Although the Nicaraguan government has announced that Daniel Ortega
will serve another term as president, international and unaccredited
domestic observers have publicly stated that the electoral process was
marred by significant irregularities. The major opposition candidates
have rejected the results.
Typical is the reaction from Mark C. Toner, a spokesman for the U.S.
State Department:
“The Nicaraguan elections were not transparent. As reported Oct. 31, we
remain very concerned about irregularities throughout the Nicaraguan
electoral process. We specifically noted the Nicaraguan government’s
failure to accredit certain credible domestic organizations as
observers, difficulties voters faced in obtaining proper
identification, and pronouncements by Nicaraguan authorities that
electoral candidates might be disqualified after the elections. On
election day, some observers were denied access to voting centers.”
The Costa Rican foreign minstery, the Minsterio de Realaciones
Exteriores y Culto issued a congratulatory message after Guatemalans
elected Otto Pérez Molina as president Sunday. That was the same
day as the Nicaraguan elections, but there has been no message on that
race.
Ortega is not highly regarded in Costa Rican officialdom. His invasion
of the Isla Calero a year ago pulled Costa Rica into an International
Court of Justice case that still has not been resolved. Some Costa
Ricans believe that Ortega behaved aggressively mainly to solidify his
electoral support.
Said Toner:
“We agree with the European Union electoral mission that the Supreme
Electoral Council did not operate in a transparent and impartial
manner. We also share the concerns of the Organization of American
States electoral mission regarding irregularities in the electoral
process and on election day itself, and we join the OAS in calling upon
Nicaraguan authorities to investigate acts of violence perpetrated on
election day.
“All of these actions, and a lack of full accounting of ballots cast,
reduce our confidence in the outcome of the elections. We also lament
any loss of life as a result of the election and reiterate the EU’s
call for all parties to resolve their disagreements through peaceful
means.
“The United States remains committed to defending democratic processes
and universal human rights, and we encourage the Nicaraguan government
to do the same. This is fully consistent with our common commitment to
representative democracy, as expressed in the Inter-American Democratic
Charter. We will continue to support civil society and promote human
rights in Nicaragua both now and in the years to come.”
--Nov. 11, 2011
U.N. says flooding is real disaster
Special to A.M. Nicaragua
With an estimated 1.2 million people in Central America affected by
severe floods, the United Nations is mobilizing resources to provide
life-saving assistance to those in need, as a senior UN relief official
who visited Nicaragua described the situation in the country as a “real
disaster.”
“When you have close to 10 per cent of your geographic area under
water, I would say that is a disaster,” said Catherine Bragg, the
assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs. She also visited
El Salvador.
“I have been seeing areas where the poorest people were affected and
now they have moved to drier land . . . . The level of the lake that
surrounds Managua is still rising, which is a permanent threat,” she
said when she visited the flood-affected Domitila Lugo area, a
low-lying part of the Tipitapa municipality, about 19 kilometres from
the capital, Managua.
The United Nation has issued a flash appeal for $15.7 million to
provide emergency assistance to an estimated 300,000 people affected by
the disaster in El Salvador, and a separate appeal for $14.3 million
for 134,000 affected Nicaraguans.
In Nicaragua, U.N. workers are focusing on preventing gender-based
violence in shelters for those displace by the floods and on providing
assistance to survivors of sexual violence.
