Nicaragua Police Have Taken Over 5 Opposition-Held Towns Ahead of Elections

Riot police in Nicaragua have taken over the city halls of five municipalities held by mayors affiliated with the opposition political party, Citizens Alliance for Liberty Party (CXL), also known as the Citizens for Freedom.

Under current president Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua continues its crackdown on the opposition, with municipal elections only four months away.

Opposition leader Kitty Monterrey confirmed that police have taken over five towns in the country, including Pantasma, San Sebastian de Yali, El Cua, Murra, and El Almendro. Opposition party member and Pantasma Mayor Oscar Gadea Tinoco also confirmed the police takeover of his town's city hall.

Opposition Says Towns in Nicaragua Still Under Riot Police, Pro-Ortega Politicians Name Themselves Mayor

Monterrey condemned the takeover of the opposition-held towns as the government continued its crackdowns on any sort of opposition.

She said that all the mayors were legitimately elected by the people and called on President Daniel Ortega to respect the well-being of the deposed mayors.

NBC News reported that the Nicaraguan government has yet to comment on these takeovers. Deposed San Sebastian de Yali Mayor Noel Moreno said around 50 heavily-armed riot police and Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front members entered his town's offices early Monday.

He noted that the town hall is still under the control of riot police. The deposed mayor added that pro-Ortega Sandinista town council members have already appointed themselves as the mayor and vice mayor of the town.

In Pantasma, another pro-Ortega Sandinista councilmember was named as the replacement for deposed mayor Gadea Tinoco.

The argument for him being booted from his duly-elected position was that the country no longer recognized the political party he was in. So his election as mayor was invalid. Sandinista councilwoman Carmen Obando replaced him.

Nicaragua Government Worsening Its Repression of the Opposition

According to the Associated Press, the CXL legitimately won each of these towns in the 2017 elections. However, the Ortega administration began its purge of any opposition members in last year's presidential elections.

The most atrocious of these was Ortega imprisoning seven opposition leaders who tried running against him last year.

Last August, the BBC reported that the Ortega-aligned electoral council banned the CXL because its president Kitty Monterrey, also known as Carmella Rogers Amburn, holds dual citizenship between Nicaragua and the United States.

The government also revoked the opposition leader's Nicaraguan citizenship soon after and threatened her with deportation. She fled to exile and is currently staying in Costa Rica.

Without any legitimate opposition or opponents, Ortega cruised to victory in last year's elections and remained in power for his fourth term in office.

Both the United States and the European Union called his victory a "farce." Nicaragua has 153 municipalities, and with the takeover, Ortega's Sandinista Front now controls 140 of them.

The other 13 municipalities are under political parties allied with the controversial president. This means that no municipal seats are currently being held by any opposition party.

Deposed mayor Morena said that the Ortega administration does not want anybody else to participate in the elections. Meanwhile, the now-exiled Monterrey called the takeovers a serious attack against the people's will and municipal autonomy.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Repression in Nicaragua: Ortega Attacks Opposition in Run-up to Election - From The Woodrow Wilson Center