Nicaragua has created a new national ministry for extraterrestrial space affairs, the moon and other celestial bodies, attracting amused responses on social media in a country that has been struggling since protests against the government three years ago.
The agency was approved Wednesday by 76 lawmakers in the country’s congress, which is dominated by President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista party. Fifteen opposition lawmakers liked their abstention.
In a country struggling to provide food, fuel and COVID-19 vaccines to its people, it is not clear what the ministry is supposed to do.
It will be under the control of the Nicaraguan army, which has no space program. The law states that the ministry “will promote the development of space activities, with the aim of increasing the country’s capabilities in the fields of education, industry, science and technology.”
Geologist Jaime Incer Barquero, president of the Academy of Geography and History in Nicaragua, told CNN: “Nicaragua has no scientific ability or tradition, does not have a serious (space) observatory. We are not scientifically capable of doing research in this country. ‘
Social media users were quick to create memes of Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, dressed as astronauts, and of the Nicaraguan police expropriating the moon, as Ortega did with some buildings in Nicaragua that are part of media and civic groups of which he disagrees. with.
Critics have said the country does not have the money to dream of space exploration. It has not yet obtained any COVID-19 vaccines and has been in a deep social and economic crisis since the government ended the mass protests in 2018.
The space agency episode is not the first time Ortega has endorsed a quixotic proposal. In 2014, he authorized a Chinese company to build a $ 50 billion canal across Nicaragua. The project has made little progress.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations said on Thursday that they would demand a “strong resolution” on the human rights situation in Nicaragua during the opening session of the United Nations Council on 22 February.
“Human rights abuses continue in Nicaragua, and they need a mission to visit the country and make recommendations to overcome this challenge, and that the country must return to normal before the election,” said Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the special investigator from the UN, said about the rights to peaceful assembly and association.
The national election is scheduled for November 7. Ortega is expected to run for a fourth term as president. If he wins, it will be his third consecutive term since 2007.
In recent months, the government of Ortega has proposed, adopted and implemented a number of laws that make it more difficult for non-governmental organizations to work.