Sandinistas Dominate Local Elections in Nicaragua.
| Autor | Witte-Lebhar, Benjamin |
Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega and the governing Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) added to their more than decade-long winning streak with a near-sweep in nationwide Municipal elections. The contests--held Nov. 5 and tepidly approved by observers from the Organization of American States (OAS)--tightened the Ortega regime's already meaty grip on the country (NotiCen, Feb. 16, 2017, June 29, 2017, and Oct. 19, 2017) but also prompted a handful of confrontations that left several people dead.
Overall, the Sandinistas won 135 of the nation's 153 municipalities, including all 15 departmental capitals plus Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) and Bluefields, the main cities in the Region Autonoma de la Costa Caribe Norte (North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, RACCN) and the Region Autonoma de la Costa Caribe Sur, (South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, RACCS) respectively, according to the Consejo Supremo Electoral (CSE), Nicaragua's electoral authority. The CSE published its final results on Nov. 20 after dismissing opposition challenges in seven municipalities.
Bilwi and Bluefields had been governed by the Caribbean indigenous party Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Aslatakanka (YATAMA), which also lost control of Prinzapolka, in the RACCN, and is widely seen as the election's biggest loser. YATAMA, meaning Sons of Mother Earth, refuses to recognize the results and is calling on international bodies to investigate what it claims was voter fraud on the part of the FSLN and its allies in the CSE.
In Bilwi, YATAMA supporters held a rally the day after the election to protest the results but were confronted by riot police and pro-Sandinista youth gangs. Reports vary about what exactly transpired, but sources agree that in the melee, the offices of both parties were attacked and damaged. Several vehicles were burned as well, and an iconic 30-year-old statue symbolizing indigenous resistance was torn down.
In a multi-page document released shortly afterwards, YATAMA reported that three of its followers had been killed and dozens arrested. It also accused the FSLN of trying to eliminate the party and "impose its totalitarian ideology" on Nicaragua's indigenous peoples.
"We're at a very dangerous juncture for the future of the indigenous peoples," the statement read.
Post-election violence caused fatalities in other areas as well. In the department of Jinotega, in north-central Nicaragua, two members of the opposition party Ciudadanos por la Libertad...
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu pruebaCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
