked to all but eliminate any 
organization his regime does not control, including nonprofit 
organizations, including charities. More than 3,000 national 
and international NGO's are no longer allowed to operate in 
Nicaragua. Some will be able to conduct their missions from 
other Central American countries or the United States, but most 
have been forced to permanently close.
    This has widespread socioeconomic consequences for 
vulnerable populations, especially indigenous communities, 
worsening the humanitarian situation of the country, limiting 
access to information, increasing international migration.
    It is a travesty, and it is happening to our neighbors. 
America cannot afford to overlook the human rights abuses 
happening right now in Nicaragua, so we have stepped in several 
ways.
    The Biden administration, with the support of Congress' 
bipartisan RENACER Act passed in 2021, has strengthened U.S. 
sanctions against Nicaragua. We continue to pursue targeted 
sanctions to hold Ortega and his cronies accountable for their 
human rights abuses. The Biden administration has also 
requested $15 million in democratic assistance directly for the 
Nicaraguan people in Fiscal Year 2024.
    While this committee will dive deeper into budgetary issues 
in tomorrow's important hearing, I will note how important it 
is to fund foreign operations at least at the President's 
requested levels, and we will hear examples of what import this 
is from our witnesses today.
    And we should also work to reform our immigration system to 
make legal pathways more accessible while investing in border 
security and ensuring safe, humane process for migrants, 
including those freeing repression in Nicaragua arriving here 
in the United States.
    We are witnessing one of the worst authoritarian assaults 
on democracy in Latin America in decades. This committee, our 
committee, our joint committees, will continue to work in a 
bipartisan way to support the Nicaraguan people and those who 
have been exiled. The United States cannot waiver in our 
efforts to restore democratic governance in Nicaragua, protect 
fundamental human rights, and end Ortega's campaign of 
violence, intimidation, and repression.
    Thank you all for being here.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Stanton.
    The chair recognizes my friend and colleague, Ms. Wild, the 
ranking member on our subcommittee.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Let me begin by thanking Chairs Smith and Salazar for 
calling this important hearing.
    And to our witnesses, thank you for your leadership, your 
sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to a future of democracy, 
human rights, and human dignity in Nicaragua.
    For years, Daniel Ortega has consolidated wealth and power 
at the expense of his people, and has run Nicaragua like his 
personal fiefdom, installing family members in senior roles 
across the regime, including his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice 
president, enriching himself through corruption and illicit 
financial schemes and cracking down on all forms of dissent.
    Once the leader of the revolution which toppled a brutal 
multigenerational dictatorship and once a symbol of hope for 
the Nicaraguan society long torn by inequality, Daniel Ortega 
long ago destroyed his legacy, betrayed the revolution, and 
turned Nicaragua back into an authoritarian country ruled by an 
all powerful dynasty.
    Since the regime's response to protests over deeply 
unpopular economic austerity politics in 2018 in which security 
forces used weapons of war to kill, injure, and detain 
thousands of people exercising their fundamental rights, more 
than 100,000 Nicaraguans have fled the country.
    Violence, repression, and arbitrary detentions remain a 
deadly reality for anyone who dares to speak out against the 
regime, not just activists, but religious leaders, indigenous 
people, healthcare workers, members of the LGBTQ community, and 
Nicaraguans of all stripes.
    Earlier this month in its first report to the U.N. Human 
Rights Council, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua 
reported that widespread human rights violations that amount to 
crimes against humanity are being committed against innocent 
civilians.
    As Members of Congress, it is our responsibility to use our 
platform to draw attention to this crisis and to stand in a 
spirit of solidarity and partnership with the people of 
Nicaragua. I use the words ``solidarity'' and ``partnership'' 
very deliberately here. I cannot neglect to note the tragic 
history of destructive U.S. Government interference in 
Nicaragua. We should never go back to that time, not in 
Nicaragua, not in Latin America, not anywhere around the world.
    Our task is not to infringe on the sovereignty of the 
Nicaraguan people or any other people. It is to advocate for 
and to support a policy of support for human rights that is 
consistent and based in a spirit of neutral respect, 
cooperation, and justice.
    I look forward to hearing from our diverse panel of 
witnesses about what more the United States and international 
community can do to support all of those struggling for human 
rights and democratic values in Nicaragua. I hope this serves 
as a starting point for a continued conversation this Congress 
on how we can more effectively support the people of Nicaragua 
at this difficult time.
    Thank you for joining us today, and I look forward to a 
productive discussion.
    Mr. Smith. Ms. Wild, thank you very much.
    I would like to introduce our witnesses. The co-chair and I 
will just very briefly introduce you, and then--the first will 
be Bianca Jagger, who has been an aggressive human rights 
advocate. She has been in all of our offices time and time 
again pushing especially for human rights in Nicaragua. She was 
born in Nicaragua, and in 2005 founded the Bianca Jagger Human 
Rights Foundation. She has received numerous awards, including 
the alternative Nobel Prize award in 2004 called the Right 
Livelihood Award.
    Going back 30 years ago, we had her at hearings when we had 
serious problems in the Balkans. I will never forget her 
testimony on that as well.
    So she will be our first witness. She cannot make it today 
physically. She hurt her back, so she is doing it by way of 
Zoom.
    And then we will go to Felix Maradiaga, who is--what a hero 
he is, as well as Dr. Chamorro. He is an academic. I have a 
full statement here, and we will put all of that into the 
record, but he is the former secretary general of the 
Nicaraguan Ministry of Defense. Due to his outspoken activism, 
the Ortega regime accused him of terrorism related to the 
demonstrations that erupted in April 2018. Again, he spent 611 
days behind bars. And he and his wife are just two very, very 
noble people, and I think the future, along with Dr. Chamorro, 
the future of Nicaragua.
    I would like to yield to my co-chair.
    Ms. Salazar. Yes. And I think we are going to be presenting 
Juan Sebastian Chamorro--once again, glad you are here--a 
Nicaraguan economist, political leader, and human rights 
defender.
    In 2005, Mr. Chamorro served as the technical secretary of 
the Presidency of the Republic of Nicaragua, the ministry in 
charge of strategic national planning, before serving as the 
vice minister of finance the following year. From 2006 to 2011, 
Mr. Chamorro helped execute the grant program by heading the 
millennium challenge in Nicaragua. But in June 2021, he was 
detained by the Ortega repressive apparatus, and later was able 
to come to the United States in February 2023.
    And also should we introduce our other witness? And Mrs. 
Deborah Ullmer. Thank you for being here.
    Mrs. Ullmer brings more than 20 years of experience 
managing a range of democracy assistance and human rights 
programs. Most recently, she served as Freedom House's director 
for Latin America. Mrs. Ullmer previously served at the 
National Democratic Institute from 1996 through 2018, where she 
focused primarily on the Latin America portfolio.
    Thank you, the four of you, for being here.
    Should we start the questions?
    Mr. Smith. Well, first their comments.
    Ms. Salazar. OK. I think that maybe we should give you some 
time----
    Mr. Smith. Exactly.
    Ms. Salazar [continuing]. For you to----
    Mr. Smith. Starting with Bianca, if she is ready.

   STATEMENT OF BIANCA JAGGER, FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, AND CHIEF 
        EXECUTIVE, BIANCA JAGGER HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION

    Ms. Jagger. I am.
    Honorable Members of Congress, I would first like to thank 
Congressman Chris Smith and Congresswoman Maria Salazar for 
their unflinching support of the Nicaraguan people. It is 
always a pleasure for me to testify before Congressman Smith, 
who I have known for many, many years, and I have shared many 
of my concerns with him.
    I would also like to say hello to my fellow Nicaraguan and 
fellow witnesses, especially to my two dear friends, Felix 
Maradiaga and Juan Ignacio Chamorro--Juan Sebastian Chamorro. 
Of course, I am very honored to be here with Deborah Ullmer, 
who is a champion of human rights and democracy.
    I would like to request to have my written testimony and 
the article I published in the Catholic Herald submitted for 
the record.
    Mr. Smith. Without objection, so ordered.
    Ms. Jagger. Thank you.
    I would address the subject of today's hearing, the Ortega-
Murillo regime's unholy war against the Catholic church and 
civil society in Nicaragua and the martyrdom of Bishop Rolando 
Jose Alvarez Lagos.
    It gives me great pleasure to see that most of the members 
who have spoken today are well aware of what is happening in 
Nicaragua, not just now, but for many years in the past. I do 
not know if some of what I will say you already said in your 
presentation, but I would like to remind everyone that on the 
9th of February, 222 political prisoners were expelled from 
Nicaragua to the U.S. by the dictatorial regime of Ortega and 
Murillo. Among those who boarded the plane were top opposition 
leaders, six Presidential pre-candidates and, of course, two of 
them are among us and will be testifying before you.
    And I think that it will be better for them to tell you 
more about how they felt now that they are free. But among 
those people where--among the 222 were campesinos and business 
leaders, journalists, and priests. And it gives me great hope 
to know that they are free at last and that perhaps that is the 
end for the suffering of all of that period of time in which 
they were in jail.
    But the most eminent prisoner who Ortega and Murillo were 
eager to get rid of, Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez, the bishop of 
the Diocese of Matagalpa, refused to leave the country and 
accept expulsion. The bishop had repeatedly Stated that he will 
not leave the country and abandon the people of Nicaragua, 
despite the regime's repeated threat of exile or jail. It is 
reported that he said, Let them go free. I will pay for their 
sentences. He was offering himself as a sacrifice for the good 
of others. Bishop Alvarez Lagos, following in the footsteps of 
Jesus Christ, is the good shepherd who will lay down his life 
for his sheep. He is and remains today as the symbol of 
resistance in Nicaragua, never faltering in his struggle 
against tyranny and repression.
    I cannot tell you how important it is the gesture of Bishop 
Alvarez to remain in Nicaragua. It was not only because he had 
always said that he would not leave the country, but I think 
that he wanted everyone to realize that, yes, Daniel Ortega 
released or expelled 222 people, but that the people of 
Nicaragua are still there under a repressive government.
    Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the U.N. Group of Human Rights 
Experts on Nicaragua, compared the Nicaraguan regime's strategy 
to the crimes committed by the Nazis in Germany in the 1930's 
and 1940's. He said: ``All the elements that are seen in 
Nicaragua, unfortunately, can be seen in the Nuremberg 
trials.'' In Nazi Germany, about 39,000 people were deprived of 
their citizenship from July 14, 1933. Among some of the most 
prominent were Bertolt Brecht, Albert Einstein, Erich Maria 
Remarque, Stefan Zweig, and Willy Brandt.
    The Stalin Soviet Union also adopted the advanced 
repressive practice of the allies under the Molotov-Ribbentrop 
Pact. During the existence of the USSR, dozens of thousands of 
people were deprived of citizenship, including Trotsky, 
Solzhenitsyn, Rostropovich, and Lyubimov, and many, many 
others.
    That is why I think that it is so important that we realize 
that what Daniel Ortega is doing today in Nicaragua is of a 
great seriousness and that the international community cannot 
really accept it without imposing more sanctions on their 
regime.
    On the 9th of February, as a retaliation for his refusal to 
board the plane, Bishop Alvarez was transferred to the infamous 
Jorge Navarro prison, known as La Modelo, regarded as one of 
the most brutal in Latin America. The bishop is one of 37 or 39 
political prisoners that remain in Nicaragua.
    On the 10th of February, the day after Bishop Alvarez Lagos 
refused to board the flight to the U.S., he was condemned 
without due process and through a spurious judicial proceeding 
to 26 years and 4 months. His sentence was read by president of 
Chamber 1 of the Court of Appeals in Managua. He said: The 
defendant Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos is held to be a traitor to 
the country, guilty of being the author of crimes to undermine 
the national security and sovereignty, spreading fake news 
through information technology, of obstructing an official in 
the performance of his duty.
    On that day as well, in addition to stripping Bishop 
Alvarez of his Nicaraguan citizenship, he was disqualified for 
life for exercising public office at the service of the State 
of Nicaragua and decreed perpetual loss of his civil rights.
    That same evening, Ortega held a rambling televised press 
conference to give his official version of the largest 
deportation in Latin America history. And I call it 
deportation, but, of course, deportation is only when you are 
deporting a foreign citizen. But let's call it for the benefit 
of what he said at the time. He was outraged at the bishop's 
refusal to leave the country, accusing him of being a 
terrorist. Ortega confirmed that he sent Bishop Alvarez Lagos 
to La Modelo prison because ``he is an ordinary man.'' What we 
have is an arrogant individual who considers himself the head 
of the church in Nicaragua, the leader of the Latin America 
church, and must think that he is in line to be the Pope. He is 
unhinged, he said. When he arrived at La Modelo he was a 
madman, incapable of having the courage of Christ, who endured 
flagellations and the crucifixion. He refused to accept being 
put in a cell where there are hundreds of prisoners. He is 
irritated because now he is in prison.
    I cannot tell you the chills that I felt down my spine when 
I heard Ortega make this statement. Did Daniel Ortega mean to 
say that he put the bishop in a cell with hundreds of other 
prisoners?
    On the 15th of February, Ortega and Murillo intensified 
their crackdown on dissidents to maintain their grip on power, 
putting into practice Murillo's infamous phrase, ``vamos con 
todo,'' let's go at them with everything.
    This regime arbitrarily stripped another 94 political 
dissidents of their citizenship, accusing them of being 
traitors to the homeland, committing criminal acts to the 
detriment of peace, sovereignty, independence, and self-
determination of the Nicaraguan people.
    Among those distinguished human rights people and others, 
they are Bishop Silvio Baez, a distinguished--who is in exile 
in Miami; the distinguished human rights defender Vilma Nunez, 
who has decided herself as well to remain in Nicaragua; our 
winning authors Sergio Ramirez, Gioconda Belli; and influential 
journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro.
    During--and I would like to explain, if I may and I have 
the time, why is it that Daniel Ortega hates so much Bishop 
Alvarez?
    During the civil unrest in 2018, Bishop Alvarez Lagos led 
the Episcopal team, who mediated the first national dialog 
between the Ortega regime and the opposition. The bishop gave 
explicit instructions before the parties sat down at the 
negotiating table. The national dialog has only one goal--he 
said--change. Change is inevitable. There is no other way, and 
there is no other purpose. Change is coming, and with it the 
democratization of the Republic of Nicaragua.
    Ortega never forgave him for saying that. Ortega used the 
dialog to launch a deadly crackdown on the population with 
weapons of war, the police, riot police, military and 
paramilitary forces to crash the rebellion.
    The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights commissioned 
a report by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, 
GIEI, which condemned the Ortega-Murillo regime for weakening 
the rule of law and committing crimes against humanity. They 
estimated that, during those violent days, at least 355 people 
were killed, 2,000 were injured, and 171 arbitrarily detained. 
In March of the following year, the Ortega regime vetoed Bishop 
Alvarez Lagos from mediating or even witnessing the 
negotiations. Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes ended up being the sole 
representative of the Catholic church, accompanied by the then 
Apostolic Nuncio Stanislaw Sommertag.
    Bishop Alvarez Lagos' sermons and homilies have frequently 
decried Ortega and Murillo's systematic and grave violations of 
human rights, brutal repression, and religious prosecution. I 
admire his integrity, his prophetic voice, and his courage to 
speak truth to power.
    I am not going to talk to you about these many famous 
sermons of Monsignor Alvarez because I have put it in my 
written testimony, but I urge you to read them.
    I would like to convey my gratitude to bishops throughout 
the world who have issued statements calling for Bishop Alvarez 
Lagos' release, condemning the Ortega-Murillo regime 
persecution of the Catholic church and the repression of the 
people of Nicaragua. Their unwavering support has provided hope 
to those living under the dictatorship and will ensure that the 
bishop is not forgotten.
    On the 12th of February during his weekly blessing of the 
Angelus to pilgrims in Saint Peter's Square, Pope Francis 
issued a statement on Bishop Alvarez Lagos, who said: I have 
been much saddened by the news that comes from Nicaragua, and I 
cannot but remember with concern the bishop of Matagalpa, 
Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, who I love so much and who was 
condemned to 26 years in prison, and also the people who were 
deported to the United States. I pray for them and for all of 
those who are suffering in that dear country.
    On the 22d of February, Ortega launched a tirade of insults 
against the Catholic church, describing it as an organized 
mafia. If we are going to talk about democracy, he said, the 
people should first elect the priests. I do not believe in 
popes or kings. If they are going to be democratic, they must 
begin by electing the Pope, the cardinals, the bishops with the 
votes of the Catholics, and went on to accuse the church of 
being allied with the Nazis during the Second World War.
    Pope Francis, who had taken more than 6 months to mention 
Bishop Alvarez Lagos and address the dire situation the people 
in Nicaragua are facing, gave an interview to Spanish newspaper 
ABC last December where he said: The Holy See never leaves. 
They kick her out. It always tries to save the people. And its 
weapon is dialog and diplomacy.
    But on the 10th of March, after Ortega's unspeakable attack 
on the Catholic church and the Pope himself, Pope Francis gave 
an interview to an Argentinian journalist called Daniel Hadad, 
for Infobae, stating: With great respect, I have no other 
choice but to think that the person in power, relating to 
Ortega, is mentally unbalanced.
    For the first time the Pope spoke bluntly about the attacks 
of the regime against the Catholic church and expressed the 
solidarity with Bishop AlvarezLagos: We have an incarcerated 
bishop there, a very responsible man, a very capable man. He 
wanted to testify and did not accept exile. This is something 
that is out of line with what we are currently experiencing. It 
is like bringing back the 1917 communist dictatorship or the 
1935 Hitlerite dictatorship. They are a type of crass 
dictatorship, or to use a nice Argentinian expression, 
guarangas, uncouth.
    Mr. Smith. Ms. Jagger, thank you.
    Ms. Jagger. Yes.
    Mr. Smith. We are pretty much out of time, but we will get 
back to you with questions, if that is OK.
    Ms. Jagger. Sure. If I may just say simply what I would 
like to ask about Monsignor, if you allow me.
    Mr. Smith. OK.
    Ms. Jagger. According to Ortega, Bishop Alvarez Lagos is 
serving his sentence in La Modelo prison. I have recently been 
informed that no one close to Bishop Alvarez Lagos knows where 
he is. His family has not seen him since he refused to board 
the plane to the U.S. They have not been allowed to visit him, 
bring him his medicine, food, or even water. I am deeply 
concerned for his safety, and I am asking that the Ortega 
regime make a proof of life, and that you here in Congress 
demand that the Ortega regime present a proof of life.
    Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Jagger follows:]

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    Mr. Smith. Thank you so very, very much.
    I would like to now go to Mr. Maradiaga.

  STATEMENT OF FELIX MARADIAGA, J.D., PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, 
             FUNDACIN PARA LA LIBERTAD DE NICARAGUA

    Mr. Maradiaga. Good afternoon. Let me begin by thanking Co-
Chair Christopher Smith and Co-Chair Maria Salazar, also 
distinguished Members of Congress present here. Thank you for 
opening this House on several occasions to my wife, Berta 
Valle, and also to Victoria Cardenas, the wife of my dear 
friend, Juan Sebastian Chamorro. I would also like to 
acknowledge the presence of Berta; our daughter, Alejandra, 
over there; and my dear brothers, also political prisoners who 
were on the plane. There, they can raise their hands
    [speaking in Spanish]. Thank you for being here. I am 
really emotional.
    My written statement, which I will be summarizing, has been 
submitted for the record, if that is OK with you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Smith. Without objection, it is part of the record.
    Mr. Maradiaga. Thank you.
    As I Stated in my testimony during a congressional hearing, 
back in 2019, Ortega constituted a clear danger not only to the 
people of Nicaragua but also to the hemisphere. Ortega is a 
relic of the cold war, and he embodies a legacy of oppression 
against human dignity. After 611 days under extreme and 
inhumane prison conditions, I can only reconfirm those words.
    On the day of my arrest, June 8, 2021, I was beaten by the 
police outside of the prosecutor's office. Once inside the 
notorious prison El Chipote, we were kept in complete isolation 
from the outside world. At some point I was even placed in a 
punishment cell simply for my decision to fast and pray in 
audible voice. No reading or writing materials were allowed, 
not even a Bible, which I insisted is fundamental to my 
Catholic faith.
    Almost 4 years have passed since my previous testimony here 
and also my testimony at the United NationsSecurity Council, 
and despite all the efforts by the international community, the 
Ortega regime has only grown more ruthless. His ties with 
China, Iran, and Russia are stronger, and he has not been shy 
about expressing his hatred of the United States.
    It is time to move on to a new stage of greater pressure 
where all the tools of diplomacy are used with all their might, 
including the closure of direct financing channels to the 
dictatorship.
    The new phase of the Ortega repression has focused on 
persecution of the Catholic church. It must be said with total 
clarity, today in Nicaragua there is a religious persecution.
    On February 9, 41 days ago, the regime expelled 222 
political prisoners who flew to the United States under 
deportation. The former political prisoners who boarded that 
plane are Nicaraguan patriots who never thought of living 
outside our beloved country. These former political prisoners 
are facing great vulnerability and, therefore, I respectfully 
ask you to consider granting an accelerated path toward 
political asylum. In addition, we ask the administration to 
sign a new TPS assignment that benefits thousands of our 
brothers who are forcing to exile during our kidnapping.
    Bishop Rolando Alvarez, the bishop of my own diocese, I 
come also from Matagalpa, refused to board that plane. He 
refused to be forced into exile, and he refused to be released 
because other 37 political prisoners were remained locked up. 
Such a courageous act of peaceful resistance cannot be ignored 
by the world.
    I am here before you to ask you for your greatest effort to 
put pressure on the Ortega regime through all available 
diplomatic measures for the immediate and unconditional release 
of Monsignor Alvarez and all political prisoners in Nicaragua.
    Bishop Alvarez is in prison simply because, from the 
pulpit, he has expressed the following beliefs, and these are 
direct quotes from his homilies: A Christian cannot have false 
neutralities. He who remains silent in the face of human rights 
violation has already decided.
    Another of his phrases from one of the churches surrounded 
by paramilitaries was the following, and I quote: Why are they 
armed? Why do they stir the hearts of a simple and hardworking 
people? Why are they besieging the church as if it were a 
military barrack? No one here is conspiring against anyone.
    All these are his exact quotes.
    Other repressive acts against the Catholic church in 
Nicaragua has been the expulsion of the Vatican nuncio, 
detention of over 12 members of the church, including 7 
priests. Other 18 religious were expelled from the country and 
dozens of religious media have been shut down.
    In addition, in several locations the Sandinista police has 
forbidden parishioners from receiving the Eucharist inside the 
temple, and does not allow religious celebrations in the open, 
such as the recent prohibition of the Via Crucis.
    For us Catholics, the Way of the Cross is a sacred devotion 
that commemorates Jesus Christ's last day on Earth as a man. 
For Christians around the world of all denominations, the 
crucifixion of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of nonviolence and 
sacrifice. We are reminded of his words: Blessed are the 
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
    Perhaps for that reason, it is no coincidence that the 
peaceful protests of April 2018 found in the Christian faith, 
in our faith, a profound inspiration of nonviolent resistance.
    Monsignor Alvarez is in prison because he was the only 
voice left free to preach an inalienable truth, that all men 
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness.
    These principles so beautifully expressed in the United 
States Declaration of Independence have inspired entire 
nations. They inspired me throughout my life as a former 
political refugee here. But these principles are also 
undermined by dictatorships around the world, not only by 
Ortega. These are principles that transcend religions, 
transcend races, borders, and nationalities. Your democratic 
solidarity here in Congress will be instrumental in helping us 
defend these principles and achieve the freedom we deserve.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Maradiaga follows:]

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    Mr. Smith. Dr. Chamorro.

 STATEMENT OF DR. JUAN SEBASTIAN CHAMORRO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 
            CIVIC ALLIANCE FOR JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY

    Dr. Chamorro. Thank you very much.
    Thank you, Chairwoman Salazar. Chair Smith, if I may 
summarize the statement.
    My name is Juan Sebastian Chamorro, and I was kidnapped by 
the police from my house the night of June 8, 2021. I was 
captured in front of my wife and my daughter, who left the 
country afterwards. My family did not know anything about me 
until I was able to see my sister August 30. That is almost 3 
months after my arrest.
    As political prisoner, I suffered arbitrary detention, 
arbitrary jail, inhumane treatment, threats, and constant 
interrogations. I was condemned to 13 years in prison in a fake 
trial. I was banished from my country and stripped from my 
nationality.
    My story is a story of hundreds of Nicaraguans who decided 
to defend freedom, justice, and democracy. One year and 8 
months, 611 days behind bars, kept in captivity, suffering 
injustice, but all those days only reinforced my determination 
to fight for freedom and to fight for democracy.
    The lack of freedom and the lack of democracy in Nicaragua 
is the result of an absolute destruction of the State of law in 
Nicaragua, which started after the rise of power of Daniel 
Ortega in 2007. Today, as a result of this authoritarian 
project, in Nicaragua there is no law, there is no media, and 
there are no civil rights.
    The repression against the Catholic church in Nicaragua is 
unprecedented in the history of Latin America. Nicaragua is one 
of only 14 countries without diplomatic relations with the Holy 
See and the only one in the region.
    During the popular and peaceful protests of April 2018, 
church leaders stood firm in front of the abuses, the death, 
and violence that erupted from the government.
    From the beginning, Bishop Alvarez was a critic of the 
regime, and soon began to be the focus of police harassment, 
which led to his house arrest August 19, 2022. Alvarez was not 
the only one captured. Five other priests, five seminarists, 
and support personnel from Alvarez's diocese were taken. We 
shared jail with them. We saw their suffering, but also we saw 
their strength, given by the faith and the strong ideas on 
principles of their leader, our Pastor Alvarez.
    So the question here is why Ortega's war against the 
church. The answer is very simple. After putting all the 
opposition in jail, repressing all forms of protests, the 
dictator had to deal with the last standing voice defending 
freedom, defending peace, and defending human dignity. Ortega 
had to silence the voice of the church in order to impose his 
own voice of hate and violence.
    Members of the joint committee, Ortega's violence goes 
beyond members of the church. By prohibiting processions during 
Holy Week, he is repressing millions of Nicaraguans who march 
every year, every Good Friday with devotion to express their 
faith.
    Ortega has closed hundreds of church-affiliated charities, 
leaving them without support, thousands of people who depend on 
those NGO's for their education, their health, and their well-
being. This is unfair and this is inhumane. Innocent victims 
should not pay the price of the stubbornness of a single family 
to remain in power.
    I asked one of the priests in jail what the police claimed 
to be was his crime. He said the police captured him because of 
something that he said in his sermon. When a priest is put in 
jail because of this, how lower can a dictatorship can go?
    Unfortunately, members of this committee, I have to say 
that Ortega's dictatorship can go even deeper. He knows no 
limits.
    Many of us paid with our own freedom the act of resistance 
against tyranny and repression. We need the international 
community to help us Nicaraguans in our fight for democracy and 
freedom. It is crucial to maintain pressure against those 
responsible for crimes, deaths, and abuses. I believe that 
justice will prevail but only if we maintain as a unified force 
to combat oppression.
    Finally, Mr. Chairman Smith, Chairwoman Salazar, members of 
the committee, I would like to thank Congress, the 
administration, and the American people for the support we have 
received since our departure from Nicaragua and arrival to the 
United States on that plane in February. I am also thankful for 
the efforts to reunite our families and to expedite our legal 
situation.
    Thank you, especially to you, Ms. Salazar.
    I just would like to finish with this sentence: That from 
this city and from this Hill shines the light of freedom that 
illuminates millions of people in the world who suffer from the 
chains of injustice.
    Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Chamorro follows:]

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    Ms. Salazar. We know it.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you, Dr. Chamorro. Let's hope we live up 
to that hope and expectation you have of us as well.
    Ms. Ullmer.

   STATEMENT OF DEBORAH ULLMER, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR LATIN 
    AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN PROGRAMS, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC 
                           INSTITUTE

    Ms. Ullmer. Thank you, Chairman Smith, Chairwoman Salazar, 
Ranking Member Castro, and Representative Wild. Thank you for 
this opportunity to address the members of the joint 
subcommittees on this important and timely hearing on the 
repression in Nicaragua.
    My name is Deborah Ullmer, and I am the Latin American 
regional director for the National Democratic Institute, and I 
have worked and lived in Nicaragua.
    NDI's global experience of working in over 70 countries 
with more than 55 offices over the past 40 years shows us that 
when people have the choice, they choose democracy. However, 
they do not always have that choice. Unfortunately, that is the 
case in Nicaragua today. Instead, the choices offered by the 
dictatorial couple of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario 
Murillo, are silence, prison, or forced exile.
    I am honored to sit here alongside my friends, Berta, 
Felix, and Juan Sebastian, and to be joining the fierce human 
rights advocate Bianca Jagger.
    The situation in Nicaragua is deeply personal to me. My 
husband's name appears as the first name on the list of the 94 
who were stripped of their citizenship on February 15.
    As the honorable Members of Congress surely understand, 
Nicaragua under the Ortega-Murillo regime represents not just a 
moral and human rights challenge, but also a threat to the 
security of the United States. As Nicaragua becomes more 
autocratic, it is deepening its ties to China and Russia, 
granting them influence less than 2,000 miles from our border.
    Additionally, Latin American autocrats are learning from 
one another. As Venezuela moves to pass a restrictive NGO law 
modeled after Nicaragua, Belarus, and Russia, they publicly 
praised Ortega-Murillo regime for their censorship practices.
    In addition, there are disturbing signs of closing civic 
and political space in northern Central America, where 
democracy supporters, as well as those working to undermine 
democracy, are closely watching the United States and how the 
international community responds to the repression and the 
orchestrated democratic demise of their neighboring country. In 
this regard, Nicaragua threatens to destabilize Central 
America.
    As the ongoing abuses against the Catholic church and the 
broader society demonstrate, there is no time to waste in 
developing an effective strategy for stymying the 
dictatorship's negative influence in the region.
    I would like to propose a few areas of bipartisan 
engagement, if I may.
    First, the upcoming second Summit for Democracy on March 29 
and 30 provides an opportunity for democratic governments in 
Latin America to stand together. In particular, the U.S. can 
work with Costa Rica and other democracies in the region to 
expand the alliance for development in democracy and advance 
high-level regional dialog.
    Second, the U.S. must continue to use its voice, vote, and 
diplomacy within the Organization of American States to hold 
Nicaragua accountable for violations of the democratic charter.
    Third, the international community should call for the 
renewal of the mandate of the U.N. Group of Experts on 
Nicaragua to enable continuous monitoring and documenting of 
State abuses and provide recommendations for accountability and 
justice for the victims of repression. In particular, I want to 
call to attention the continuous attacks and systematic 
violence against the indigenous communities in the northern 
Caribbean coast. And we must not forget the 37 remaining 
political prisoners, including Bishop Alvarez.
    Fourth, the U.S. Government has diplomatic and economic 
tools to ensure that the international funding and trade are 
not propping up Ortega-Murillo's regime, including the 
bipartisan RENACER Act. In this regard, the U.S. should 
continue to focus sanctions on gold mining, energy, lumber 
production, sectors that threaten the economic interests of the 
Nicaraguan regime and the military.
    Fifth, NDI commends the bipartisan efforts by the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee to urge the Presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, and Honduras to increase scrutiny of lending of the 
Central American Development Bank of Economic Integration to 
the Ortega-Murillo regime.
    The U.S. should also use its diplomatic tools to dissuade 
the CABEI board and democratic partners from other regions from 
continuing lending to Nicaragua until actions are taken by the 
regime toward a path to restore democracy in concert with 
Nicaraguan civic and political activists.
    Finally, Ambassador Kevin Sullivan and the U.S. Department 
of State are to be commended for their considerable efforts to 
ensure the safe transfer of the 222 former political prisoners 
to the United States and for their partnership that they have 
developed with the Nicaraguan diaspora in the U.S. to meet 
legal, housing, and mental health needs of the former 
prisoners, many of who come from modest, rural economic 
backgrounds. However, more than half of this group is living in 
vulnerable housing situations today.
    In this regard, I applaud you, Chairwoman Salazar, for your 
efforts to expedite the political asylum process. In the 
meantime, though, I urge Congress to grant Federal resources so 
that these heroes can access mainstream benefits and reduce 
their day-to-day struggles and can concentrate on reuniting 
with their families.
    We also urge the administration to assign new TPS status 
for the Nicaraguans fleeing the repression.
    Thank you again for this opportunity. I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Ullmer follows:]

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    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Ms. Ullmer.
    Let me just start off by saying how grateful all of us are, 
and I say that in a bipartisan way, for the tremendous work all 
of you have done. I mean, you are heroes. And to put up with so 
much abuse is just--and to be resilient the way you are is 
inspiring to all of us. You are true, true leaders. And 
someday, there will be a free and Democratic Nicaragua, and you 
will be their walking point. So it is so encouraging to hear 
you.
    And, you know, you mentioned a moment ago about the new 
phase of repression against the church and against political 
prisoners--well, and against the church. We need a new phase in 
Washington of activism. Yes, we have three fine laws, all very 
fine laws, and Ms. Salazar played a key role in the latest one.
    But there needs to be, I think, a relooking at everything, 
especially as we notice that Ortega has recently had the 
Iranian Foreign Minister there in Managua on February 1st. He 
has now opened up an outpost in Crimea, forging more of a 
relationship with Russia. And, of course, he no longer supports 
Taiwan and has reneged on that Democratic country. And it is a 
country, even though the PRC does not like to even think of it 
that way. So he is realigning himself.
    And I think, Ms. Ullmer, your last statement about the 
CABEI bank, you know, some of the numbers we have seen is that 
the Ortega regime, in the last few years, has got 3.49 billion, 
and there is still 1.97 billion available for usage. That needs 
to be cutoff immediately. I mean, these kinds of actions call 
for very, very strong response. If not, the dictatorship of 
Ortega, his dictatorship, will just wait it out, wait until the 
coast clears and people aren't as outraged as they should be. 
We need to sustain that outrage, but take much more meaningful 
action.
    So any thoughts you have in regards to additional laws? Do 
we need to revisit CAFTA? And, you know, that would be very 
difficult. There are some difficulties in doing that. But we 
need to look at every way forward to put the pressure on Daniel 
Ortega.
    There needs to be visits. You know, the international 
community, including us, need to say--minimally, the ICRC needs 
to get in and see Bishop Alvarez and the other 37 political 
prisoners as they should have gotten in to see you. We need to 
try to get down there. I would love--and I would ask Ortega 
right now. I will come down. And I would not be alone.
    Ms. Salazar. I want to go, too.
    Mr. Smith. I know you would. And to visit the prisons. And 
I have actually been in prisons. I have got into Perm Camp 35, 
where they found Sharansky was in the 1980's. You know, Gusmao 
in Indonesia, I got into his gulag and met with him while he 
was in captivity. And then Frank Wolf and I went and we visited 
with a number of Tiananmen Square activists in Beijing Prison 
Number One right after Tiananmen Square.
    So Ortega could open up the door, and we are asking him 
right now to let us come and visit and ascertain the well-being 
or lack there of Bishop Alvarez and the others.
    And let me just finally say, and then anything you would 
like to say. You know, I have been in Congress 43 years. I have 
seen a series of dictatorships rise and fall, particularly in 
the East bloc countries. One of the countries that I focused on 
so robustly was on Romania and Nicolae Ceausescu. And I 
remember, for 10 years, we kept pushing because he went after 
the church and churches and the Jewish synagogues with such a 
hatred of God. And it is what Solzhenitsyn said it was. It is 
not atheism. It is a hatred of God and his creatures, us, the 
human beings.
    So I think we need to really ratchet up the pressure. I am 
glad the Pope has spoken out. We were asking him to speak out 
on your behalf, and now he has truly found his voice, and that 
needs to be sustained. And you did mention how the charities--
how are the poor and those struggling making it without the 
faith-based entities that just so compassionately provide all 
that charitable work in Nicaragua? You might want to answer 
that as well. But any comments, please.
    Mr. Maradiaga. Thank you for your words. I would like to 
offer some ideas. I know that my colleagues here have some 
additional insight. But I would like to start focusing on one 
particular issue after the time that Juan Sebastian, Medardo 
Mairena, another of the very important leaders of the 
opposition in Nicaragua who was among the 222, also two former 
political prisoners and human rights defenders, Yaritza and 
Solange, who suffered in prison and highlighted a particular 
situation of women in the prisons of Nicaragua. So we composed 
a delegation and spent time with missions at the U.N. Security 
Council and many other diplomatic missions in Europe.
    So to that particular point, I think that transatlantic 
cooperation is very, very important. I cannot stop highlighting 
the importance of multilateral action. And why? Well, because 
Ortega, for years, has been using--of course, as an excuse--the 
difficult history of Nicaragua and the United States. But now 
we see that even former allies of Ortega are speaking loudly. 
So we have a very important window of opportunity to work, 
first of all, with Latin American countries. I welcome the 
actions of countries Colombia, Brazil, Argentina. The voice of 
Chile is very important.
    This was a point that I highlighted about 3 years ago, and 
we found it very difficult to mobilize partners in South 
America. And we have that window of opportunity. And we are 
seeing the same thing with Europe.
    So trying to build these new diplomatic tools together with 
European and South American countries is very, very important 
because, for years, Ortega has been playing that game of trying 
to excuse himself because of the so-called persecution of the 
United States in the context of a cold war that he is trying to 
revive. So that is one point.
    The second point is that, by expelling us from the country, 
Ortega is trying to replicate what many dictators have done 
over the years, which is basically shut down the opposition by 
sending us outside. It is really, really hard to operate from 
abroad. It is really, really hard to keep a voice when you are 
stripped of your nationality. When you are in a country that--
as much as we admire and like the U.S., our plans have been 
always to live, work, and serve our people back in Nicaragua. 
So anything you can do through acts of Congress.
    And I know that the two cochairs have been very important 
in their leadership in that particular action. Anything you can 
do in giving a platform for this group of former political 
prisoners in terms of a fast track toward political asylum, in 
terms of getting travel documents so we can travel around the 
world and tell this story. I cannot stop telling how hard it is 
to travel under these circumstances. So by not traveling, 
Ortega is trying to shut down our voices.
    And I understand the bureaucracy is complicated, but those 
are just immediate ideas. I am sure that my colleagues here are 
going to have additional insights. Thank you.
    Mr. Chamarro. I would just like to add to my colleague's 
comment about the humanitarian crisis that, unfortunately, this 
wonderful trip brought us to the U.S. but also separated 
families. Husbands, wives, children, elderly are in Nicaragua 
now, and they are being used by the dictator as hostages. So 
this is an extremely serious concern that we have for our--all 
the people that came in the plane, that some actions are needed 
to put their families together. And I appreciate the efforts of 
Representative Salazar, in particular, to write the 
administration to expedite these processes because we have 
women who have their children back home, and they need to be 
united--reunited. So I just want to stress this humanitarian 
crisis that we are also facing. Yes. Thank you.
    Ms. Ullmer. Thank you. Chairman Smith, you mentioned DR-
CAFTA. We do not actually need a new law. In RENACER, there is 
a specification there, as Representative Salazar knows, to 
review DR-CAFTA. I do think it should be reviewed. They are 
violating the Democratic clause of the trade.
    Second, we have called in the past for a special envoy to 
coordinate the different Federal institutions and the actions, 
coordinate sanctions, coordinate diplomacy, and coordinate 
Democratic assistance so that everything is in lockstep.
    And finally, I just want to mention on this last point that 
Juan Sebastian just mentioned in reuniting the families. We 
have found how difficult it is because Ortega also stripped 
passports from family members when some of the family members 
were trying to flee. So they do not have travel documents, and 
therefore they cannot even apply to our humanitarian parole.
    So I would urge everything that the U.S. embassy in Managua 
and others can do to help pressure to obtain those travel 
documents, particularly for the children, which we are 
finding--and to the community of democracies in the region to 
help provide a safe passage so that they can be reunited with 
their family members. Thank you.
    Mr. Smith. I yield to Chairwoman Salazar.
    Ms. Salazar. Thank you. Well, you know, I am not 
Nicaraguan, but I feel myself very close to you as a 
journalist.
    You have been here for what, 42 years? 43 years? 43. Jesus.
    Mr. Smith. 43. Who is counting?
    Ms. Salazar. While you were in Congress serving the 
country, I was a journalist. And I was in Nicaragua for many 
years, so I know the story very well. And I cannot explain to 
you how delightful it feels for me to be able to be in front of 
you. Really, as I said in the beginning, I never really 
thought--I had my doubts, and I am sure that you did too--that 
you were going to be able to get out of that dungeon. So now I 
am going to ask you a few questions because I do want to hear 
what happened.
    But my first question is to all of you. To both of you. It 
is that, Somoza, in his 45 years of dictatorship, never dared 
to touch the Catholic church. That was sacred. And Somoza was 
not a very good guy. So my question is, what does Ortega know 
or is willing to risk by doing what he is doing against such a 
powerful institution? You guys are the two most Catholic 
marianos countries in the hemisphere. So he knows that by 
touching the Catholic church, he is touching a very deep nerve. 
Why does he dare to do that? Either one of you.
    Mr. Chamarro. As I said in my testimony, the message of the 
leaders of the Catholic church were very powerful. Especially 
during April 2018, they defended with a strong voice. And 
Ortega does not appreciate that. He does not like criticism. Of 
course, this is something that started to build in 2018. He did 
not touch the priest in 2018. But then he sent into exile 
Monsignor Baez. That was the first sign that he was attacking 
the hierarchy of the Catholic church. So he started elevating 
the heat, so to speak, until he had no other choice than to put 
into house arrest the monsignor. But it is with the expectation 
that he will take the plane.
    And then the reason why the--Ortega in this press 
conference starts to--as Bianca was saying, he was very violent 
against the Bishop. So I think it is a sense of hate. He does 
not want to be criticized. I think that is a big mistake that 
he also did in the 1980's. He attacked the Cardinal Rual (ph) 
who later, you know, passed lines. So that was one of the 
mistakes. The other one was to get in trouble with the U.S. as 
well. So now he is repeating the two things.
    Ms. Salazar. Good. So he can wind up like he did in 1989.
    Mr. Chamarro. So I would expect that these mistakes are 
going to help to accelerate the demise of the regime.
    Mr. Maradiaga. I would like to add some perspective. I 
fully agree with everything Juan Sebastian has said. But in 
addition to that, it is very important to understand Ortega 
from his own perspective. It is very hard because none of us 
will ever think the way he thinks. But this guy is a tyrant. 
This guy is really willing to bet anything to push his plan, 
and his plan is nothing else but a dynastic dictatorship. And 
he knows that the Catholic church is the only institution in 
his way--standing in his way. That is one thing.
    Also, the second thing is that he--from his perspective, 
international community is weak. He perceives international 
organizations--and I say this based on the interviews that I 
have done to some people, some of them among the 222 that, at 
some point, were part of the regime and found the regime, as 
you clearly defined it, very satanic. And because of their 
Catholic faith, they decided to abandon the regime. So we have 
been talking to some of them.
    And Ortega believes that the international community is 
weak and postmodern, that he, in a way, can push this, and he 
is betting on establishing a regime in Latin America that I can 
only describe as something similar to North Korea.
    Ms. Salazar. The international community is the United 
States. Therefore, he is seeing the Biden administration as 
weak, which I have. And I am a very bipartisan member. I have 
asked the White House to pronounce itself and to say to Ortega 
and to Murillo, you cannot steal the country. And we have not 
heard it. I am glad that President Biden signed the RENACER 
law, but I think a stronger statement from the White House 
would have been helpful.
    So my question is, what stops Ortega from continuing to 
ransack the country?
    Mr. Chamarro. Well, first of all, the importance of putting 
more and more pressure on the international front. This report 
on experts mentioning, for the first time, crimenes de la 
humanidad, crimes against humanity--I think it is a step toward 
the final destination of all these cases in an international 
course.
    Ms. Salazar. What could really hurt him? Economic 
sanctions?
    Mr. Chamarro. I think the resources--the importance of keep 
sanctioning individuals that are responsible for the crimes, 
the judges, the police officers, the institutions that are 
controlled by the family, and that they are able to get 
resources to help their administration are fundamental.
    Ms. Salazar. So if we make a list of individuals from the 
police, the judges, people that are in charge of the repressive 
apparatus, and we create that list just like we did with 
Venezuela, will that hurt him?
    Mr. Chamarro. It is hurting already, I think. It is hurting 
because this is weakening the unity of the party because many 
of those officials fear after the individual sanctions what is 
going to happen to them and their families. So it is 
fundamental to find those cracks within the State apparatus, 
which I think--and this is something that probably Felix shares 
with me. We were in this jail, and we saw how weak the Ortega 
government was in the sense of support, even from his own----
    Ms. Salazar. Where did you see the weaknesses? Where did 
you see the weaknesses?
    Mr. Chamarro. I think the people from the government, many 
public officials, are really, really--they do not want to--they 
do not want this to continue. Many of them are Catholics. And 
that the force--the source of the force of the government of 
Ortega is having this through the arms of the army and the 
military. But there are thousands of people who are still 
working there for necessity. They are really fed up with what 
is going on. And that is a weakness that we perceive.
    Ms. Salazar. Either one of you, you were the only country 
in Latin America that was able to get rid of a communist 
dictatorship through free and fair elections, thanks to a guy 
by the name of Ronald Reagan and Julieta Chamarro (ph), right? 
What you guys used to call La Vida Maria.
    We know that the opposition has been decimated. The 
question is, what can we, the United States, do knowing that 
you guys armed yourself in something called the Contras, that 
you guys are very brave, and that maybe that will be the only 
way to get rid of another communist dictatorship, the 
Sandinista move?
    So my question is, do you see any possibilities of having 
Contra No. 2?
    Mr. Maradiaga. I hope not. And let me respond to your 
question by an extraordinary coincidence. 10 years ago, I met 
in Nicaragua this amazing young lady. She is now a special 
envoy on people with disabilities. Sara Minkara. I was on her 
board. And a week ago, when I went to Geneva, I saw Sara, and 
we are now talking about 2,000 Nicaraguans who have been 
injured and have disabilities. 10 years ago, we were having the 
same conversation with Nicas with disabilities because of the 
Contra war. So my faith, my idea--and all of us have shared 
that--is that we need to find every diplomatic measure to avoid 
a civil conflict because Nicaragua is very volatile.
    So back to your question, I think it is a clear and present 
danger. We Nicaraguans are not necessarily the most peaceful 
country in Latin America based on our history. 70 armed 
conflicts in 200 years. So it is very--it is highly likely if 
we do not find a Democratic and peaceful, nonviolent path.
    So what to do? Provide resources for these nonviolent 
voices. Find everything available in the diplomatic toolkit. I 
think that we need to push really hard on the pension funds of 
the Nicaraguan Army. It is something that has not been 
mentioned. I think that is another thing. And, of course, the 
RENACER Act provides all those tools. Thank you.
    Ms. Salazar. Thank you.
    Thank you, Chair.
    Ms. Jagger. Excuse me, may I, Congressman?
    Mr. Smith. Oh, yes. Bianca, go ahead.
    Ms. Jagger. Congressman Chris Smith.
    I would like to come back to Monsignor Alvarez to say, 
again, how deeply concerned I am for the safety and security, 
and to say the penitentiary and judicial authorities of the 
Ortega and Murillo regime are in breach of the United Nations 
standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners, also 
known as the Nelson Mandela rules, and are failing to comply 
with their obligation to report the Bishop's fate and 
whereabouts and to allow him to communicate with his family.
    In addition, one more time, I would like to say that I am 
demanding that the Ortega-Murillo regime satisfy the proof of 
life of Bishop Alvarez Lagos. And I also am urging Daniel 
Ortega to allow me to come to Nicaragua to visit the Bishop. He 
is an innocent man, and his only crime is preaching the gospel 
of Jesus Christ.
    I am appealing to him because, in 1979--and I think that I 
have said that before to you, Congressman Smith--is that Somoza 
allowed me to visit the jail, the same jail, where Bishop 
Alvarez is today. And that it will be a good thing, as he says 
that he is a Christian and that the person that he admires the 
most is Jesus Christ. This Easter time would be the right time 
for him to allow the Red Cross, myself, or anyone--any member 
of his family to visit him.
    But with regards to the question that has been asked about 
what else can be done, I think that Members of Congress should 
encourage the executive to implement the RENACER Act. Only 22 
sanctions have been issued, despite the fact that we know 
sanctions work because they reduced the regime's circle of 
power.
    Review the Dominican Republican Central America Free Trade 
Agreement. I am always surprised that I will be advocating 
this. That in full, given the lack of compliance to the labor 
and environmental agreements among other parts of the treaty, 
the suspension of the Nicaraguan regime should be considered. 
These steps and procedures as stipulated by the agreement 
should be followed, in particular, number 16 and 17.
    And the other important thing that I think that some of the 
other witnesses have mentioned is they require that further 
compliance to strict controls of the disbursement of 
international financial institutions. In particular, the IMF, 
who is the entity that sets the bar about which country should 
continue to receive funding. The IMF is not fully adopting its 
own governance rules as well as its framework of State capture.
    And U.S. Congress should concede that there are U.S. 
citizens affected by the removal of citizenship and private 
property, which is a violation of the Foreign Relations 
Appropriations Bill.
    I will say that, in particular, the USG needs to rapidly 
respond to the locking of bank accounts by Nicaraguan banks at 
the instructions of the Unidad de Analisis Financiero of the 
Nicaraguan government. And I think that it is important that 
the U.S., the European Union, Canada, Latin America, and other 
nations should coordinate efforts. The only dialog with the 
regime should be to agree on a short-term road to reach 
democracy.
    Ortega and Murillo only respond to pressure. And let's not 
forget that GBS is critical for the 60,000 to 70,000 
Nicaraguans who are today illegally in the United States. Thank 
you very much.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Wild.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. And thank you 
all for being here.
    I know I said it in my opening remarks. I think that it is 
notable that you are here for the inaugural joint hearing of 
the Subcommittee on Global Health and Human Rights, of which I 
enjoy the pleasure of being the ranking member, as well as the 
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Obviously, this is a 
very important topic for us, the fact that this is our first 
hearing.
    Dr. Chamarro, I also want to thank you for your profound 
words about what we do here on Capitol Hill and its impact on 
repressed or oppressed people around the world. We try. Those 
of us on this committee or subcommittees strive for that. And I 
think it is really important that, at a time when the United 
States is very much involved in supporting another country that 
has been experiencing crimes against humanity, that we 
recognize that there are other countries in the world where 
this is happening and that we shed light on those that are 
lesser known.
    If I have time--just so you can be thinking about this, Mr. 
Maradiaga, because I want to go to Ms. Ullmer next. I did want 
to followup on your point about pushing on the pension funds of 
the Nicaraguan Army. But I do not know that I am going to have 
time for it. But I wanted to give you that as a heads up.
    Ms. Ullmer, you know, I want to talk for a moment--or ask 
you specifically about what is happening to civil society 
organizations in Nicaragua. We understand that at least 3,100 
such organizations have been shut down since 2018. And I know 
you know what civil society organizations are, but for the 
benefit of those who may be listening who may not fully 
understand what I mean by that term, these are voluntary 
citizen groups that are an important source of information in 
many countries for people to understand what is happening in 
their government, sometimes to challenge what is happening in 
their government, to monitor government policies, and hold 
government accountable. It ranges from professional 
associations and foundations, to independent research 
institutes, faith-based organizations, labor unions. These can 
all be considered civil society organizations.
    Here in the U.S., just so that our American listeners can 
relate to this, that would include the Rotary, The Conservation 
Fund, Human Rights Watch, the American Bar Association, and The 
Heritage Foundation. So civil society organizations play an 
important role here in the United States as well as in 
countries around the world.
    So with that as my preface, what I would like to ask you, 
Ms. Ullmer, is, can you describe the regime's crackdown on 
these kinds of organizations and what role it has been playing 
in the destruction of civic life in the broader authoritarian 
regime?
    Ms. Ullmer. Thank you, Ranking Chairwoman Wild. NDI was 
also stripped of its registration not too long ago.
    I worked in the country back in 2005, and we started seeing 
the Democratic closure since 2008. It did not happen--it 
happened rapidly since 2018, but I want to make that point. 
Because since 2008, civil society closures started to happen 
under Ortega-Murillo. It started with election observation 
rights. The election observers--national election observers who 
were fielding the largest election observation in 2008 from 
five municipal races were kicked out of the polls. These are 
citizens, right? It is all types of NGO's that have been 
closed.
    And there are two different types of repercussions. One is 
the humanitarian repercussion, which is extensive. Because of 
the Catholic charities, Caritas, and others who have also lost 
their registration, the NGO's that have been canceled are being 
cutoff from critical services. This includes water and 
sanitation programs, construction and maintenance of roads, 
medical care, psychosocial care, and elderly care. The NGO's 
focusing on promoting women's rights, indigenous rights, 
LGBTQI+ rights, providing space for individuals and groups to 
safely engage and work jointly on issues that matter to 
Nicaraguans.
    Under the regime, citizens and the few NGO's that remain 
will continue to need resources to prosper and resources that 
the government has taken away. But there has also been efforts 
for Democratic change, and these NGO's have also been closed.
    And so I call on Congress and others to please continue 
Democratic assistance. Many times, our own government and 
others shy away, right, when they think nothing can be done in 
the country. We have to continue to support Nicaraguans inside 
and those now that are on the outside to come to a consensus on 
what their Democratic future looks like.
    I would say that this support includes independent 
journalists, civic human rights, environmental, and youth 
activists among others, and the Democratic opposition to shine 
a light on the crimes against humanity that are being 
perpetrated by the regime, to monitor international financial 
investment bank loans, to disrupt information manipulation, and 
to generate a consensus toward a Democratic transition. Thank 
you.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you. I appreciate that.
    I want to give my colleagues an opportunity. So if we get a 
second round, I will come back with that question. But I also 
invite my colleagues, if they want to ask that question, go 
ahead. I won't be offended.
    And I yield back.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Ms. Wild.
    Ms. Kamlager-Dove.
    Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This does not seem 
to be working. Is it? OK. This is odd. OK.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I think we would all welcome an 
opportunity to dig deeper into this and go down. So I heard 
that come up earlier.
    I want to thank you all for being here today. And, of 
course, I want to recognize Mr. Maradiaga and Dr. Chamarro, in 
particular, for what you all have endured, for your resilience, 
for your truth, and for your bravery in sharing your stories.
    Ortega's systematic silencing of civil society and use of 
crimes against humanity to eradicate political opposition has 
been incredibly alarming and calls for a robust and targeted 
response. In any country, it is the activists, grassroots, 
NGO's, religious organizations, and civil society groups that 
speak truth to power and channel resistance to oppressive 
policies. And as we explore how Congress can continue to 
confront Ortega's authoritarianism, I believe any effective 
response to the regime's consolidation of power will have to 
involve supporting and securing space for civil society.
    You know, Ortega has arrested or exiled opposition 
candidates, regime critics, journalists, and human rights 
activists. To me, it sounds so much like Putin. And we have an 
obligation to stand up and say that.
    I would like to hear more about the repression that is 
taking place in Nicaragua. Widespread human rights violations, 
the shuttering of NGO's, and the expulsion of political 
prisoners is--unfortunately, it has been well-documented. But 
what is equally concerning to me and is less documented are the 
threats to the indigenous and Afro-Nicaraguan communities who 
already face disproportionate violence, persecution, and 
discrimination by their fellow citizens and the State which 
sanctions it.
    So, Ms. Ullmer, can you speak to how the Ortega regime's 
repression has impacted these vulnerable and historically 
marginalized communities, both those still in Nicaragua and 
those who have been forced to flee, and what recommendations do 
you have for Congress to better support human rights defenders 
in these communities?
    Ms. Ullmer. Thank you for your question. As you mentioned, 
Nicaragua's indigenous communities continue to suffer violent 
attacks over land disputes. Earlier this month, in fact, at 
least six members of a Nicaraguan indigenous group were killed 
and others wounded in an attack by apparent settlers. This is 
just the latest in a year's long string of assaults on 
indigenous communities on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, 
particularly the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in the northern 
Caribbean coast.
    The attacks have left at least 63 persons dead, 46 
disappeared, and numerous tortured, along with houses razed and 
families displaced since 2015 according to the United Nations 
Human Rights Office and the high commissioner.
    Nicaraguan human rights activists and environmental 
activists highlight that many settlers moving onto the land are 
former soldiers seeking to raise cattle as well as partake in 
illicit logging and mining interests. The U.S. can sanction 
those military and those former military members who are 
committing these crimes against humanity and stealing their 
land and causing a dire effect on the community's livelihood. 
Thank you.
    Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Thank you. And I just have one 
additional question. As we have seen the attack on Brazil's 
capital in January, we know that illiberal tactics can be 
replicated, and strong men learn from strong men.
    So, Mr. Maradiaga and Dr. Chamarro, do you believe that 
other countries sliding toward authoritarianism, like El 
Salvador and Guatemala, might try to implement repressive 
strategies seen in Nicaragua? And what warning signs should we 
be tracking here that, you know, will allow us to see if they 
are indicating that they are going down this route?
    Mr. Chamarro. That is a very important question because it 
leads to what is going on in other countries. And my 
recommendation is to be aware of the smallest sign of 
authoritarianism. Ortega did not become the dictator that he is 
right now overnight. He basically started with changing this 
law, appointing these other people, and suddenly--or throughout 
the first years of his administration, he started to amass all 
this power. And many people in Nicaragua were silent about this 
and indifferent.
    So my recommendation to avoid things like Nicaragua 
happening elsewhere is to be very aware of signs of attacking 
the institutionality, the State of law, the rule of law in 
neighboring countries, and the respect for human rights and 
respect for rights in general, and try to make as much noise, 
as much problem as possible to those early signs because these 
are a symptom of--this is unfortunately--for Latin American 
history, strong men have been always present. Somoza is a good 
example, although Ortega has gone beyond what Somoza did.
    But it is a pattern that you will see in dictatorships 
being formed and developing. And the importance of 
international community, the U.S., to raise flags when things 
are happening at an early stage because it might be possible to 
save the situation while those institutions are still 
independent. But when you lose the independence of the 
judiciary, for example--which is the case that Ortega did it 
underground back in the 1990's by getting some judges in local 
districts like that. This was the first sign, and we did not 
see it, unfortunately, until it was too late. And now the 
Supreme Court is basically, you know, a puppet of Ortega.
    So to be aware of all these signs that are always present, 
you know, and defend institutions. Defend the rule of law and 
defend independence of powers. I think it is fundamental to 
keep an eye on that. And the role of NGO's, dealing with them. 
In democracy, institutions are fundamental.
    Mr. Maradiaga. If I may add, yes. The answer is yes. I see 
some signs. And to add to the very insightful points of Juan 
Sebastian, one is election transparency. Deborah and I worked 
for many, many years in Nicaragua on that particular point. And 
I think that that is the very first sign of the path toward 
dictatorship.
    And we saw that when many, many international organizations 
left Nicaragua. The U.S. was the only lifeline to local 
transparency organizations. So my own institute created in 2003 
by Mr. Javier Melendez and all the people who joined that 
institute, it was the first think tank closed and shut down in 
Nicaragua in 2018 precisely because of our work in 
transparency. So that is one sign.
    Also, persecution of civil society in media. Also, the 
disregard of fundamental human rights. For example, the 
presumption of innocence under the excuse of law and order and 
self-determination. I think that those are signs that are 
becoming more and more common.
    Also, I am sad to say that, as many other people, I came to 
Washington many, many times here. My first meeting was actually 
in 2007. And it was sad to see, in these same halls, many 
lobbyists paid by Nicaraguan conglomerates fighting against the 
ideas that, at that time, we were pushing with some other human 
rights organizations. So I think that monitoring very careful 
who lobbies for those groups here in Washington because these 
groups tend to have allies, believe it or not, even in this 
country.
    So I think it is very important to--with all due respect, 
you are asking me for ideas. So I think that lobbying for 
criminals and lobbying for these authoritarian autocrats is 
inexcusable. Thank you.
    Ms. Kamlager-Dove. [Speaking foreign language.]
    And I will yield back my time.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
    I would like to yield to French Hill.
    Mr. Hill. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam Chair. 
Thank you for this combination hearing.
    And it is depressing to me that we, once again, are here in 
the Capitol hearing about the criminality and outrage created 
by the regime in Ortega in Nicaragua. But I am glad you are 
here. I am glad you stood up for your country. And I am glad 
you are sharing the story with the American citizens and with 
leaders in Congress. It is just a shame that it has continued 
like this.
    I sort of consider another--it is not a frozen conflict. 
You know, that is a European term. We have frozen conflicts in 
Syria. We have a frozen conflict in Venezuela. But this is not 
a frozen conflict. This is an active regime working against its 
own citizens in the western hemisphere actively against the 
interest of, not only the people of Nicaragua and the regions 
of Central America, but, of course, the United States. And I 
find that, as I said, depressing. But I am glad you are here.
    So the European Union and the United Kingdom have joined us 
in sanctioning the Ortega regime. And in my four terms in 
Congress, I have seen--we apply sanctions many times on many 
bad actors. But what concerns me is lack of enforcement. Not 
only by the United States, by the private sector in the United 
States, but also in Europe and in the United Kingdom in this 
particular example.
    And Chair Smith knows well, we see no better example other 
than the Caesar sanctions in Syria against the Assad regime, an 
area I know well. And in addition to that, we have got the 
Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act. But again, we are 
using voice and vote. And this is good. We need to use voice 
and vote. Mr. Davidson and I serve on the House Financial 
Services Committee. We are big on telling the IMF and the World 
Bank how to operate. But the point is, we do not control those 
operations. And so we need to try to fill these gaps that we 
see in this.
    And that is why I am very interested, Mr. Chairman--the 
leadership by Chair McCaul and Ranking Member Rish--in pressing 
the governments in Central America to restrict lending from the 
Central American Bank For Economic Integration. This is an 
entity that clearly is not living up to its charter. And while 
we do not have, again, a voice or vote or board membership 
there, we can use our influence to press the governments that 
do, including Taiwan, to take significant action.
    Also, in 2021, the IMF general allocation of special 
drawing rights awarded the Nicaragua regime, the Ortega regime, 
$330 million. And I fought against that mightily in that 
timeframe, and I have legislation that I hope we can implement, 
H.R. 605, the Special Drawing Rights Oversight Act, which 
changes how the IMF awards special drawing rights and that we 
do not give central bank assets to criminal regimes. Russia, 
China, Iran. And the Treasury's response is, well, they are 
sanctioned so they cannot use them. Well, that is not how the 
world works behind the scenes. So I hope we can do that.
    And then obviously, I commend the Pope for his actions. 
And, you know, once again, what has happened in Nicaraguahas 
demonstrated that Christians are the most persecuted religion 
on the planet, and that includes here in this country as well. 
So we all pray for the church and Nicaragua and Cardinal Zen in 
China.
    So how do we strengthen our sanctions? I would like to hear 
from each one of you. How does the United States working with 
Europeans--how can we make stronger sanctions be more effective 
at pressing this regime?
    Please.
    Mr. Maradiaga. Yes. I would like to respond to that 
combined with a question that Congresswoman Kamlager provided 
before with the persecution of minorities as an example of how 
these regimes work.
    One of the conditions for loans and grants in terms of 
climate change, for example, is that local communities actually 
request its funds. And prior to my arrest, I was able to 
document that many of these requests were created by fake local 
community leaders. How does it work? Well, in Nicaragua, based 
on the autonomy law, these communities are organized based on 
their ethnic group.
    So Ortega simply asks for someone that calls himself part 
of an Afro-Caribbean community or the Mosquito community. They 
simply displace and erase the locally elected members of these 
minorities to simply fill the checklist of these international 
funds. And these international organizations say, oh, we cannot 
sanction or cut these funds in terms of helping the environment 
because it is our request for the community.
    So simply by looking to those little details, simply by 
pushing and pushing more and not allowing these autocrats to 
hide themselves in technicalities, I think would be a great 
step forward. Thank you.
    Mr. Hill. Thank you. That is helpful. Does anyone else want 
to add to that? And then I will ask a final question.
    Mr. Chairman, thanks for your willingness to let me be 
slightly over.
    Can we remove Nicaragua from the Free Trade Agreement--
Central American Dominican Free Trade Agreement, and how do we 
do that?
    Ms. Ullmer, do you have a comment on that?
    Ms. Ullmer. Thank you. Yes. On the sanctions, we should be 
focusing more sanctions on lumber, gold mining, and energy 
production. That will threaten their economic interest. Not 
just of the regime, but also the military.
    Felix mentioned earlier, we haven't touched the military 
pensions. They have their funds invested in the United States. 
We need to focus on that. I think it is also going to send an 
important message to the neighboring countries where we are 
sanctioning as well.
    In terms of DR-CAFTA, yes, RENACER calls for the review of 
DR-CAFTA. I do think we should review it. Thank you.
    Mr. Hill. Thank you.
    And thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam Chair. I yield back.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Hill.
    I would like to now yield to Mr. Davidson.
    Mr. Davidson. Thank you, Chairman, Chairwoman. Thank you 
for hosting this hearing. And thank you all for traveling here, 
and frankly for your fight to really make your country and our 
relationship with Nicaragua stronger, and really just to 
solidify the kind of values that really--so many people in 
Nicaragua hold, but sometimes seems at odds with the values 
that their government holds. So that is not uncommon around the 
world. The people are pretty good. Sometimes the government, 
not so much. And so thanks for fighting against that in 
Nicaragua.
    Kind of picking up where Mr. Hill left off, the Central 
American Bank For Economic Integration is a principal provider 
for Nicaragua's economic development, especially in 
infrastructure projects. And in the last few years, CABEI has 
lent Ortega $3.5 billion. So--out of a GDP, at least nominally, 
of about 14 billion. So a pretty substantial portion of cash 
inflow into the Ortega regime.
    Mr. Maradiaga, do you think the Ortega regime would be able 
to carry out its widescale crackdown on dissonance without this 
cash?
    Mr. Maradiaga. It would make it certainly more difficult to 
him. You know, these tyrants will always find all the tools of 
repression. But certainly, these resources are definitely 
helping him to continue the repression.
    Mr. Davidson. Thank you for that. So it is obviously hard, 
as multiple folks today have pointed out, for us since we do 
not have a board seat directly on these dollars. And, of 
course, we have lots of other things. Mr. Hill highlighted 
sanctions and other tools. They do not seem to quite be getting 
at it.
    I really, Ms. Ullmer, liked your comment about the pensions 
and other things that we might ought to take a look at. But 
within CABEI itself, how do we influence our allies, you know, 
to send a message--not just with human rights, not just with--
but particularly, you look at, you know, Bishop Alvarez sitting 
in jail. In the midst of this, people are putting money there. 
And at some level, isn't it kind of additionally risky to put 
such a concentration--a disproportionate amount of CABEI's 
assets to be deployed in Nicaragua? How do we influence that as 
the United States?
    Mr. Chamarro. I think CABEI's Central American bank--so 
they have a rule of distributing all the available funds among 
the original founder members of the bank.
    So I think one fundamental issue is to ask CABEI to follow 
what many organizations throughout the world do, and that is to 
follow guidelines, environmental guidelines, human rights 
guidelines, for example, that are not present in this 
particular bank. So I think by pressing, politically speaking 
in international forums for CABEI to follow those guidelines, 
will be important.
    The other thing is that the money that CABEI lends comes 
from elsewhere. Some other sources. So to put pressure on those 
who finance CABEI to restrict their funding following those 
guidelines.
    And finally, I think a fundamental issue here is to ask 
CABEI to obey procurement rules, international procurement 
rules, because we have found that this is a source of 
corruption for contracts. So we want those rules to be 
constructed, of course, because it will help communities, but 
we do not want to--we want those companies who construct to do 
it following procurement guidelines, international guidelines, 
and do it in a competitive way.
    So we have found that many of the contractors there using 
CABEI's money are associated to the regime. So by following 
those rules--which I think are not that hard to ask because it 
is what most lending institutions in the world do--you know, I 
think we might find a way of maintaining those projects and 
making sure that the benefits go to the people and not to the 
regime.
    Mr. Davidson. Thank you for that. Very constructive, and it 
gives us a lot to work with there. But for me, just 
understanding--and maybe for my constituents back home--you 
know, you see a country like Nicaragua, an overwhelmingly 
Catholic country, what does Bishop--what does Ortega have to 
gain from jailing Bishop Alvarez and banning the way of the 
cross? What is his goal there?
    Mr. Maradiaga. Well, as we have sustained previously, it is 
the only institution that is basically stopping him from his 
plans. And Juan Sebastian had talked about this. And I think 
that Ortega has already done his mathematics on this. And he 
really wants to turn Nicaragua into the utmost authoritarian 
regime in the hemisphere.
    So he thinks--his calculation is that, even though the cost 
is very high, the international community will not act as 
thoroughly as we expect that it will happen. I used the term 
``weak and postmodern'' precisely because that is the term a 
high-ranking Sandinista person who defected used in my private 
interview. He said that that is basically how Ortega and his 
wife proceed in terms of community. They think that these type 
of events that we are having right now--precisely because it is 
based on the rules of transparency, they think that it is 
basically politics. And he will not really react in a robust, 
strong, diplomatic measure against----
    Mr. Davidson. Shame on us. As our committee chairman has 
said often, weakness invites aggression. And you see that being 
reinforced there with Ortega.
    You know, it also seems like his approach with the Catholic 
church has kind of been validated with the way the People's 
Republic of China--you know, the Chinese Communist Party is 
kind of getting their own rule with the Catholic church. Is 
that essentially what he is trying to do, is create sort of a 
variation from the Catholic faith? As long as the regime 
approves it, it is OK?
    Mr. Maradiaga. Yes. In a way, it works in that way. And we 
are seeing things that are replicas of what has happened.For 
example, in China with Tibet. I am sorry for the comparison.
    But when we see, for example, that the Sandinista party 
many, many years ago--this is not recent--has been, for 
example, trying to divide the Catholic church and sponsoring 
high-ranking members of the church at some point that were not 
as straightforward against him, and creating also parallel 
churches of all denominations sponsored by the regime.
    So we are seeing a very similar play in other parts of the 
world. The average Nicaraguan really does not necessarily know 
all these very confidential things that the regime has been 
trying to do with some faith-based organizations until 2018 
when, basically, the mask went down. So for years, Ortega had 
invested many, many resources and tried to sell himself as a 
Christian in solidarity with the government. Cristiano en 
solidaridad. That is what he used to say.
    So for the average Nicaraguan, the use of Christianity and 
solidarity as part of the government motto implied that this 
support of local churches was part of his policy. But it was 
actually him trying to buy in some Catholic organizations and 
Evangelical organizations until people like Monsignor Baez or 
like Monsignor Alvarez put a stop to this. And that is what he 
is fighting back.
    Mr. Davidson. Yes, thanks for that explanation. It really 
makes a difference. And thankfully, here in America, our First 
Amendment protects not just the freedom of religion but the 
free exercise of religion. And we hope that you can freely 
exercise your full faith in Nicaragua. And it is an honor to be 
able to be a part of that with this hearing.
    Chairman, thank you.
    And thank you for your testimony.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Davidson, for your very incisive 
questioning.
    I would like to yield to Ms. Wild. We are going to do a 
second round, if that is OK by you. If you do not have the 
time, we certainly understand it.
    And--OK. Ms. Wild.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I promise you I will 
be brief. Well, it is almost the dinner hour, and I am sure 
these people have a lot of--everybody has a lot to do. We are 
going to go off to votes after this, so we are just--so I told 
you I was going to come back to you, Mr. Maradiaga.
    Thank you, Ms. Ullmer, for referencing my question about 
how we push on the Army's pension funds. And you mentioned that 
their funds are invested in the United States. I am often 
amazed at the investments from bad actor countries that we see 
in institutions in the United States. Banking, investment 
funds, that kind of thing. And so much of it really seems to 
fly in the face of what we are often working against.
    But I wanted to give you the chance, sir, if you have 
anything to add to that about how do we push back on those 
pension funds.
    Mr. Maradiaga. Well, I think that Ms. Ullmer has clearly 
given concrete ideas, but I will add one more. Generals have 
been sanctioned, but not the Army as an institution. So that is 
something I would like to add.
    So we have seen sanctions from the U.S. and from 
international organizations and governments, not only to 
individuals or institutions. Why is that important? Well, the 
companies associated to the military pension fund were given 
plenty of time to prepare. So, for example, many of them sold 
their assets. They have a lot of cash.
    So by sanctioning the institutions, not only the 
individuals, many of these tools that they use to hide their 
money will be more complicated for them.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you, sir. I have to tell you, I authored 
and have introduced in every Congress that I have been in--the 
Philippines Human Rights Act was just reintroduced. The 
parallels are frankly quite amazing. The crackdown--and the 
PHRA that I just spoke of specifically addresses the fact that 
the U.S. provides considerable aid in the form of military and 
otherwise--it is a different situation. It is a different part 
of the world and all of that. But it does concern me very much.
    And so thank you for that information, both of you, and 
thank you for bringing that point up because nothing talks like 
money talks. Thank you.
    Mr. Smith. If I could, I would just say to Ms. Jagger, if 
you have any answers to any of the questions that have been 
posed, please. You are not here physically. We cannot see you. 
But please speak out because, again, we so deeply respect your 
opinion and your insights.
    I do want to also make a point that Jared Gensler has been 
very, very helpful in this whole process. And I cannot say 
enough--both of you gentlemen know that your wives went all 
over Capitol Hill. They testified and went to the press. They 
were so heroic and so persuasive. So I cannot thank them enough 
for what they did to make all of us aware and fully sensitized 
to the plight that you were enduring in prison. So that is just 
fantastic. Yes.
    Mr. Maradiaga. Yes, if I may add.
    First, thank you so much for speaking about the wonderful 
and very (inaudible) job that Vicky and Berta has done. Thank 
you so much. I cannot highlight how important that was. I would 
not be here if it were not for the people that listened to 
them.
    And, also, I do not know if Mr. Genser is here in the room, 
but I would like to appreciate his wonderful pro bono work, and 
also highlight the fact that he and his team with Perseus 
Strategies are preparing a very comprehensive report on 
political prisoners that I will invite members to read whenever 
the report is ready.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Smith. Without a doubt.
    Let me just ask one final question, then go to my 
colleagues. I know Ms. Salazar is coming back as well.
    Where is the United Nations in terms of raising its voice, 
not just with a report that shows up and collects dust 
somewhere, but where they really--like the U.N. Human Rights 
Council which, unfortunately, is often run by rogue nations--
and I have been to Geneva many times and been disappointed by 
their lack--I was actually there parallel when Armando 
Valladares was able to get an investigation into the Cuban 
prisons. It was not very successful in terms of its 
implementation, because people spoke to the U.N. investigators 
only to be retaliated against. But I was there with him for 
about a week in the eighties when he was looking to get that 
done, and it was just amazing how, when you get somebody like 
you gentlemen, all of you, doing your work, the U.N. could do 
far more, it would seem to me, if they would become more 
focused on this. Let me--so that would be the first question.
    The second would be, I was very much involved with the 
former Yugoslavian court which, obviously, put Slobodan 
Milosevic--he died, as you know, before he was actually 
convicted. He never thought for a moment, because I met with 
him during those wars in Serbia, in Belgrade, and he never 
thought anybody would ever touch him, ever. He was so bombastic 
and arrogant. And then there he was, almost like the Nazis at 
the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal, awaiting his fate before a 
tribunal.
    In like manner, we saw in Rwanda, and especially in Sierra 
Leone, an amazing court in Sierra Leone. And I have gotten to 
know David Crane very well, the chief prosecutor in Sierra 
Leone. And nobody ever thought Charles Taylor would get 50 
years for his crimes against humanity that he committed.
    And I am just thinking, you know--and I have had David at 
hearings in the past. One of them was to try to, last year, get 
a General Assembly vote because the U.N. Security Council would 
be vetoed by China and Russia, to take up Putin. Yes, the ICC 
just came out with a very narrow attack on him, which he 
certainly deserves, with regards to Ukrainian children, but it 
should have been far more than that. It should have been a long 
time ago.
    But a hybrid court convened by the General Assembly, it 
seems to me--and it was David Crane who thought of that at one 
of our hearings. What kind of mechanism might exist to finally 
at long last to hold Ortega to account in a court of law? The 
OAS may or may not have that capability. I do not think it 
would do it. The United Nations, maybe not, unless it was a 
General Assembly resolution in a hybrid court where it convened 
to really bring forth these crimes against the Nicaraguan 
people, you gentlemen, your families. It could be--and all the 
deaths that he is responsible for, he and his top leadership.
    It seems to me--I am thinking of asking David to come back 
for another hearing to look at Nicaragua to see what we could 
be doing vis--vis a mechanism like the ICC, although I am not 
sure they would take it up, but some entity.
    Your thoughts?
    Dr. Chamorro. Mr. Chairman, I am not an expert on the 
United Nations, but I do know one thing. Ortega has been very 
arrogant, just like Milosevic himself, in saying that the 
Organization of American States is an instrument of the foreign 
powers and things like that. So by leaving or taking cases to 
the United Nations, you take away that argument that he is 
trying to use, because he also mentions the sentence of the 
Hague back in the eighties. And now you have got this same 
organization, the United Nations, that kind of gave him a 
sentence that he mentions all the time, now sentencing him now.
    So that takes wind out of the sails of his argument that 
the United Nations is this universal system that is going to be 
neutral, because basically the--the importance of the United 
Nations, in other words, is the political implication that he 
is facing. It is no longer this organization that was helping 
him back in the eighties, according to his rhetoric.
    So I think the--and, by the way, the Organization of 
American States have done a tremendous job within the last 3 
years. The permanent counsel has been dealing with the case of 
Nicaragua so many times, so many condemnations, and now we are 
in the phase that we have exhausted this line of work and now 
we have to go to the universal system.
    So I think it is a natural way of proceeding and also will 
be a political blow against Ortega. Obviously, we have the veto 
situations, China, Russia is obviously going to be supporting 
Ortega as well.
    Mr. Smith. Again, there is no veto in the General Assembly.
    Dr. Chamorro. Well, that is a very good point. And the fact 
that Putin was put on this international court system might 
raise the eyebrows of Ortega for future actions against him, 
because you have more--you have the commutations by this 
organization, independent organization of the killing, the 
assassinations, the use of violence, especially in April to 
June, July, 2019, that demonstrates a policy of examination of 
protestors.
    So here we have a very strong case in terms of--in the 
evidence gathered during those months regarding the 
assassinations, we have a very strong case for crimes against 
humanity for sure.
    Mr. Maradiaga. I want to recognize that we are running out 
of time, but just to add on the very insightful points of Juan 
Sebastian. Nicaragua is still part of the Roman Statute, so 
that makes things very complicated. However, member States can 
pursue action.
    So I would like to highlight the fact that Ortega is 
creating a tremendous burden for the neighboring country of 
Costa Rica. I want to acknowledge the fact that Costa Rica has 
been amazing as a country in receiving so many of our brothers 
and sisters into Costa Rica. But that is something that can be 
tackled in international courts precisely because of the 
collateral damage that Ortega is creating to neighboring 
countries. And that provides, technically speaking, a path.
    No. 2, the fact that we have been decreed Stateless opens 
another door in the fact that by not having actually a 
nationality, those of us who are now based in countries such as 
the United States or Spain, Argentina can pursue legal action 
in countries that have universal human rights systems that Juan 
Sebastian has described.
    So going back to your question, anything Congress can do in 
providing a fast track to those of us who have no nationality 
at this point and to Nicaraguan refugees here in the United 
States, so in the near future that legal protection of our 
status in terms of the situation of being Stateless can have 
very big implications for future cases in international penal 
courts.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Smith. I understand.
    Oh, yes.
    Dr. Chamorro. No, no.
    Mr. Smith. Bianca, you wanted to add something?
    Ms. Jagger. Yes, please.
    Mr. Smith. Please.
    Ms. Jagger. Congressman, I would like to mention that the 
importance of the U.N. Group of Human Rights Experts on 
Nicaragua that compare the Nicaraguan regime strategies to the 
crimes committed by the Nazi in Germany in the 1930's and 
1940's.
    I think that it is of critical importance that the mandate 
be renewed and to understand how important, especially, we take 
into account that a warrant of arrest has been issued against 
Putin.
    I would like to bring attention to the geopolitical role of 
Nicaragua, the geopolitical role with respect to Russia, with 
respect to China, with respect to Iran. For example, we have 
soldiers, Russian soldiers, today in Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a 
recipient of Russian military aid for quite a few years. Let's 
not forget that Putin was in Nicaragua about 3 years ago and 
that about a month ago the foreign affairs minister from Iran 
was in Nicaragua. It is not happening by pure chance.
    It is important to look at some of the studies that have 
been done recently that compare what is happening in Nicaragua 
with regard to some of the policies where they are stripping 
the nationality of Nicaraguan citizens to what is happening in 
Belarus. Is that being a combination that the Russians are 
looking forward? Would that policy have been really conceived 
by the government or by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario 
Murillo, or is there a hand behind that that signals to Russia?
    But as well, it is important as well the role that China 
could play in Nicaragua. Recently, Honduras had broken 
relations with Taiwan, just like Nicaragua did a while back, 
and has signed and has established a relationship with China.
    So I think that it would be really important that we 
understand that, although Nicaragua is a very small country 
that does not have any oil, Nicaragua can cause a lot of damage 
and can be a threat to the region, not only in Central America 
or in the Americas as a whole, but as well as for the United 
States.
    And with regards to one of the members were asking what 
kind of sanctions could be imposed on Nicaragua, I would like 
to bring to your attention that Nicaragua is the third largest 
export of meat to the United States and that we are talking 
about the crimes committed against indigenous people. And why 
are those crimes being committed? They are being committed 
because they want to take possession of the land, and they want 
to use it for cattle ranching.
    Why is America allowing Nicaragua to be the third largest 
exporter of meat to America, meat that it is tainted with 
blood?
    Mr. Smith. I yield to my good friend and colleague, Ms. 
Kamlager-Dove.
    Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I am having such a great time listening. I love Mr. 
Maradiaga's acknowledgement of climate change. And I feel like 
I just heard Ms. Jagger say we should become vegetarians, so I 
love it.
    I also really appreciated the chair's acknowledgment of the 
women, the wives. And I represent Los Angeles. A third of my 
district is all kinds of beautiful brown: Nicaragua, Guatemala, 
Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico. And I learn so much 
from, you know, the women, las mujeres.
    So, Ms. Ullmer, I would love it if you could maybe speak to 
the disproportionate impact that this autocrat's policies have 
had on the safety of women in Nicaragua. And if there is any 
additional time, just any additional thoughts on how the United 
States could coordinate and work with other countries to have a 
Latin American-led solution to the crisis.
    I am certainly a fan of us supporting rather than trying to 
come in and save the day. That has some historical issues for 
me, but would love to hear.
    Thank you.
    Ms. Ullmer. Thank you for that question.
    The treatment of women in jail was different than the 
treatment of men. They were isolated. All of them were in 
isolation. Second, there is evidence of sexual violence as well 
as they were being hauled off to jail.
    The women are the bearers of the households. So by 
attacking the citizenship, by attacking and stripping them of 
their assets, and by declaring their heads of households or 
their spouses fugitives, they are unable to care for their 
families inside of the country.
    It is of no little consequence that the two women--three 
women, actually, who were first raided for the confiscation of 
their houses were all women, right. Sofia Montenegro, Azahalea 
Solis. These are women who have worked as feminists all their 
lives, worked with trade unionists, and Vilma Nunez, who is the 
premier human rights activist. They were all attacked, right. 
And they have had to--some have had to flee the country, but 
this is undermining society. They are tearing apart the social 
fabric of Nicaragua.
    To your second question, Latin American solution, 
absolutely. Brazil, I would note, at the United Nations taking 
on an important role in the Security Council, they have spoken 
out against the stripping of citizenship. I think they are a 
strong ally. Felix also mentioned Chile, Argentina, Colombia, 
even Mexico have spoken out against the stripping of 
citizenship. There are allies there, and I welcome more and 
more Latin American voices around us.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Maradiaga. If I quickly may add some point.
    Our families are--many of our families are still in 
Nicaragua, and they are used as hostages. But for mothers who 
are here in the United States with their children in Nicaragua, 
it is just heartbreaking to see that. Some of the children have 
been forced to go undocumented to neighboring countries to seek 
protection. They do not have any passports.
    So to your question, if something can be done--because the 
United States has already accepted these women into the U.S., 
but their children are back in Nicaragua. And since their 
nationality was erased, they have no passports. And as much as 
the U.S. wants to help, if these children do not have 
passports, they cannot travel;
    So probably finding a solution, working together with 
neighboring Central American countries that have accepted these 
children, but they do not have documents to travel, so I think 
that that would be something very specific in which you can be 
very, very helpful to the former political prisoners who are 
women and they are having their children behind.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you.
    I want to thank you so very much for your testimony, for 
your leadership, brave and heroic as it is. We need to do our 
part. We need to followup. There is much that you have conveyed 
to all of us that we need to work on in a bipartisan way, and 
we will. So I cannot thank you enough.
    And to Ms. Jagger, thank you for your leadership as well. 
It is extraordinary.
    But the hearing is adjourned, and I thank you.
    I would just note that members have 5 legislative days to 
submit comments for the record.
    Thank you.
    [Whereupon, at 6:20 p.m. The subcommittees adjourned.]

                                APPENDIX

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