Nicaragua Cracks Down on Political Speech, Opposition Ahead of Elections
June 24, 2021--Ahead of elections scheduled for November, the Nicaraguan government is arresting opposition leaders and potential presidential candidates who pose political opposition to their current leader, President Daniel Ortega.
Locals say the current repression dates back to the government's crackdown on political speech after the uprising against the president in 2018. Lesther Aleman, a university student leader, suggested that the current round-up of opposition leaders is to prevent any challenge to the election in November.
"The strategy is to demoralize Nicaraguans, to delegitimize the electoral process to the point that the majority of people will abstain because there is no opposition. That is Ortega’s goal," Aleman told a reporter with Al Jazeera. "That way he can...