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????????Is political freedom in Nicaragua under threat? | The Stream

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The arrest by police of several politicians, student activists, and farming leaders in Nicaragua has human rights groups concerned that the government led by President Daniel Ortega is trying to stifle opposition in the run-up to a general election.

The most recent arrests of high-profile figures came on July 5, when police detained three farming leaders, accusing them of murder, kidnap and armed robbery during anti-government demonstrations in 2018. The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) government says the protests were part of a coup attempt supported by foreign powers. One of those detained, Medardo Mairena, had been considering a bid to run for president in elections on November 7. Two student leaders were also arrested.

Mairena is the sixth person with presidential aspirations to have been detained of late by police. Since early June, candidates Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Félix Maradiaga, Miguel Mora Barberena and Juan Sebastián Chamorro have been arrested.

The UN’s human rights chief Michelle Bachelet and the European Union’s High Representative Josep Borrell have led international criticism of the arrests, while Human Rights Watch says Nicaragua’s government is leading an “intensifying campaign of violence and repression against the opposition and civil society”. Ortega has rejected the censure, saying that laws recently passed by the FSLN-dominated congress are being applied “by the book” against “enemies of the revolution”.

In this episode of The Stream, we’ll look at the impact of the recent arrests in Nicaragua and ask what they mean for the country in the run-up to the November elections.

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