Fifth presidential term in Nicaragua for Daniel Ortega. Without a hitch, therefore, he will remain in power until 2027. A re-election that has been branded by the US, the European Union, Germany and Spain as "a pantomime", with a slide towards "an autocratic regime".

In recent months, Ortega, 75, has eliminated his political opponents from the scene: those who ended up in prison, others under house arrest. And at least seven were those who had what it takes to aspire to the office of president, with a good chance of being chosen by the voters. They had not reckoned with what has been nicknamed the "diabolical couple", made up of the Sandinista and his wife Rosario Murillo.

Criticism rained down from abroad: US President Joe Biden called the re-election "a farce". For the EU, the High Representative of Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, accused Nicaragua of having established a "regime of terror" after the riots of spring 2018, transforming the country into "an autocratic regime". And this, Borrell hinted, could induce the "27" to tighten existing economic sanctions.

On the other hand, the Russian Foreign Minister Serghiei Lavrov, after an interview with his Venezuelan colleague Felix Plasencia, declared that he considered "unacceptable" the position of the United States of not recognizing the result of the votes.

(Unioneonline / ss)

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