with the sandinistas of the 1980s and is being abandoned, isolated even by former friends. i think that is very powerful that we have many of the progressive leaders of latin america speaking against him. i understand you. you want the world to see 0rtega in a particular way, mr maradiaga. and you ve said, you know, he s part of a global ecosystem of dictatorships working very closely with russia, with china and dictatorial regimes such as cuba and venezuela. but isn t the truth that latin american leaders at the moment appear to have no appetite to put more pressure on nicaragua? and if one looks at the wider perspective of the biden administration, not only did blinken talk about the possibility of opening the door to dialogue with managua, but also the united states appears to be backing off direct confrontation with the maduro regime. in venezuela. there seems to be an air of pragmatism rather than confrontation
but also another 90 activists who have since had their citizenship taken away from them the latin american leaderships in countries like mexico, colombia, argentina, brazil have been very quiet, haven t they? have you noticed? i have noticed that, but i have a different perspective. i think that for the very first time in decades, and i can say that myself, as someone who testified in front of the un security council in geneva, at the human rights council as well, and travel latin america, five to seven years ago, it was very hard to mobilize certain people who had previous sympathies to the sandinista revolution. that is not the case any more. it s very clear that the 0rtega of today has nothing to do with the sandinistas of the 1980s and is being abandoned, isolated
even by former friends. i think that is very powerful that we have many of the progressive leaders of latin america speaking against him. i understand you. you want the world to see 0rtega in a particular way, mr maradiaga. and you ve said, you know, he s part of a global ecosystem of dictatorships working very closely with russia, with china and dictatorial regimes such as cuba and venezuela. but isn t the truth that latin american leaders at the moment appear to have no appetite to put more pressure on nicaragua? and if one looks at the wider perspective of the biden administration, not only did blinken talk about the possibility of opening the door to dialogue with managua, but also the united states appears to be backing off direct confrontation with the maduro regime. in venezuela. there seems to be an air of pragmatism rather than confrontation coming from washington. i would agree with you on that regard. we need much more international pressure and in the case
driven to america. the good news is he has been reunited with his family after years apart. the bad news is, 0rtega is trying to eliminate all opposition, so has resistance become impossible?
taken from his nicaraguan prison cell and flown to america. the good news is he s been reunited with his family after years apart. the bad news is ortega is trying to eliminate all opposition. so has resistance become impossible in nicaragua? felix maradiaga in miami. welcome to hardtalk. thank you, steve. and it s a pleasure to be back here. well, it is great to have you back on hardtalk, not least because you have just emerged from more than 600 days