By Michael Allen on July 21, 2009
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is the latest would-be caudillo aiming to end constitutional constraints on his rule, announcing a “citizen power” initiative similar to the power-grab that prompted the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in neighboring Honduras.
Ortega has called for a constitutional referendum on removing presidential term limits, the latest in a series [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Latin America and the Carribean, Nicaragua, authoritarianism | Tagged authoritarian, Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America (ALBA)., Daniel Ortega, nicaragua, presidential term limits |
By Michael Allen on March 24, 2009
Growing political intolerance and polarization have returned to Nicaragua as President Daniel Ortega’s Government of Reconciliation and National Unity proves to be anything but. Pro-government Sandinista gangs have physically attacked opposition groups criticizing last year’s allegedly fraudulent elections.
“Nicaragua has come a long way from the heady days of 1990, when Chamorro’s election win appeared to [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Elections, Latin America and the Carribean, media | Tagged Backlash, Elections, media, nicaragua |
By Michael Allen on December 30, 2008
Using international leverage to arrest Nicaragua’s downward spiral toward authoritarian rule could prevent President Daniel Ortega from “morphing” into another Robert Mugabe, argues Kevin Casas-Zamora, senior fellow in foreign policy at Washington’s Brookings Institution.
Ortega’s Sandinista movement has reacted violently to the alleged rigging of last month’s elections, cancelling the registration of two opposition parties, and [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Latin America and the Carribean, NGOs/Civil society, Regions, authoritarianism | Tagged authoritarianism, Elections, Latin America and the Carribean, NGOs/Civil society, nicaragua, ortega |
By Michael Allen on November 14, 2008
President Daniel Ortega’s growing authoritarianism has prompted even former Sandinistas to express their concern. But now street clashes following last week’s municipal elections have left Nicaragua’s “fledgling institutional democracy struggling for its life”:
The last time rival political forces fought one another street by street for control of the Nicaraguan capital was three decades ago, in July [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Latin America and the Carribean | Tagged Elections, fledgling democracy, Latin America and the Carribean, nicaragua |
Recent Comments