By Ismael López Ocampo and
Mary Beth Sheridan
June 4, 2021
Police on Wednesday arrested Cristiana Chamorro, the leading opposition candidate for president, in the latest in a string of moves that have curtailed any challenge to President Daniel Ortega in the November election.
Chamorro, 67, a scion of one of Nicaragua’s most storied political families, was accused of abusive management and money laundering, according to a communique issued by judicial authorities. Police searched her residence in Managua for several hours and placed her under house arrest, according to her brother Carlos, a well-known journalist.
The detention was assailed by human rights advocates in Nicaragua and abroad. “The Biden administration and the European Union should condemn, in unison, this plan to impede free elections,” tweeted José Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director for Human Rights Watch.
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Chamorro’s mother, Violeta Chamorro, defeated Ortega in the 1990 presidential elections, putting an end to the 11-year reign of his leftist Sandinista movement. Ortega returned to power in 2007 and has been reelected twice since then in elections marred by irregularities. He has gradually concentrated power and grown more authoritarian, with his police killing more than 300 people during anti-government demonstrations three years ago.
This article was first published in the Washington Post.