Nicaragua’s ruling party essentially bans opposition from 2021 elections

essentialsaltes said:

From the "why didn't Trump think of this?" files:

The law gives the government of President Daniel Ortega the power to unilaterally declare citizens “terrorists” or coup-mongers, classify them as “traitors to the homeland” and ban them from running as candidates.

Given that Ortega has already applied those terms to virtually the entire opposition and the leaders of massive 2018 protests against his regime, the law approved Monday appears aimed at sweeping aside the last roadblock to the continuation of his already-lengthy rule over Nicaragua.

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essentialsaltes said:

A dictatorship takes on Miss Universe and a beauty-queen ‘coup’​

Just when authorities appeared to have squelched all forms of dissent, a willowy, 23-year-old Nicaraguan, Sheynnis Palacios, won the Miss Universe pageant on Nov. 18. People poured into the streets of the Central American country in jubilation. The government initially praised the victory — then photos emerged of Palacios taking part in mass anti-government protests in 2018, which were eventually crushed by security forces.

On Friday night, Nicaraguan police accused the family that operates the country’s Miss Universe franchise of “conspiring against the nation.” A police statement said Karen Celebertti, a former beauty queen who has run the Miss Nicaragua contest since 2001, had used “spaces supposedly dedicated to promoting ‘innocent’ beauty pageants,” in a foreign-backed plot to boost the opposition. Her husband and son were also named in the complaint. [Celebertti was barred from reentering the country; her husband and son have been arrested.]

Analysts said the attack on the Miss Universe franchise was the latest sign of paranoia from a government that has jailed or deported nearly all opposition leaders, stripped news organizations of their licenses and imprisoned Catholic bishops and priests.

Since the crushing of the 2018 protests, the number of Nicaraguans fleeing to seek U.S. asylum has surged. A recent study by AmericasBarometer found that half the population wanted to emigrate.

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