Photo: Tellez holds banner that says: “Feminist sisterhood against Ortega’s sexist dictatorship Freedom for political prisoners Nicaragua”
Proceso reports: “Former Sandinista commander Dora María Téllez is certain that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum can play a ‘decisive’ role in promoting a process of democratization in Nicaragua.”
Photo: The #DontLetDoraDie campaign when she was a political prisoner in 2022. She was released in February 2023 and now lives in exile in Spain.
Téllez tells Proceso: “I would expect that from President Sheinbaum, because I believe that she has the authority, capacity and possibility to play that role and because Mexico has a relevant leadership in Latin America and a tradition of solidarity with the peoples of the continent threatened by authoritarianism.”
“I feel that President Sheinbaum could play an extremely important role and contribute to Nicaraguans finding that path back to democracy.”
Téllez adds: “Mexico has a tradition of solidarity with peoples threatened by authoritarianism.”
She further notes that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Co-President Rosario Murillo “are the ones who have violated the popular sovereignty and self-determination of the Nicaraguan people. …We are talking here about a state co-opted by a family mafia that has the Nicaraguan people in a state of terror and that also massively violates human rights.”
“Unfortunately, neither the United States nor Europe have withdrawn Nicaragua’s trade preferences [to access those markets].”
Téllez also highlighted: “When human rights are violated in any country, it does not matter if the regime is right-wing, left-wing, center-wing, above-wing or below. They are human rights violations and must be condemned. Period. …[In that sense], it must be said that the attacks that the Trump administration has ordered in the Caribbean completely violate international law.”
“We must be categorical and say that Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela has violated human rights and also lost the election in full view and patience of the whole world. And he has refused to hand over power. …A military intervention is neither desirable, nor possible, nor does it solve the problem. But that puts us in front of the fact that we have to look for political solutions to solve the problem.”
PBI-Nicaragua
After receiving requests from civil society organizations following the political crisis which began in Nicaragua in April 2018, PBI began an exploratory process in the region. In order to respond to this context and the needs expressed by local organizations, in 2020 PBI launched a new accompaniment project in Costa Rica focused on providing support to exiled Nicaraguan human rights defenders and social movements.
For more about PBI-Nicaragua and the organizations they accompany, visit their website and Facebook and Instagram.
The full article in Proceso can be read at “México debe liderar” lucha contra la dictadura en Nicaragua: excomandante sandinista Dora María Téllez (Proceso, December 8, 2025).
