Nicaragua Without Ballot Boxes: Ortega’s Autocracy
Editorial by La Estrella de Panamá
HAVANA TIMES – Nicaragua is no longer living under the pretense of a deteriorating democracy. Daniel Ortega has stopped pretending. By announcing (on July 19) that there “will be no more elections” in the country, he was not making a threat: he was admitting the true nature of a regime that can only remain in power by eliminating the vote.
The ballot box had already been emptied of meaning. In 2021, seven presidential hopefuls were imprisoned, the opposition was barred from competing, and Ortega declared himself the winner without any real challengers. Then came exile, confiscations, the closure of organizations, persecution of the press, and a constitutional reform that turned the State into the property of the Ortega-Murillo family.
But the gravity of this challenge demands more than diplomatic statements.
The OAS, the UN, and democratic governments must move beyond the bureaucratic routine of issuing condemnations and apply sustained pressure: extraordinary sessions, human rights mechanisms, individual sanctions, and support for civil society and persecuted Nicaraguans.
Panama should not maintain a cautious stance that ends up looking like silence.
Just as it has taken a clear position against Venezuela’s authoritarian drift, it must speak out firmly and without reservation on Nicaragua and promote a regional response.
The defense of democracy cannot depend on which country or ruler is undermining it. Ortega seeks to turn fear into law and repression into a permanent system. The international community can still choose between taking action and merely documenting the collapse.
When a dictator eliminates elections, neutrality ceases to be diplomacy and begins to become complicity.
First published in Spanish by La Estrella de Panamá and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
I’m shocked by just how shameless they are to put it in general and formal terms. They’ve simply confirmed a reality that many Nicaraguans have been living with for a long time.