Chile offers residence and nationality to Nicaraguan opposition

The Chilean government announced Tuesday (21) that it is offering residence and Chilean nationality to the more than 300 opponents arbitrarily expelled by the government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

“The Chilean government will provide the necessary legal means to offer the proper international protection, which will allow them to reside in the country and obtain Chilean nationality, in accordance with the constitutional and legal norms that regulate it,” the Chilean Ministry of Relations said in a statement.

In this way, Chile joins Spain as countries that formally offer naturalization to Nicaraguan opponents.

“The Chilean government offers this alternative to those who have been unjustly expatriated from Nicaragua and voluntarily decide to take it,” the statement said.

The Nicaraguan regime has recently caused at least 317 people to be stripped of their nationality for criticizing Ortega.

Still executed was the deportation of 222 political prisoners to the United States.

“The history of our country has taught us that the defense of democracy and human rights, and international solidarity among peoples, transcend political conjunctures and are part of civilizational standards essential for life in society,” the Chilean government concluded in the statement.

So far, other progressive Latin American governments such as Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil have not condemned the actions of the Ortega government or offered refuge to Nicaraguan political prisoners.

With information from EFE

More: Chile news in English, every day from The Rio Times.