Nicaraguans are called to the polls today in a climate of lack of democracy and without candidates opposed to Daniel Ortega

The elections on November 7 were seen at the beginning of the year as an opportunity, but now they are classified as a fraud planned by President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, to increase their time in power.

With seven candidates detained at home and the El Chipote prison, the electoral fight was between Ortega and five other candidates from parties who are accused of being ‘stilt walkers’, who work and are allies of the regime and of corruption in some way.

Among the opposition candidates who were prevented from participating and today are accused, under laws tailored to the regime, of treason and other charges, are Cristiana Chamorro, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, Félix Maradiaga, Arturo Cruz, Miguel Mora , Medardo Mairena, Niel Vidaurre, María Fernanda Flores, Michael Healy, Álvaro Vargas.

They are accused of alleged “treason” and other crimes. Similarly, the opposition parties and platforms were prevented by the Electoral Council from participating.

In this way, the race was left with little credibility and with only six options, including the Ortega-Murillo pairing.

Among those who decided to continue are Congressman Walter Espinoza, candidate for the Presidency of Nicaragua for the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC); Guillermo Osorno, deputy and reverend, is the presidential candidate for the Nicaraguan Christian Way (CCN) party: Marcelo Montiel, a 49-year-old lawyer, is the presidential candidate of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) party; Gerson Gutiérrez Gasparín, 29, is the youngest presidential candidate among the six contenders, competing for the Alianza por la República (APRE) party; Mauricio Orue, 53, is the presidential candidate for the Independent Liberal Party (PLI), although he is currently a deputy for the ALN.

For the Nicaraguan activist and exile Levis Rugama, all these candidates are from parties that have collaborated or have had agreements with the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

Rugama highlights that Espinoza is from the same party as former president Arnoldo Alemán (1997-2002), with recognized corruption, and his party is currently strongly linked to the FSLN and even several of his deputies have been sanctioned by the United States. In Montiel’s case, it is new, but his party has also been related to the FSLN and has been entangled in corruption cases. While there are photos of the young Gutiérrez of him wearing shirts of the Sandinista party at its rallies.

“All these organizations (with candidates) have more of a link with the Sandinista Front, because of their trajectory, because of corruption, because of collaboration. What we in Nicaragua call stilt walkers, which is actually a single-party political game, but with the modality of elections. What the official party does is get rid of the real opposition and cultivate straw opponents to make a game of elections with chips from the same board to stay in power and self-legitimize, ”says Rugama, who adds that these candidates only present themselves with their proposals and they never attack or criticize the regime, which neither does or says anything to them.

The same comments Nicaraguan political analyst Luciano García, for whom it must be understood that since before 2018, when the strongest protests against the regime began, which responded with great repression, “Ortega had already bought opposition parties.”

“This is not new … obviously he is using them in this contest in his favor to tell the world that there is democracy, but what we know is that he has had those parties buying them and dismantling the electoral institutions that existed before him. it will take power before 2007. Basically what you have (in the elections) are parties controlled by the regime for years, ”says García.

Even Ortega has not had to go out to campaign, says García. He adds that he is a “candidate kidnapped and blackmailed by his own wife to be in charge of everything with his permission. It is a functional marriage to be repressive, but they do not represent the great majority ”.

Meanwhile, the multidisciplinary observatory Urnas Abiertas reported this Friday that a total of 1,656 acts of political violence occurred in Nicaragua in the context of the electoral year, which will have its peak day this Sunday with the general elections in which President Daniel Ortega seeks a new re-election.

“After one year of monitoring, we have registered 1,656 incidents of political violence until October 31, 2021. During the month of October 2021, an increase in political violence was observed, through targeted sieges, harassment, subpoenas and threats”, pointed to EFE Urnas Abierta, a body that monitors the electoral process.

According to the observatory, last October, the last of the twelve months of the study, 120 acts of political violence were recorded, mainly carried out by state and “parastatal” authorities and institutions.

In the end, those consulted comment that it is an uncertainty to know how they will receive or recognize the elections, but that since the countries of the region are not legitimate they should act in accordance with these cases and isolate Ortega, of course, taking into account the things that did not come out. well in the actions in similar cases, as with Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Also hoping that the opposition can consolidate and unite to have more coordinated actions against the regime so as not to undermine the efforts that can be made from outside.

The opposition called not to participate in the elections, while the exiles asked to protest wherever they are against the “electoral farce.”

The five candidates who ‘compete’ with Ortega.

• Walter Espinoza, from the Constitutionalist Liberal Party. He is 41 years old and has been a councilor for Managua, in 2012, and is currently a national deputy (since 2016). He had tried in 2006 to be a deputy, but failed on that occasion.
• Mauricio Orue, 54 years old. He is the candidate of the Independent Liberal Party. He studied Law, Theology and Psychology. He is also a deputy in the National Assembly, but came to office with the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance party and often votes alongside Sandinismo. The US took away his visa for helping to undermine democracy.
• Guillermo Osorno is a pastor and candidate for the Nicaraguan Christian Way party. In 2011 and 2016 he was elected to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) in an alliance with Sandinismo. His political group has never exceeded 4% of the votes. He was a presidential candidate in 1996.
• Mauricio Montiel, 49, is a candidate for the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, which is also accused of collaborating with the ruling party, but he denies it and says that he seeks to deconcentrate the powers of the president.
• Gerson Gutiérrez, 29, is a candidate for the Alliance for the Republic party. He is a lawyer and notary and affirms that he would be a better president for Nicaragua than Nayib Bukele is as the first president of El Salvador. It does not criticize the legitimacy of the electoral process. (I)