Obama Administration Threatens Nicaragua’s Ortega With Soft “Sanctions”

The administration of US President Barrack Obama has sent Nicaragua a volley of economic warning shots in recent months, withholding several million dollars of aid money and threatening even bigger “sanctions” should the government of President Daniel Ortega fail to improve its tarnished democratic credentials.

Ortega Muscles Through A Makeover Of Nicaragua’s Election Rules

(Photo credit: welshkaren/flickr)

Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled Asamblea Nacional (AN) has rubberstamped a series of electoral and municipal reforms that President Daniel Ortega and his allies say will “consolidate and strengthen direct democracy” and protect future elections from the types of fraud and tampering allegations that have plagued past contests.

Nicaragua’s Tomás Borge, Famed FSLN-Cofounder, Dead At 81

FSLN Cofounder Tomas Borge (Wikipedia)

Nicaragua bid farewell this month to one of Latin America’s consummate 20th century revolutionaries: Tomás Borge Martinez. Poet, statesman and the last surviving founder of the left-wing Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), a guerilla movement that overthrew Nicaragua’s Somoza family dictatorship in 1979, Borge was laid to rest May 2 in Managua’s Plaza de la Revolución.

Ortega Presente! Nicaraguan President Begins Contitutionally-Questionable Third Term

Daniel Ortega (right) with allies Rafael Correa (center) and Hugo Chavez — (Presidencia de la Republica de Ecuador/Flickr)

If the thin turnout at last month’s inauguration ceremony is any indication, Nicaragua’s recently reelected president, Daniel Ortega, is running low these days on foreign friends. But at home, the one-time Marxist revolutionary remains popular – and arguably more powerful than at any previous point in his decades-old political career.

Nicaragua’s Ortega Heavily Favored To Win Third Term

(Credit - jorgemejia/flickr)

With just a week to go before the Aug. 20 start date of Nicaragua’s official pre-election campaign period, the country’s divided opposition is stumbling to the starting blocks, drained of momentum even before the final push toward the Nov. 6 contest begins.

Nicaragua’s Ortega Narrows In On Other Term

(Credit - Mercurialn/Flickr)

Having finally succeeded at forcing himself into Nicaragua’s November election, President Daniel Ortega is now turning his attention to would-be voters, showering them with things like free beer and worker bonuses in an effort to pad his already positive poll numbers and seal the deal on a constitutionally-questionable third term in office.

Ortega Out In Front Ahead Of Nicaragua Elections

(Courtesy of Flickr/Gobierno Republica de Ecuador)

With Nicaragua’s general election now just six months away, leaders of the country’s fractured opposition continue to save their best punches not for incumbent President Daniel Ortega of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), but for each other.

Election Season Kicks Off In Nicaragua

The race for the presidency of Nicaragua is officially on following a late October announcement by the de-facto head of the Consejo Supremo Electoral (CSE), Roberto Rivas, who convoked a general election for Nov. 6, 2011. Itself a subject of debate, Rivas’ proclamation offered an early glimpse of the wild controversy and serious legitimacy questions expected to plague the upcoming campaign season.

Nicaragua Opposition Shuffles Deck Ahead Of 2011 Election

With just over a year to go before the next presidential election, Nicaragua’s deeply divided opposition is scrambling for a viable formula to unseat powerful if not entirely popular President Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN).

Nicaragua: Ortega And Fractured Opposition Locked In Political Scrum

Authorities in Nicaragua have agreed on a pair of personnel changes that could coax the country’s Asamblea Nacional (AN), stalemated for months because of efforts by President Daniel Ortega of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) to sidestep the Constitution and seek re-election, back into gear.