U.S. to give less aid to Nicaragua

Tensions in Nicaragua remain high in the aftermath of recent local elections.

The country’s Supreme Electoral Council announced last week that Sandinista candidates won in 105 of the 146 races in dispute including the capital, Managua. Yet the opposition claimed that there was widespread fraud and that President Daniel Ortega abused his power in the run-up to the November 9th vote.

U.S. officials have also criticized the Ortega administration over the elections; last week, the U.S. representative to the Organization of American States called for an outside audit of electoral results. More drastic measures were taken yesterday:

Citing “deep concern” over Nicaragua's democratic process, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) announced yesterday that it is freezing $64 million in aid pledged to Nicaragua over the next year and a half…

“We had hoped, for the sake of the Nicaraguan people, that the government would continue the country's trend towards peaceful, democratic and credible elections,” Ambassador (John) Danilovich said. “I am afraid recent evidence shows that this is not the case.”

Nicaraguan authorities replied by calling the MCC’s decision “unacceptable” and “unethical.”

Image- AP (“A supporter of Nicaragua's Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN, waves a partisan flag next to a billboard with the image of Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega in Managua, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, New York Times, AP, Tico Times, AFP