Nicaragua: November 7 poll is a "sham" of elections for the EU
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega with his wife, vice-president, will run again for the head of state in the elections on October 7, 2021. © Inti OCON AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Nicaragua is organizing presidential and legislative elections in just under 3 weeks.
A vote described as a "
sham
", Monday, October 18 by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
The latter accuses President Daniel Ortega of "
unacceptable authoritarian drift
" and of having "
eliminated the political opposition
" to stay in power.
Advertising
Read more
The European Union signaled on Monday October 18 that the Twenty-Seven would not recognize the results of the general elections on November 7. Nicaragua is "
one of the worst dictatorships in the world
", where the opposition has been "
eliminated
", denounced Josep Borrell. Before this statement by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, several senior Nicaraguan officials were already affected by US and European sanctions, mainly stay bans and the freezing of their assets.
Last week, Silvio Prado, a former Sandinista official, was in France to make his three main demands heard by the international community: “
We must not recognize the result of these elections.
We must refuse this false legitimacy.
We must continue to press for the release of political prisoners and especially to judge those responsible for the 2018 assassinations
[during the large-scale demonstrations]
.
"
Daniel Ortega, without real opponent for the presidential election
In front of Daniel Ortega who is running for a 4th consecutive term, with his wife Rosario Murillo, there are not many people.
Seven presidential candidates are in prison
, arrested in recent months.
Two others fled
to neighboring Costa Rica to avoid incarceration. There is therefore no longer any serious candidate in front of the outgoing president. Silvio Prado, former member of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the party of Daniel Ortega, says he does not expect anything from these elections. “
I think that it will be elections which will have no importance for the future of my country.
There will be no free and transparent competition.
"
The latter was in the 1980s, in charge of the Western office of the Department of International Relations.
He cut ties in the early 1990s during the first Congress of the party, after the crushing electoral defeat of Daniel Ortega in the presidential election.
For him, it is at this moment that the drifts begin within the party: “
They started a policy against the critics in the Sandinista party.
It was no longer the open party that I had known.
It has become a family business.
It was clear that there was a project that did not admit discussion.
"
Freedom-killing laws
According to Silvio Prado, now there is no room for maneuver for the opposition in Nicaragua: “
The signals coming from Nicaragua show that any social mobilization or demonstration is completely stifled.
"
The freedom-killing laws passed by a Parliament acquired by Daniel Ortega in particular prevented any opposition.
Since the
great social movement of 2018
in which more than 300 people were killed, this Parliament voted a law for the regulation of foreign agents which targets NGOs which receive international funds or a law on cyber-crimes, which allows the authorities to jail the authors of
fake news
.
In fact, as Silvio Prado explains, it affects anyone who criticizes government policies.
For example, many doctors have criticized the management of the Covid-19 crisis.
Some had to flee the country because of threats, while others lost their jobs: “
It was a way to
restore fear
.
The fear that the people lost in 2018 has been restored in 2020.
”
The press also affected
This fear
also affects local journalists
.
According to the press union, at least 20 independent media have disappeared under the Ortega government, following confiscation of materials or forced closures.
The Nicaraguan government denies any political persecution.
He accuses his detractors of being funded by Washington to overthrow the regime.
In any case, both in terms of the management of the health crisis, and in terms of measures to deal with the economic crisis, the increase in the cost of living ... the electoral context is not favorable to Daniel Ortega according to Silvio Prado: “
Under normal conditions of free, open and transparent elections, Ortega had no chance of winning.
None !
It would have been impossible.
"
►Also listen: Journal of Haiti and the Americas - Nicaragua: "the flight forward"
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Nicaragua
Daniel ortega