The European Union said on Monday 8 November that the Nicaraguan presidential election held the day before did not meet democratic standards and that “[its] result lacks legitimacy”.
Daniel Ortega, who was seeking a fourth consecutive term in office, “eliminated all credible electoral competition, depriving the Nicaraguan people of their right to freely elect their representatives”, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a statement on behalf of the EU. He listed the human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime: systematic imprisonment, harassment, and intimidation of opposition leaders, students and journalists; and the outlawing of civil society organisations.
According to the High Representative, the 7 November elections have definitively turned Nicaragua into “an autocratic regime”.
The EU has extended until mid-October 2022 its sanctions—an asset freeze and an exclusion order—against 14 regime officials, including the wife and son of the Nicaraguan president (see EUROPE 12809/26). It now plans to go further by taking into account “all instruments” at its disposal, including “those that may go beyond individual restrictions”.
In October, European Foreign Ministers criticised the autocratic drift in Nicaragua. They will meet again on Monday 15 November, and the Nicaraguan issue will likely be brought up. According to European External Action Service (EEAS) spokesman Peter Stano, Member States’ diplomats have been tasked with working on new measures that could take different forms, such as suspending trade agreements.
In the European Parliament, the chairmen of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister, and of the European Parliament delegation for Central America, Tilly Metz, denounced “sham elections”. "It is tragic to see that a man who once fought a cruel tyranny in his country is now repeating history by establishing the same type of dictatorship himself”, they said.
According to partial official results, President Ortega was re-elected for 5 years with 75% of the vote. In second place, with 14.4% of the vote, was Walter Espinoza (Liberal), accused by the opposition of being an ally of Mr Ortega.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the US refusal to recognise the Nicaraguan elections, which he said were conducted in an orderly manner and in full compliance with national legislation. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)