US: Nicaragua's elections 'have lost all credibility'

The U.S. State Department says next month’s presidential elections in Nicaragua “have lost all credibility” because of President Daniel Ortega’s arrests of critics and seven potential challengers

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that next month’s presidential elections in Nicaragua “have lost all credibility” because of President Daniel Ortega’s arrests of critics and seven potential challengers.

Starting in May, Ortega began arresting almost any public figure who disagreed with him, including people who fought alongside him in the country’s 1979 revolution. On Thursday, families of 155 political prisoners said in a statement that their loved ones have been subjected to “mistreatment and torture” in prison.

“We view the regime’s latest undemocratic and authoritative authoritarian actions, which have again been driven by a fear of an electoral loss, as the final blow against Nicaragua’s prospects for free and fair elections next month,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington. "That electoral process has lost all credibility."

“It is now a foregone conclusion that Daniel Ortega will ensure that the elections in November are a sham and that he will proclaim himself victorious in the aftermath of those elections,” Price said.