The UN criticized the cancellation of political parties in Nicaragua as “incompatible with free and fair elections”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) this Saturday criticized the decision of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) of Nicaragua to dissolve the opposition Alianza Ciudadanos por la Libertad (CxL), three months before the elections, during which the country’s dictator, Daniel Ortega, is seeking another re-election.

“Nicaragua: The cancellation of @CxLibertad yesterday, as it has already happened with two other parties, prevents the political participation of its members and voters “this body said in a Twitter post.

“These decisions do not comply with human rights standards and are incompatible with free and fair elections”added.

The Supreme Electoral Council decided on Friday to cancel the legal personality of the CxL party, that he led an electoral alliance with an indigenous party and a civic organization, with which this coalition was excluded from the electoral process.

In addition, They canceled the citizen identity card of Carmella María Rogers Amburn, known locally as Kitty Monterrey, legal representative of the movement., and of American-Nicaraguan nationality, for having obtained the national identity document following “irregular procedures”.

By a resolution, the electoral magistrates, supporters of the regime of Daniel Ortega, decided to dissolve the CxL party, among other things, for running as candidates for popular electoral posts considered “traitors to the homeland”.

In the current electoral process the Nicaraguan regime arrested more than thirty opposition leaders, including seven presidential candidates who are under investigation for alleged “treason”.

The Electoral Council also annulled the legal personality of two other political parties, and Parliament, where the ruling party has an absolute majority, reformed the electoral law, which established greater control over the electoral structure in favor of the Sandinistas.

Dictator Ortega, a former guerrilla fighter on the verge of turning 76, is running for his fifth five-year term, the fourth in a row and the second with his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, in the elections to November.

THE US POSITION

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

“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 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”.

“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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