The United States said the November elections in Nicaragua had “lost all credibility.”

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the November elections in Nicaragua have “lost all credibility” due to “autocratic” maneuvers by President Daniel Ortega. remove the main opponents from the elections.

Nicaragua’s electoral tribunal on Friday disqualified the right-wing Citizens for Freedom party, which leads an opposition alliance against Ortega’s re-election, amid a escalation of political repression in this Central American country. The Supreme Electoral Council also revoked the citizen ID card in the name of Carmella María Rogers Amburn, known locally as Kitty Monterrey, legal representative of CxL, and of Nicaraguan-American nationality.

“The United States considers that Regime’s latest undemocratic and authoritarian actions – motivated by Ortega’s fear of electoral defeat – are the final blow to Nicaragua’s prospects to hold free and fair elections later this year, ”Blinken said in a statement.

“This electoral process, including its possible results, lost all credibility “, he stressed.

The Nicaraguan Electoral Tribunal blocked the participation of the opposition bloc in the elections of November 7 by ordering “to annul the legal personality of the political party Ciudadanos por la Libertad”, according to a court decision.

The head of the American diplomacy anticipated that will continue to work with other democracies to “respond diplomatically and economically to these disastrous events”, which, he said, “further deprives the Nicaraguan people of their desire for representative government and economic prosperity.”

According to the Secretary of State, the “Murillo-Ortega regime” “undermined its international commitments”, notably the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the right of its people to “freely choose their own leaders”.

Critics accuse the government of try to prevent any significant opposition from running for office.

Ortega, in power since 2007, is running for a fourth consecutive term with his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, again as running mate.

At least 31 opposition figures, including seven potential presidential candidates, have been arrested by the authorities in the past two months.

They are accused of treason and threatening the sovereignty of the country, under a law passed in December that was denounced as a way to eliminate opponents of Ortega.

“The decision of President Daniel Ortega and Vice-President Rosario Murillo on August 6, banning the last real opposition party from participating in the November elections shows its willingness to stay in power at all costs“said Blinken.

Also on Friday The United States has announced visa restrictions affecting 50 relatives of the two Sandinista lawmakers as well as Nicaraguan prosecutors and judges, who allegedly helped prevent free elections from being held in November.

Already on July 12, the State Department had banned 100 members of the Nicaraguan National Assembly (parliament) from entering the country, as well as Nicaraguan prosecutors and judges, for “facilitating the regime’s attacks on democracy and human rights”.

With information from AFP and EFE

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