The international community calls on Daniel Ortega to release those arrested and demand a clean electoral process

Another opposition presidential hopeful arrested in Nicaragua

photo_camera PHOTO/AFP - Members of the opposition alliance Citizens for Freedom arrive at the Supreme Electoral Council to register their alliance in Managua

Academic Arturo Cruz became the second opposition presidential hopeful to be arrested in less than a week on Saturday, with five months to go before elections in which President Daniel Ortega seeks his third consecutive re-election.

Cruz was arrested this morning by National Police officers at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport on his way back from a tour of the United States.

After learning of Cruz's arrest, the State Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Julie Chung, called on the Sandinista leader, whom she called an "international pariah", to be released.

"The United States calls for the immediate release of Nicaraguan opposition leader Arturo Cruz. The international community has spoken: with respect to Ortega, Nicaragua is becoming an international pariah and moving further and further away from democracy," Chung said on her Twitter account.

Previous cases

Hours later, another presidential hopeful, Félix Maradiaga, of the opposition National Blue and White Unity, said he had been summoned to appear before the Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday, but did not specify a criminal case or the conditions under which he would have to attend.

Four days earlier, the judiciary had ordered the "house arrest" of independent candidate Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, the opposition figure most likely to win the November elections but who was disqualified from the electoral process.

Cruz, a presidential pre-candidate for the opposition Alianza Ciudadana, "is being investigated by the National Police because there are strong indications that he has attempted against Nicaraguan society and the rights of the people," the Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

The Public Prosecutor's Office indicated that Cruz apparently violated the "Law for the defence of the rights of the people and independence, sovereignty and self-determination for peace", which came into force last December.

The law prevents those considered "traitors to the homeland" from running for elected office, who face sentences of between two and 20 years in prison.

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Hours before the arrest, Cruz's press team had reported that the pre-candidate had been held at Managua airport for three hours.

The day before, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) had reminded the parties participating in the electoral process that they must ensure that their candidates, both for the presidency and for deputies, comply with all legal requirements in order to be accepted in the race for elected office.

However, Cruz, a former ambassador to the Ortega government (2007-2009), who fulfilled almost all of these requirements, in addition to being arrested, could be disqualified.

Questioning the new arrest

The Organisation of American States (OAS), which had already strongly questioned the arrest and disqualification of Chamorro, today deplored Cruz's arrest and demanded his release.

"We demand the release of candidate Arturo Cruz. The manipulation of security forces and the judiciary (to) imprison opposition candidates is unacceptable, which puts Nicaragua outside the inter-American legality. These actions are contrary to free and fair elections," said OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro.

While the former executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Paulo Abrao, said: "In less than a week Ortega has arrested two presidential pre-candidates, after having already disqualified two other opposition party polling stations. It is not necessary to wait for "elections" to know that there is no democracy in Nicaragua".

Chamorro with her "head held high"

The international community, including the UN, the OAS and the European Commission, had already signalled their concern over Chamorro's arrest.

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Chamorro Barrios was arrested and disqualified from the elections after the Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation for allegedly committing the crimes of "abusive management and ideological falsehood in concurrence with money laundering, property and assets".

According to her older brother, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios, Cristiana is totally incommunicado but "with her head held high", although her condition has not been reported to her mother, former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997), who suffers from an illness that affects her state of consciousness and who defeated Ortega in the 1990 elections.

Opposition complaints 5 months before the elections

Opposition pre-candidates Félix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastián Chamorro have complained that they have been placed under "house arrest until further notice", despite the fact that they have no accusations against them.

And the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) had in May stripped the opposition Democratic Restoration Party (PRD), which enjoyed the backing of the National Coalition, one of the main opposition groups, and the Conservative Party (PC) of their legal personalities.

Meanwhile, other presidential hopefuls, such as peasant farmer Medardo Mairena, Afro-descendant George Henríquez Cayasso, journalist Miguel Mora, Dr. María Eugenia Alonso and ex-contra leader Luis Fley have denounced constant persecution and harassment by the National Police.

"This is part of the perverse strategy of the "Ormu" (Ortega Murillo) regime, which aims to inhibit those it considers "political enemies". It should be noted that these are not criminal investigations, but political persecution", said the NGO Nicaraguan Centre for Human Rights (Cenidh).

In the upcoming elections, Ortega will be gambling on 42 years of almost absolute primacy over politics in Nicaragua.

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