Congressman Mario Diaz Balart Welcomes Felix Maradiaga to his office in Washington DC.

When you meet Felix Maradiaga, you encounter a warm, astute and thoughtful man who fights for freedom in Nicaragua and has the scars to prove it.

When asked if there are personal risks to opposing President Daniel Ortega’s rule, Felix will roll up his right sleeve and show you an impressive nine inch long gash extending from his forearm to his bicep.  It is the result of a laceration he received from a regime thug during a street demonstration in Managua last month.  At the same demonstration a young woman had her arm broken in seven places by another Ortega henchman.  Felix Maradiaga and other brave Nicaraguans are determined to preserve democracy in Nicaragua and they are risking all to do it.

Maradiaga was in Washington last week representing Civic Action for a Democratic Nicaragua, an initiative of three of Nicaragua’s most well-respected human rights groups created to raise awareness of the threat to democracy posed by Ortega.   Maradiaga’s goal was to shine a bright light on the gradual asphyxiation of democracy in Nicaragua.  In the above photo, he is seen shaking hands with Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) under the reflective gaze of President Ronald Reagan who knew something about the fight for freedom in Nicaragua and beyond.  But, what was once a fiercely partisan issue in Congress now brings together both Democrats and Republicans.  Both sides of the aisle are united in their alarm as President Daniel Ortega methodically squeezes the life out of democracy in Nicaragua.  Ranking Democrat of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman (D-CA) wrote recently that we may be witnessing “a slow motion electoral heist” by Ortega as he violates his country’s constitution by running for a second consecutive term in the upcoming November, 2011 elections.

Felix Maradiaga is a soft spoken, earnest man who rose from modest circumstances.  As the 13-year old son of a teacher and a social worker living in the maelstrom that was Nicaragua in the 1980’s, he was spirited out of the country and found his way to Texas and eventually a foster home in Florida.  But, he never forgot his family or his country and returned to Nicaragua to attend university and rebuild his country as a government reformer. Upon Daniel Ortega’s return to power in 2006, Maradiaga joined the civil society movement  that now stands as perhaps the last barrier to Ortega’s quest for perpetual rule.  Opposition political parties are in disarray.  Ortega is quietly using lavish financial support from Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez – said to be over a half billion US dollars a year – to buy up most of the media outlets in the country.  But, when you meet Felix Maradiaga and listen to his quiet determination, you cannot help but be reminded that John Adams was also modest but fiercely determined and inspiring.  Perhaps, with our support, Felix and people like him can preserve Nicaragua’s tottering democracy.  We owe it to ourselves and to them to join them in standing up to Ortega.

Source: HACER