Daniel Ortega came to power as a direct result of the Carter administration's funding of the Sandinistas during the Sandinista Revolution that ended 1979 against the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Somoza was an ally of the United States, but fragmented coalitions gained strength against the regime. President Carter thought it was a good idea to pull the U.S. government's aid from Somoza and help the Marxists-Leninists led by Daniel Ortega. Money from the U.S. coffers flowed in to supply the Sandinistas with the needed arms. As a result, in 1979, the Sandinistas entered Managua, and Somoza fled the country. Nicaragua quickly aligned itself with Castro's Cuba and Communist Russia. A former friend of the United States was now a bitter enemy. The stanza in the Sandinista hymn, says it all, "luchamos contra el yanqui el enemigo de la humanidad", "We fight against the Yankee the enemy of humanity".
In 1990, Ortega from pressure by the outside community held free elections for the presidency which he lost to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. Ortega ran again twice to regain the presidency but lost both times. He then devised a scheme with former president Arnoldo Aleman (who had been indicted on corruption charges) to split the liberal party (the opposition party). He granted Aleman immunity from further prosecution. In 1996 and 2001, Ortega lost by about a two-thirds of the vote to Arnoldo Aleman and Enrique Bolanos respectively. With backroom deals, he was able to split the vote and win by almost the same percentage he lost the prior elections, 37%. Ortega was able to regain the presidency in 2006.
Ortega began to mollify his rhetoric on his Marxist-Leninist ideology in favor of a more moderate form of socialism. Ortega, however, never changed his radical Marxist ideology. Two congressmen Ron Klein and Connie Mack, both from Florida declared that Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela are, "a Trio of Tyrants." This latest display of the FSLN's tactics in trying to steal the election is just more of the same for Daniel Ortega.
With municipal elections in the balance, Ortega is trying to hold on to power as he allies himself with Hugo Chavez. He effectively eliminated two opposition parties before the Municipal elections, and he did not allow outside observers to monitor the elections. Of course, there is a reason for this – Ortega is trying to steal the election.
The prize of course is Managua where the majority of Nicaraguans live. The Sandinistas have won Managua for the past eight years, but the opposition party's candidate Eduardo Montealegre was ahead of the Sandinista candidate and former boxer Alexis Arguello.
The following has been reported in the Municipal elections of November 9th
- Late openings of voting centers
- Harassment of PLC, (opposition party) poll watchers
- Utilization of concocted methods to eliminate votes of the PLC
- Mobilization of mobs to intimidate voters
- Intimidation and physical aggressions on PLC voters
- Taking of voting centers by the CPC (Ortega's People's Power Council - Highest authority in Nicaragua)
- Blocking of poll watchers of the PLC
- Premature closings of voting centers
- Acts of violence in various polling centers.
Fraud reigns supreme in Nicaragua
1 comment:
Sounds almost like America. Imagine if Obama lost, there'd be riots gallore - like the Rodney King trials but now there are celebrations like the OJ Simpson trial of old. I hope my Republican representatives can prove me wrong in their hope for a successful Obama and the dangers I think will likely cripple the world for centuries, if not forever.
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