Expat Nicaraguans protest President Daniel Ortega as he runs for unprecedented third consecutive term

Record ID: 80103

  • Title: Expat Nicaraguans protest President Daniel Ortega as he runs for unprecedented third consecutive term
  • Date: 6th November 2016
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NICARAGUAN ACTIVIST, BENJAMIN LUJO, SAYING: "There is already a dictatorship in place in Nicaragua. What they want to do now is make it a dynasty and we, as Nicaraguans, are not going to allow that and we will fight to recover our democracy and our freedom in Nicaragua." PROTESTERS WAVING NICARAGUAN FLAGS AND YELLING 'FOR A FREE NICARAGUA'
  • Embargoed: 21st November 2016 22:40
  • Keywords: Daniel Ortega Zoilamerica Narvaez protest elections democracy term limits
  • Location: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA
  • City: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA
  • Country: Costa Rica
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA00557B4KLJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: It was a small but passionate protest in Costa Rica where Nicaraguans residents marched on Sunday (November 6) to reject Nicaragua's presidential election, which many are characterizing as a "farce."
    Nicaraguans went to the polls on Sunday (November 6) in a vote that President Daniel Ortega is expected to win by a landslide, according to a recent poll but protesters believe his administration has hurt democracy.
    Ortega, a former guerrilla leader, first ruled the country in the 1980s and returned to power in 2007 after a fracture in Nicaragua's right-wing parties.
    His Sandinistas pushed constitutional changes through Congress that ended presidential term limits in 2014 and there is no obvious challenger in this election after the opposition fell apart.
    Victory on Sunday would give him a third consecutive term in power.
    Among the protesters was Ortega's step-daughter, Zoilamerica Narvaez, who accuses Ortega of trying to set up a "family dictatorship" since he appointed relatives to key posts,
    "The same people who support the regime are participating with no euphoria because there are no rivals. This has been electoral theatre, a farce put on according to the instructions of a regime that wants, above all, to obtain legitimacy. Perhaps the most important this is a call to the international community to concede that, right now, it is an absolutely illegitimate election and that today a dictatorship is established in Nicaragua through an electoral process that was absolutely outside the law," she said.
    The protest was organized by the Nicaraguan Civic Democratic Movement, which is made up of Nicaraguan migrants.
    Nicaraguan activist Benjamin Lujo said Ortega he would continue to fight against Ortega.
    "There is already a dictatorship in place in Nicaragua. What they want to do now is make it a dynasty and we, as Nicaraguans, are not going to allow that and we will fight to recover our democracy and our freedom in Nicaragua," he said.
    After nearly a decade in power, Ortega's popularity has remained high due to economic policies and social programs put into place with the aid of allies in Venezuela and Cuba.
    U.S. and international organizations voiced concern about Nicaragua's refusal to host international observers for the vote. Still, the World Bank acknowledges that under Ortega, poverty has fallen almost 13 percentage points.
    Despite some ups and downs, Ortega and U.S. President Barack Obama have maintained a relatively cordial relationship, demonstrating the 70-year-old's dramatic shift from a leftist firebrand to a diplomat who maintains ties with a Cold War foe.
    A U.S. bill known as the Nica Act seeks to condition financial assistance to Nicaragua on improvements in democracy, human rights, and battling anti-corruption, leading Ortega's government to decry "interference" from Washington in September.
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