Russia and Bolivia congratulate Daniel Ortega’s election despite international criticism

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of Russia and Bolivia’s ex-president Evo Morales expressed their support for the elections held in Nicaragua leading to a new reelection of Daniel Ortega, labeled a “farce” and a “pantomime” by the international community.

The Bolivian Foreign Ministry also supported the Nicaraguan dictator and applauded the election day despite the arrest of all candidates running for the presidency.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the process was held in an “organized” manner and in line with local norms.

“We sent observers (…) and, according to their testimony, the elections were held in an organized manner and in compliance with Nicaraguan legislation, the rules imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and a significant citizen participation,” Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Felix Plasencia.

Although private estimates indicated that only 15% of the electoral roll voted. In turn, the electoral body reported a 65% turnout.

Lavrov added that the elections were held amid “unprecedented pressure” on the Nicaraguan authorities and that the U.S. began a campaign to prevent its results from being recognized. “Only the people of Nicaragua have the right to decide on the legitimacy of the electoral processes in their country,” the Foreign Minister said.

The head of Russian diplomacy added that the pressures on Nicaragua “did not start now,” but date back to 2018. “And, unfortunately, attempts to overthrow the government continue and are not disguised,” he asserted.

For its part, the Bolivian Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it “salutes the general elections in the brother nation of Nicaragua where participation and democratic spirit stand out. We are sure that with a majority participation and respect for the popular vote, democracy is strengthened, as a full exercise of the sovereignty of the people,” the diplomatic statement said.

Bolivia’s ex-president Evo Morales on Monday congratulated Daniel Ortega after Nicaragua’s Supreme Electoral Council declared him the winner of the scandalous and fraudulent elections held on Sunday in the country. Morales – who resigned in November 2019 after also attempting a fraud that triggered a social uprising – called the elections a “demonstration of courage and democratic maturity.”

“We salute the dignified people of Nicaragua who in a demonstration of courage and democratic maturity elected brother Daniel Ortega as constitutional president despite the campaign of lies, blackmail and threats from the U.S. Ortega’s victory is the defeat of Yankee interventionism,” tweeted the head of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), the party presently governing Bolivia and undergoing a severe social crisis. Morales’ is the first statement by a Latin American leader in support of Ortega.

INTERNATIONAL REJECTION

The message of the Aymara leader comes at a time when the world repudiates the actions of Ortega and his wife, the all-powerful Rosario Murillo, who led a fierce campaign to take power in Nicaragua by arresting all opposition candidates with a chance to dispute the victory. The United States, Spain and the European Union were the first to denounce the fraudulent and scandalous elections.

“The elections that took place in Nicaragua on November 7 were held with no democratic guarantees and its results lack legitimacy. Daniel Ortega has removed all credible electoral competition, depriving the Nicaraguan people of their right to freely elect their representatives,” said High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell in a statement.

According to the European official, the “integrity of the electoral process was nullified by the systematic imprisonment, harassment and intimidation of presidential hopefuls, opposition leaders, student and rural leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and business representatives.”

The Spanish government also made a statement on Monday regarding the fraud perpetrated by the Ortega regime. The presidential elections in Nicaragua “have been a mockery,” denounced Monday the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares, shortly after the Supreme Electoral Council in Managua proclaimed Daniel Ortega’s reelection for a 4th consecutive presidential term.

“It has been a mockery, a mockery to the people of Nicaragua, a mockery to the international community and above all a mockery to democracy,” the Minister stated to journalists in Madrid.

The United States government yesterday alerted to the electoral farce in the Central American country. “What Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, orchestrated today was a pantomime of elections that were neither free nor fair, and certainly not democratic,” denounced Joe Biden in a statement.

“The United States, in close coordination with other members of the international community, will use every diplomatic and economic tool at our disposal to support the people of Nicaragua and hold the Ortega-Murillo government and those who facilitate its abuses accountable,” he warned.

EVO ON TOUR

Last week, the former Bolivian president reunited with old friends: he was in Argentina – a country where he arrived in a PDVSA plane sanctioned by the United States – for the presentation of a book that tells the Bolivarian version of his departure from Bolivia during the November 2019 crisis when a scandalous electoral fraud triggered an unprecedented social and political crisis. Within weeks, Morales and his allies denounced a “coup d’état.”

In Buenos Aires, he met with Argentine president Alberto Fernández, and with Ecuador’s ex-president Rafael Correa, a convicted fugitive from justice in his country.

Source: Infobae