How to end erosion of democracy in Nicaragua?
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced on Sunday that there will be no further elections in Nicaragua for the time being. He said the move was aimed at preventing the opposition from coming to power, which he claims represents the interests of the US and the dictatorship that was overthrown in 1979. Commentators voice concern.
Dangerous precedent in a fragile region
El País calls for international pressure:
“The international community's response must not be limited to the usual rhetoric of condemnation. Conducting business as usual with Managua would be tantamount to complicity in the oppression of an entire people. ... Accepting the establishment of a totalitarian regime not only means condemning millions of Nicaraguans to exile, imprisonment or silence, but also sets a disastrous precedent in a region plagued by illiberal tendencies. ... Democracies have a duty to show Ortega that tyranny comes at a price.”
Of no interest to Trump
Večernji list looks at whether Trump might take the same approach with Ortega as he took with former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro:
“This marks a new phase in [Ortega's] long-standing, authoritarian rule, in which the 80-year-old former guerrilla can no longer be bothered to pretend his regime is democratic, as he had done until now. ... Politico concludes that Trump has never threatened Nicaragua with a military strike because the country is trying to curb drug trafficking, possesses no resources that Trump would wish to seize, and does not send large numbers of migrants to the US. For these three reasons, Nicaragua has never been a thorn in Trump's side, and that is why he has not threatened Ortega with the fate meted out to Venezuela's deposed and abducted president, Nicolás Maduro.”