Nicaragua has created a new national ministry for extraterrestrial space affairs, the Moon and other celestial bodies, provoking the contempt of critics in a country facing a steady erosion of human rights since a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests three years ago.
The new space agency was approved by 76 lawmakers in the country’s congress on Wednesday, which is dominated by President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista party. Fifteen opposition lawmakers abstained.
In a country that finds it difficult to supply its people with food, fuel and coronavirus vaccines, it is not clear what the ministry should do.
It will be under the control of the Nicaraguan army, which has no space program. The law says the ministry “will promote the development of space activities, in order to expand the country’s capabilities in the fields of education, industry, science and technology.”
Geologist Jaime Incer Barquero, president of the Nicaraguan Academy of Geography and History, told CNN: “Nicaragua does not have a scientific capacity or tradition, it does not have a serious (spatial) observer. As a country, we are not able to undertake this type of research. ”
Social media users created memes of Ortega and his wife, astronaut-clad vice president Rosario Murillo, and Nicaraguan police expropriating the moon, as Ortega did with some Nicaraguan media buildings and groups. civic agreement with which he disagreed.
Critics said the country had no reserve money for space exploration dreams and accused Ortega of seeking to divert attention from his negative history of human rights and the obstructed response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Nicaraguan government has consistently downplayed the impact of Covid-19 and has not yet purchased any coronavirus vaccine. The country is in a deep social and economic crisis since the government canceled the mass protests in 2018.
The space agency is not the first time Ortega has supported quixotic proposals. In 2013, he authorized a Chinese company to build a $ 50 billion canal in Nicaragua. The project has made little progress.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations said on Thursday they would call for a “strong resolution” on the human rights situation in Nicaragua at the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council on 22 February.
“Human rights violations continue in Nicaragua and require a mission to visit the country and make recommendations for overcoming these challenges and for the country to return to normal before the elections,” said Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, special investigator for the country. UN on the rights to peaceful assembly and association.
The national elections are scheduled for November 7. Ortega is expected to run for a fourth term as president. If he wins, it would be his third consecutive term in 2007.
In recent months, the Ortega government has proposed, adopted and implemented a number of laws, making it more difficult for non-governmental organizations to function.