Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, right, and his wife and running mate Rosario Murillo. (Esteban Felix/AP)
MEXICO CITY — While some elections in the Americas this week might be
nail-bitingly close, Sunday's vote in Nicaragua will not be one of them.
President Daniel Ortega, the 70-year-old former Marxist guerrilla, is
expected to be a shoe-in to capture his third consecutive term as
president, and fourth overall since he helped lead the Sandinistas to an
overthrow in 1979 of the Somoza family that had ruled for the previous
four decades.
For many Nicaragua observers, the story is not the outcome, but the
process — one that has looked increasingly undemocratic and
authoritarian as Ortega has consolidated power over his many years in
office. For this election, Ortega has banned independent international
observers. Over the summer, the Supreme Court blocked a leading
opposition candidate from participating in the election, while the
Supreme Electoral Council, another body seen as loyal to Ortega, forced
16 opposition lawmakers out of their seats. Ortega has also chosen his
wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate. Changes to the constitution
in 2014 eliminated term limits, allowing Ortega to rule indefinitely.
“This election is not free, it is not transparent, nor is it
competitive,” said Carlos F. Chamorro, the publisher of the independent
magazine Confidencial. “This is not a true election.”
Ortega remains a popular figure. A September poll showed that nearly
two-thirds of Nicaraguans planned to vote for him and the
next-most-popular candidate was polling at just 8 percent of the vote.
During Ortega's tenure, poverty levels have fallen, and the gang
violence so rampant in other Central American countries has been far
more contained. Ortega has developed a pro-business reputation and the
economy has grown by an average of more than 5 percent over the past
five years, surpassing many in Latin America.
But the achievements have been matched by growing concern over
authoritarian tendencies. Most of the media in Nicaragua is controlled
by the government. Ortega's family members hold key positions of power.
For a man who came to prominence opposing an oligarchic dynasty, many
see a bitter irony in his evolution.
“I think populist presidents are frequently tempted to do this” consolidation of power, said Geoff
Thale, program director at the Washington Office on Latin America.
“He's reverted to this form, and it is very troubling.”
Last month, several opposition figures wrote to Luis Almagro, secretary
general of the Organization of American States, arguing that Ortega's
government has “demolished one by one the pillars of representative
democracy,” by removing elected officials, banning political groups, and
other actions.
“The immense majority of Nicaraguans, including the most fervent
partisans of this regime, know clearly that on November 6, there will
not be elections in Nicaragua but an electoral farce in which the
results . . . are already determined,” they wrote.
