Nicaragua law essentially bans foes in elections

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua’s ruling partydominated Congress passed a law Monday that would essentially ban opposition candidates from running in the 2021 presidential elections.

The law gives the government of President Daniel Ortega the power to unilaterally declare citizens “terrorists” or coup-mongers, classify them as “traitors to the homeland” and ban them from running as candidates.

Given that Ortega has already applied those terms to virtually the entire opposition and the leaders of massive 2018 protests against his regime, the law approved Monday appears aimed at sweeping aside the last roadblock to Ortega’s continuing his near-perpetual rule over the Central American nation.

The law bans candidates “who lead or finance a coup … encourage foreign interference, ask for military intervention … propose or plan economic blockades, applaud and champion the imposition of sanctions against Nicaragua or its citizens.”

So far, the United States has imposed sanctions on about 27 people close to Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, including Murillo and three of her children with Ortega. The sanctions are aimed at bringing about free elections.

The law says people designated by Ortega “will be traitors to the homeland, and for that reason may not run for public office.” Treason is punishable by prison terms of up to 15 years.

The leader of the opposition coalition Alianza Civica, Juan Sebastian Chamorro, wrote that Ortega should be the first person to be banned under the new law.

“The one who they should apply this law to is Daniel Ortega, for all the human rights violations he has committed and the damage he has done,” Chamorro wrote in his social media accounts.

The elections are scheduled for Nov. 7, 2021, and despite term limits — which Ortega has already exceeded — the 75-year-old leader is expected to run again.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has periodically announced sanctions against “corrupt financial operations and Ortega regime supporters.” The move blocks the U.S. assets of the officials and prohibits U.S. citizens from dealing with them. The U.S. government says it is pressing Ortega to hold free and fair elections.

On Monday, the office announced sanctions on three more officials in Ortega’s government, including the vice president of the Supreme Court, a Sandinista legislator and the country’s police chief.

On Friday, Ortega said that those who support the sanctions “are not Nicaraguans.“