The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, is warning that new laws adopted by Nicaragua’s government are undermining fundamental freedoms and leading to a further withering of the rule of law in Nicaragua. In a report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, high commissioner Bachelet said that damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes Eta and Iota have worsened the socio-political and human rights crisis facing Nicaragua. A passage of new laws have restricted Nicaraguan rights to freedom of association and expression, as well as inhibiting political participation and due process. Bachelet said, “Human rights violations perpetrated during the social protests of 2018 continue in all impunity. We have also received information as to a rise in femicides and high levels of pregnancy among young girls.”
Obviously, humanitarian violations are awful, no matter where they are taking place. If the United States hasn’t already recognized the acts in Nicaragua, they should soon. It’s a shame that the United Nations really don’t have the ability to step in and help the people of Nicaragua without Nicaragua allowing them to. I understand why forcefully entering Nicaragua without the government’s permission could appear belligerent, but the alternative is letting the people of Nicaragua suffer from their government. I don’t think the Nicaraguan government would ever listen to the United Nations, but if the United States convinced the Nicaraguan government to allow the United Nations in, then I think there is potential to save more lives.
To connect this to our class, the United States has been expressing itself as democratic hegemon, but has typically only involved itself in the conflicts that either directly benefit or will indirectly benefit us. Usually, under democratic leaders, the United States does go out of its way to help the oppressed anywhere they are. This seems like the perfect scenario that the Biden administration should resolve and prove to the world that the new president is morally correct. The Monroe Doctrine had fell into disrepute in the past, but the Trump administration revived it. If Biden wants to distance himself from Trump, interfering in Nicaragua would most likely bring praise for him.