QCOSTARICA – In an editorial by La Nacion published October 16, 2021, if the general elections in Nicaragua had been a few weeks ago, its dictator would have lost resoundingly to any of those who, before being imprisoned or forced into exile, were emerging as opposition candidates.
According to a poll by the CID-Gallup company, carried out between September 14 and October 4, 65% of those consulted said they would vote for whoever led the opposition and only 19% favored Daniel Ortega.
16% did not respond or said they did not know.
The elections will be held on November 7, and it is precisely because of this deep rejection by the population of the leader of the Nicaraguan regime and his running mate and wife, Rosario Murillo, that there will be no competition.
It is a totally handcuffed and rigged process: only a few candidates have been allowed to participate – that is run against Ortega – and all are accomplices of Sandinismo. In addition, the campaign – if it can be called that – has been carried out in an environment of repression, controls, the silencing of independent media and absolute disdain for the health and well-being of Nicaraguans.
It is enough to remember that seven of those who once declared themselves as opposition candidates are imprisoned and two are in exile.
The best valued political personalities in the country are precisely two of them: Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, who have 63% and 62% of favorable opinions, respectively, almost twice as many as those by Ortega. The rest of the defenestrated candidates for the presidency also outperform the dictator (34%) and his wife (37%).
Other data make citizen rejection even more evident.
Only 8% back the Sandinista National Liberation Front party; 77%, on the other hand, have no party preference. The Consejo Supremo Electoral (Supreme Electoral Council), totally submitted to the wishes of the presidential family, also failed the credibility test: 56% said they “have little or no confidence” in it. On the other hand, 79% said that they consider holding free elections somewhat or very important for the well-being of their families.
If we add this last piece of information, the arbitrary elimination, imprisonment or exile of nine possible opposition presidential candidates, the prevailing repressive environment, the manipulation of Tureca or “zancudos” parties, the illegitimacy of the electoral body and the collapse in Ortega’s popularity remains clearly, the process that will take place on November 7 lacks any legitimacy.
For this reason, its results must be rejected by the international community. This was the call made a few days ago by several opposition leaders exiled in Costa Rica, and the request made by former President Laura Chinchilla during an appearance before the Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere of the United States House of Representatives.
At the hearing, the former president also asked the US Congress to investigate Daniel Ortega for drug trafficking and money laundering in the United States
The cry must be heard.
Apart from the rejection of the dictator’s candidacy, opinions on his performance in government are also catastrophic: the margin of disapproval reaches 69%, and the pollster’s report highlights that “the disapproval of the handling of the coronavirus pandemic is more pronounced than the general assessment”.
There are plenty of reasons, because that management has been characterized by total irresponsibility and disdain for the lives of his compatriots, and it has not managed to stop the sharp economic deterioration, which is reflected in extreme poverty, unemployment and marginalization.
Rejected by his people, incapable of generating well-being, violating basic human rights and determined to perpetuate itself in power, the Ortega dictatorship has amply demonstrated his ineptitude and perversion.
Today it constitutes a danger not only for the region but, above all, for Nicaragua itself. The electoral farce that is coming is not acceptable. The rejection of the dictator within his country must be emulated outside of him.
This article was originally published in Spanish in La Nacion and translated by the Q. Read the original here.
