On Friday (6), the Supreme Electoral Council of Nicaragua (CSE) disqualified the right-wing Citizens for Freedom (CxL) party, which leads an opposition alliance against the re-election of dictator Daniel Ortega.
The CSE ordered “the annulment of the legal entity of the Citizens for Freedom political party,” according to a court order, read by Secretary Luis Luna to state media.
The move leaves the main opposition bloc out of the November 7 general election – in which Ortega, a 75-year-old former guerrilla in power since 2007, is seeking a fourth consecutive term.
The CSE made the move hours after the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC), the second largest parliamentary force and accused of collaborating with the government, alleged that Citizens for Freedom was acting in violation of the law.
The complaint is that the national president and legal representative of the party, Kitty Monterrey, has dual nationality (American and Nicaraguan), which, according to the complaint, is a “notorious violation of the law”.
The electoral court also canceled the identity card of the president of CxL. According to the agency, Monterrey “used irregular procedures” and “behaved outside the technical conditions and legal regulations for this class of political organization”.
The CxL denounced the suppression of the Nicaraguan nationality of the president of the party leaving her as an American citizen and liable to deportation.
Directors and members of the opposition alliance fear arrest in the wave of arrests taking place in the country on the eve of the elections. Thirty-one opposition leaders, including seven presidential candidates, have been arrested since June, most of them charged with “treason against the motherland”.
Shortly after the disqualification of the CxL by the electoral tribunal, the presidential candidate of the PLC, businessman Milton Arcia, announced that he was considering resigning his candidacy, in protest against the actions of his party, founded by the former president Arnoldo Alemán (1997 -2002). .
“I’m afraid of what’s going on. I love democracy and wanted us all to compete,” he said.
The international community has condemned human rights violations in Nicaragua.
Amnesty International found that the regime “not only does not listen to the international community, but also challenges it with further human rights violations”.
The US State Department called the arrests a “continuing campaign of terror” and said the United States would use all diplomatic and economic tools available to promote a fair election.
Last week, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took a stand for the first time on the dictatorship in Nicaragua and advised dictator Daniel Ortega to “not give up” on democracy, in an interview on Mexican television .
“If I could give Daniel Ortega one piece of advice, I would give it to him and any other president. Don’t give up democracy. Make sure you defend the freedom of the press, of communication, of expression, because that is what promotes democracy, ”said journalist Sabrina Berman, of Canal Onze in Mexico.