Maybe this needs its own thread, idk, but RW fascism is spreading around the world, and it needs to be stopped. Of course, the naysayers on here claim, "It's nothing to be worried about. It will all work out. Take a chill pill."
"PhQ", I say.
Nicaragua's democracy is crumbling. It's been a long time coming
Nicaragua's already fragile democracy is quickly backsliding into a dictatorship.
President Daniel Ortega has spent the last week using the undisputed power of the country's police and courts to crack down on his political opposition with brutal efficiency.
At least 13 opposition leaders have been arrested and charged with vague, so-called "national security" violations, which human rights groups say is a clear sign that the country's strong-man leader is doing his best to eliminate dissent and crush any competition ahead of upcoming general elections on November 7, a vote where he hopes to secure his fourth consecutive term as president.
Four of the detained opposition figures are presidential candidates, charged with crimes that will likely disqualify them from running against Ortega.
It all started with the arrest of prominent presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, who'd been investigated since last month on allegations she mismanaged a non-profit free press advocacy organization she ran, according to a statement from Nicaragua's prosecutor's office.
Just one day after announcing her candidacy for the presidency as an independent, authorities raided her home. She was arrested on charges including "abusive management, ideological falsehood in competition with the crime of laundering money, goods and assets, to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua," with prosecutors so far presenting no serious evidence to back up their nebulous claims -- all charges Chamorro Barrios denies.
!['The [Ortega] regime is willing to kill', says wife of detained Nicaraguan activist 'The [Ortega] regime is willing to kill', says wife of detained Nicaraguan activist](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F210613033527-berta-valle-medium-plus-169.jpg&hash=73c28895ce0abb7c637069cdb8509d46)
'The [Ortega] regime is willing to kill', says wife of detained Nicaraguan activist
Chamorro Barrios hails from one of Nicaragua's preeminent families and was widely considered to have a good chance at beating Ortega in November. Her mother, Violeta Barrios, defeated him in the 1990 presidential elections.
The gaze of Ortega's political witch hunt swung a few days later to Arturo Cruz, another presidential contender who was arrested at the international airport in the capital of Managua after returning from a trip to the United States.
And over the next four days, another five prominent opposition leaders were detained, among them Juan Sebastián Chamorro García, cousin of Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, who was also running for president for another party.
More opposition leaders were arrested over the weekend, including Tamara Davila, who leads a coalition of opposition groups known as Blue and White National Unity; Suyén Barahona, president of the Sandinista-founded Unamos party; Hugo Torres Jiménez, vice-president of Unamos; Dora María Téllez; founder of Unamos; Ana Margarita Vijil, an activist at Unamos; and Victor Hugo Tinoco, a Unamos member and Nicaragua's former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 1980s.
Most are being investigated for the same charges -- acting "against the independence, sovereignty and auto-determination" of the country, according to press releases from the prosecutor's office.
"This is the product of fear and terror that Daniel Ortega has in the face of transparent, competitive elections," Juan Sebastián said in an interview with CNN en Español's Carmen Aristegui a few days before he was arrested.
The Ortega administration did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
But for those who monitor Nicaragua closely, the events of the past week have not been surprising. Many feel they have been a long time coming.
More in the link:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/amer...acy-detentions-analysis-intl-latam/index.html
This further enforces the intentions of the acts of the GOP in trying to stifle voter participation and a lack of investigations into the Jan. 6th events. If Trump had his way, he would become our Ortega, and his party would fully rally behind him.
It has to be stopped.
Convince me otherwise.