Sandinistas sweep Nicaraguan vote
Party wins local races nationwide in election criticized as unfair.
MEXICO CITY — The Sandinista National Liberation Front strengthened its political domination of Nicaragua on Monday, when electoral officials said the party had won control of all of the country’s 153 municipalities in an election that critics called unfair.
The party of President Daniel Ortega had controlled 141 of Nicaragua’s municipalities before Sunday’s vote. But after the government outlawed the country’s main opposition parties and jailed dozens of opposition figures, the Sandinistas were able to sweep the field.
They appeared to have achieved de facto singleparty status at the local level, winning the 12 municipalities that had been in the hands of other parties.
On Friday, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights expressed concern that “the minimum conditions necessary” for free and fair elections in Nicaragua did not exist, and called on the government to reestablish democratic guarantees and stop its repression.
The government has shut down about 2,000 nongovernmental groups and over 50 media outlets in its crackdown on dissent. On Friday, officials announced that some 100 civil society organizations were closed.
Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is also Ortega’s wife, told government media that the election confirmed “the unity around peace and the good as the only path” for Nicaragua, adding: “We had an exemplary, marvelous, formidable day in which we confirm our calling for peace.”
Nicaragua has been in political and social upheaval since protests against Ortega’s government in 2018. Over 200,000 Nicaraguans have left since then, most to neighboring Costa Rica.
Before Ortega’s reelection last November to a fourth consecutive term, authorities locked up leading opposition figures, including six likely challengers for president. Ortega has further cracked down on dissent since then, even jailing an outspoken Roman Catholic bishop and other clergy.