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In 1984, Ortega won Nicaragua's first ever free and fair presidential election with over 60% of the vote as the FSLN's candidate. [4] During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. Throughout the 1980s, Ortega's government faced a rebellion by US-backed rebels, known as the Contras.
Nicaragua’s dictator Daniel Ortega got some political oxygen after he freed 222 political prisoners, including some of his country’s top opposition leaders, and sent them to the United States.
General elections were held in Nicaragua on 7 November 2021 to elect the President, the National Assembly and members of the Central American Parliament. [6]President Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front sought re-election, while five opposition candidates appeared on the ballot.
Ortega has cracked down on dissent over recent years. More than 200 political prisoners were freed early last year and expelled to the United States, including five former presidential hopefuls ...
The proposals come amid an ongoing crackdown by the Ortega government since mass social protests in 2018 that the government violently repressed. Nicaragua's government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and more, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions.
According to Nicaraguan sociologist Manuel Ortega Hegg, the protests against President Ortega "involve a wider range of groups, like campesinos" who were formally allied with Ortega, along with "many who are sympathetic to the government", noting that those who are demonstrating are from "beyond political parties."
In 2023, Ortega escalated his campaign by closing the Vatican Embassy in Managua and expelling the papal ambassador after Pope Francis likened Nicaragua's government to a dictatorship.
Since Daniel Ortega's return to presidential office in 2007, Nicaragua has experienced democratic backsliding, as Ortega has centralized power and repressed the political opposition. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Scholars describe Nicaragua as somewhere between a competitive authoritarian regime and a full authoritarian regime.