Persecution in Nicaragua: Rosario Murillo promotes prosecution of presidential candidates seeking to compete with Daniel Ortega

Amid threats and repression, Nicaraguan Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo called legitimate opposition presidential candidates seeking to defeat Daniel Ortega’s regime “criminals”., in the November elections, during which the Sandinista seeks his third consecutive re-election and the second under the formula of marriage.

“I remember those faces which, even today, stand for election, those who blocked this country (…), criminals, that’s what they are, and there they say they’re going to do things to attract prosperity. What a shell (impudence)! What a shell, as they sayMurillo accused, once again using official means of communication.

The words of the first lady seemed threatening as the prosecution, led by former Sandinista guerrilla Ana Julia Guido, develops an investigation into allegations of money laundering, property and assets against candidate and journalist Cristiana Chamorro Barrios., daughter of former President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997), who defeated Ortega in the 1990 elections.

Chamorro Barrios is the opposition figure most likely to win the November election, according to a poll by CID Gallup.

Hours before Murillo published his post, Blue and White National Unity presidential candidate, Felix Maradiaga, took advantage of the fact that the police let him leave his home to carry out a “express picket»(Ephemeral demonstration) against the Ortega regime in the south-east of Managua, where was attacked by police.

Among the presidential candidates is the peasant chief Medardo Mairena, sentenced in 2018 to 216 years in prison for terrorism and other crimes, although he was released on parole after being released in 2019.

“How can a thug offer prosperity, how can people who are linked to crime, organized crime, offer prosperity, there is some out there, yes everyone knows that,” he said. insisted Murillo, whose executive is accused of committing “Crimes against humanity”By the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

In mid-May, the Supreme Electoral Council, dominated by Sandinista magistrates, annulled the legal personality of the Democratic Restoration Party (PRD), which was part of the National Coalition, one of the main opposition blocs.

The opponents, fragmented, have in common the objective of cutting, by election, 42 years of almost absolute domination of the Ortega regime over Nicaraguan politics.

General elections in Nicaragua are scheduled for November 7.

Yesterday, the UN Human Rights Office, headed by High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, warned it sees with concern how the chances of a free and fair election are diminishing given the measures taken by the authorities. against independent candidates and journalists.

“We have observed a worrying situation in recent weeks“, The spokesperson for the Office of Human Rights said in a press appearance, Marta Hurtado,

He mentioned, for example, the approval by the National Assembly – controlled by the ruling party – of electoral reform this sets aside the demands of the opposition, civil society and the international community, because it refuses to incorporate guarantees of impartiality on the part of electoral entities.

He mentioned that this reform also contains restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and political participation, Y allowed the dissolution of two political parties on the pretext that they act against international standards.

When revising the law, UN experts have found that the way electoral reform has been drafted allows its use “to silence dissent”.

And among the facts that most concern the Bachelet Office, there is precisely the opening of a criminal investigation against Chamorro Barrios..

“We call on the government of Nicaragua to end this harassment, including judicial harassment, against the opposition and the press.“Said the spokesperson on behalf of Bachelet.

(With information from EFE)

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