Nicaragua is heading for the “worst possible elections” on November 7th, says Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the Organisation of American States in Washington. Voters will elect a president and members of the National Assembly. Daniel Ortega, the strongman president who governs with his wife as vice-president, plans to run for a fifth term.
Mr Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, first came to power in 1979 by force of arms. He stepped down after losing an election in 1990 but was elected president again in 2007. Now he appears determined not to let power slip once more. In 2018 he ordered a crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators that left perhaps 450 people dead and sent over 100,000 into exile. To ease international sanctions, he released some political prisoners in 2019. But more recently he has reverted to his old tricks.
Mr Ortega is right to fear Ms Chamorro. She is the daughter of Violeta Chamorro, a former president who unseated Mr Ortega in 1990, and thus a scion of Nicaragua’s most famous political family. A poll released on May 28th ranked her as the most popular politician in the country. The detention of these candidates “sends a direct message to the United States”, said Mr Chamorro, in a defiant interview withsecretary of state, was visiting Costa Rica to discuss the erosion of democracy with Central American officials. The other candidates were arrested while Kamala Harris, the American vice-president, was in Guatemala and Mexico.
Such autocratic behaviour could backfire. The United States has already announced new sanctions, and is considering more. Members of the European Parliament are calling for the suspension of an agreement governing around $380m in exports each year. And by banning one of the two main parties, Mr Ortega has forced rival politicians to overcome differences and band together in
so kind of like Texas?
After all the interventions in Latin America, when Opposition is praised it raises suspicions and delegitimizes it.
ANOTHER Case Study for American Youth on what real Communism is all about.
And another autocracy is born.
FreeAlgeria
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