Central America
Ortega a shoo-in in ‘sham’ Nicaragua vote
AFP
Nicaraguans go to the polls Sunday for presidential elections dismissed as a “sham” by the international community, with all viable challengers to long-term leader Daniel Ortega locked up or in exile.
As Ortega, 75, prepared to claim a fourth consecutive term — his fifth overall — the United States described Nicaragua as a “cautionary tale” with a regime “determined to hold on to power at any cost.”
“It will be quite clear that these elections will have no credibility, that they’re a sham,” Patrick Ventrell, the US State Department’s Central American Affairs director said Thursday.
“We are going into a scenario where you have a dictatorship, and we’ll have to respond to such.”
Just over three years after massive protests against his rule and a violent crackdown that claimed more than 300 lives, Ortega is assured another five-year term with his wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, 70, by his side.
Seven people who had any real shot at the presidency are among 39 opposition figures detained in a brutal government clampdown that started in June.
Ortega, the leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), faces five opponents, though in name only — all are derided as regime collaborators.
The vote in Central America’s poorest country will take place without international observers and with most foreign media denied access to the country.
Nicaragua’s last opposition daily, La Prensa, had its director thrown in prison in August, and Facebook announced this week it had closed a government-operated troll farm spreading anti-opposition messages.
Amid the suppression, fear vies with apathy among Nicaragua’s 4.3 million eligible voters. Voting is not mandatory in the country of 6.5 million.
“There is no one to vote for. Daniel (Ortega) has it in the bag,” a 46-year-old woman told AFP at her home in Masaya, 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital Managua.
She asked not to be named. “One cannot talk. You’ll go to jail,” she said.
– All sewn up –
A firebrand Marxist in his youth, Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, after the guerrilla ousting of US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
Returning to power in 2007, he has won reelection three times, becoming increasingly authoritarian and quashing presidential term limits.
Two-thirds of respondents in a recent Cid-Gallup poll said they would have voted for an opposition candidate on Sunday.
The favorite was Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro who is the only person to have beaten Ortega in an election, in 1990.
But Chamorro is under house arrest, and six other presidential hopefuls are behind bars in conditions their family members say amount to torture.
The jailed opposition figures are accused of unspecified attacks on Nicaragua’s “sovereignty” under a law passed by a parliament dominated by Ortega allies, who also control the judicial and electoral branches.
Election authorities have banned the country’s main opposition alliance, Citizens for Freedom, from contesting Sunday’s vote, just like in 2016 when Ortega won unopposed.
Three political parties and dozens of civic organizations are prohibited.
– ‘A complete sham’ –
A grouping of Nicaraguan and international NGOs this week urged the United Nations to investigate “gross human rights violations” under Ortega’s rule.
“Ortega will continue in power… and the repression against those who defend human rights and think differently to the regime will likely worsen,” said the group that calls itself Colectivo 46/2.
Apart from about 150 political opponents known to be behind bars, more than 100,000 Nicaraguans are in exile to avoid arrest — mainly in Costa Rica, Miami and Madrid.
For Ortega — whose main allies are Venezuela, Cuba and Russia — his jailed critics are not political prisoners but “criminals” seeking to overthrow him with US backing.
– ‘Dictator’ –
The wave of arrests has worsened ties with the United States and European Union, who have imposed sanctions against Ortega family members and allies.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has branded Ortega a “dictator” staging “fake” elections, and on Wednesday, the US Congress approved a law to ramp up punitive measures.
In the United States, Europe and other Latin American countries, opponents of the Ortega regime are planning protests for Sunday and agitating for a boycott of the vote.
In Nicaragua itself, gatherings of more than 200 people are banned, ostensibly as a coronavirus prevention measure.
More than 30,000 police and military have been deployed to guard 3,000 polling stations.
Polls are due to open at 13H00 GMT (7:00 am) and close 11 hours later.
The results, predictable as they are, are expected the same day.
Central America
Guatemala sees road blockades amid protests against lawmaker pay hikes
At least 16 points are blocked in Guatemala on Monday by the Committee for the Development of Rural Communities (Codeca), which is protesting the salary increase for members of Congress. The lawmakers are set to receive their third paycheck since the salary adjustment was approved in November 2024.
Although the Congressional Board of Directors announced the suspension of the salary increase at the end of March through an official document, it was later stated that the measure must be ratified by the full legislative body, requiring the approval of at least 81 of the 160 members. No reversal of this decision has been made so far. The salary of lawmakers has risen from GTQ 29,150 ($3,784) to GTQ 66,300 ($8,607). Their third elevated salary will be issued on Monday, according to local media.
The 23 deputies from the Semilla party, with which Bernardo Arévalo won the presidency, did not vote in favor of the proposal when it was presented. However, reports suggest that this may have been part of a negotiation with the opposition to approve a reform to the Law Against Organized Crime, aimed at ending legal persecution against them, as reported by the media outlet República. “The government must remember that the people defended it and it must serve the people,” stated Codeca’s official post on X (formerly Twitter).
Other grievances raised by the protesters include the rising cost of basic goods, demands to halt water privatization, an end to forced evictions, and the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras.
The Constitutional Court (CC) granted a provisional injunction on Sunday, ordering the government to allow free movement. While the court permitted the protest to proceed, it stated that the rights of the general public to mobility and access to commercial transport services should not be interrupted.
Central America
Nicaragua’s Ortega and Murillo Mourn Pope Francis, Acknowledge ‘Difficult’ Relationship
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who also serve as co-leaders of the country, expressed their condolences on Monday following the death of Pope Francis, acknowledging that their relationship with the late pontiff had been “difficult” and “troubled.” Nicaragua officially suspended diplomatic ties with the Vatican during his papacy.
“Our relationship, as Nicaraguans who are believers, devoted and faithful to the doctrine of Christ Jesus, was difficult and troubled—unfortunately shaped by adverse and painful circumstances that were not always understood,” Ortega and Murillo wrote in a message of condolence.
“Despite the complexity and hardships, despite the manipulation we all know occurred, despite everything, we kept our hope alive through Christian faith,” they continued. “We understood the distance, and above all, the complicated and strained communication that prevented better relations. We also recognized the confusion caused by strident voices that disrupted any attempt at genuine interaction.”
Pope Francis had previously compared the Ortega regime to communist dictatorships and even to Hitler, a remark that further strained relations between Managua and the Holy See.
Central America
Cardinal Rodríguez to Attend Funeral of Pope Francis: “He Was Very Dear to Me”
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral services of Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta due to a stroke.
“We will be there throughout the novena and then, God willing, at the burial,” Rodríguez said in a phone interview with HRN Radio in Tegucigalpa, apparently calling from Spain.
He added that the last time he saw Pope Francis was in October 2024, during and at the end of that year’s synod, and that they remained in contact through email. “Sometimes, the Pope would even call me,” said Rodríguez, who was born on December 29, 1942, and was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 2001.
Rodríguez expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Pope Francis, saying: “He was a very dear person to me.”
However, he also shared a message of hope, pointing out that the Holy Father passed away during Easter: “This is a sign. He gave his life completely like the Lord Jesus, and though he died, we believe in faith that he has risen, now with Christ in eternal life.”
Rodríguez, who for ten years coordinated the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals, was one of the eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to help govern the Catholic Church and reform the Roman Curia.
In January 2023, upon turning 80, Rodríguez stepped down as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and Pope Francis appointed Spanish priest José Vicente Nácher Tatay as his successor.
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