Key regional bloc declares vote neither free nor fair

NEW YORK — The General Assembly of the Organization of American States voted to condemn Nicaragua’s Nov. 7 presidential vote, saying the elections “were not free, fair or transparent, and lack democratic legitimacy.”

Twenty-five countries in the Americas voted in favor of the resolution Friday, while seven — including Mexico — abstained. Only Nicaragua voted against it.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega won more than 75% of the votes in last Sunday’s election, but the outcome was never in doubt after his government jailed seven of the leading potential opposition candidates.

U.S. officials previously called the vote “undemocratic,” and the European Union said they “lacked legitimacy.”

The resolution could open the way to more sanctions on Nicaraguan officials, many of whom are already under U.S. sanctions.

Alexa Zamora, a leader of the Nicaraguan opposition group Blue and White Unity, welcomed the finding.

“The fact that the OAS recognizes the regime as illegitimate gives us a powerful tool to demand the cutoff of outside financing for the dictator,” Zamora said, suggesting that international development loans could be a target of such a cutoff.

Nicaragua’s OAS representative, Michael Rene Campbell, said that “the OAS does not have the authority to become our official vote counter ... the OAS is not the arbiter or auditor of the elections.”

With all government institutions firmly within Ortega’s grasp and the opposition exiled, jailed or in hiding, the 75-yearold leader eroded what hope remained the country could soon return to a democratic path.

President Biden has called Sunday’s vote “rigged” and says the U.S. will use the tools at its disposal to hold the Nicaraguan government accountable.

“The Ortega and Murillo family now rule Nicaragua as autocrats, no different from the Somoza family that Ortega and the Sandinistas fought four decades ago,” Biden said.

The opposition had called on Nicaraguans to stay home to protest. In June, police arrested seven potential presidential challengers to Ortega on charges that essentially amount to treason. They remained in detention on election day. Some two dozen other opposition leaders were also swept up ahead of the elections.