EU: Denounces ‘authoritarian regime’ in Nicaragua after presidential election

The presidential election in Nicaragua was held “without democratic guarantees” and constitutes the fall of this country to an “authoritarian regime”, denounced today the head of the diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

The European official also criticized in a statement the “lack of legitimacy” of a vote in which President Daniel Ortega was re-elected for a fourth five-year term with 75% of the vote.

“Daniel Ortega” eliminated any credible electoral competition, depriving the Nicaraguan people of the right to freely elect their representatives, “said Josep Borrell, as all serious opponents of the head of state were arrested.

For this election, Daniel Ortega recommended a “ballot” with his wife, Rosario Mourinho, vice president since 2017.

Respect for the electoral process “shattered by the systematic imprisonment, harassment and intimidation” of potential opposition candidates as well as human rights advocates and journalists, the European diplomat continues.

Josep Borrell accuses the authorities of making the people of Nicaragua live in a state of “fear” since the time of the 2018 social change movement.

Recalling the new sanctions imposed in August 2021 on regime officials, the European official warned that “additional measures” could be considered in addition to individual sanctions.

These individual restrictive measures concern a total of 14 people, who are banned from residence and transit, and whose assets are frozen in the EU.

For its part, the Spanish government called the re-election of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for a fourth five-year term a “hoax”, saying it “rejects” the election results because of “the unacceptable and arbitrary conditions in which they took place”.

The re-election of Daniel Ortega with 75% of the vote is “a hoax”, “a hoax (imposed) on the people of Nicaragua, the international community and especially democracy”, said Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares in an interview in Madrid.

“There has been no verification of these results and, therefore, they do not provide any guarantee in the eyes of the Spanish government or in the eyes of the international community,” Albares continued.

“There were no free or fair elections,” he said.

In a statement issued shortly after Albares’ statements, the Spanish Foreign Ministry “rejected” the results of the vote due to the “unacceptable and arbitrary” circumstances in which it took place.

“Like the rest of the European Union and a large part of the international community, the Spanish government says yesterday’s election lacked the minimum democratic guarantees required.”

“In these circumstances,” the statement continued, Madrid “refuses to give credibility and legitimacy” to the results.

“The Nicaraguan government has established an oppressive and authoritarian regime, which has translated into ‘systematic persecution of political, social, journalistic and economic actors,'” the ministry added.

Speaking to reporters, Albares also said that “opposition officials who wanted to run” in the election “are in jail”, and demanded their “immediate release”.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ