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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 22 december 2020
Nicaragua essentially bans opposition from 2021 elections

MANAGUA, Nicaragua rights violations he has
(AP) — Nicaragua's ruling committed and the dam-
party-dominated Congress age he has done," Cham-
passed a law Monday that orro wrote in his social me-
would essentially ban op- dia accounts.
position candidates from The elections are sched-
running in the 2021 presi- uled for Nov. 7, 2021, and
dential elections. despite term limits — which
The law gives the govern- Ortega has already ex-
ment of President Daniel ceeded — the 75-year-old
Ortega the power to unilat- leader is expected to run
erally declare citizens "ter- again.
rorists" or coup-mongers, Ortega initially led Nicara-
classify them as "traitors to gua from 1979 to 1990 fol-
the homeland" and ban lowing the Sandinista revo-
them from running as can- lution that ousted the So-
didates. moza dictatorship, but he
Given that Ortega has al- lost the presidential elec-
ready applied those terms tion in 1990.
to virtually the entire op- He returned to the presi-
position and the leaders dency in 2007 after three
of massive 2018 protests failed election attempts,
against his regime, the law and he won re-election in
approved Monday ap- 2011. He then sidestepped
pears aimed at sweeping In this May 26, 2018 file photo, the Spanish word for "Murderer" covers a mural of Nicaragua's term limits to get himself
President Daniel Ortega, as part of anti-government protests demanding his resignation in Mana-
aside the last roadblock gua, Nicaragua. re-elected in 2016, and
to Ortega's continuing his Associated Press packed courts and govern-
near-perpetual rule over ment agencies with allies.
the Central American na- against Nicaragua or its aimed at bringing about The leader of the opposi- His Sandinista party controls
tion. citizens." free elections. tion coalition Alianza Cívi- the courts and the legisla-
The law bans candidates So far, the United States The law says people des- ca, Juan Sebastián Cham- ture. Seventy Sandinista
"who lead or finance a has imposed sanctions on ignated by Ortega "will be orro, wrote that Ortega legislators voted in favor of
coup ... encourage foreign about 27 people close to traitors to the homeland, should be the first person to the law passed Monday,
interference, ask for military Ortega and his wife, Vice and for that reason may be banned under the new while 14 opposition legisla-
intervention ... propose or President Rosario Murillo, in- not run for public office." law. tors voted against it, argu-
plan economic blockades, cluding Murillo herself and Treason is punishable by "The one who they should ing it violated the Constitu-
applaud and champion three of her children with prison terms of up to 15 apply this law to is Daniel tion's guarantee of political
the imposition of sanctions Ortega. The sanctions are years. Ortega, for all the human rights for all citizens.q

U.S. nuclear submarine transits Strait of

Hormuz amid tensions

DUBAI, United Arab Emir-
ates (AP) — An American
nuclear-powered guided-
missile submarine traversed
the strategically vital wa-
terway between Iran and
the Arabian Peninsula on
Monday, the U.S. Navy
said, a rare announcement
that comes amid rising ten-
sions with Iran.
The Navy's 5th Fleet based
in Bahrain said the Ohio- In this photo made available by the U.S. Navy, the guided-mis-
class guided-missile sub- sile submarine USS Georgia transits the Strait of Hormuz in Per-
marine USS Georgia, ac- sian Gulf, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.
companied by two other Associated Press
warships, passed through
the Strait of Hormuz, a nar- entist named by the West to seek revenge for both
row passageway through as the leader of the Islam- killings. The Ohio-class bal-
which a fifth of the world's ic Republic's disbanded listic-missile submarine's
oil supplies travel. military nuclear program. presence in Mideast water-
The unusual transit in the It also comes some two ways signals the U.S. Navy's
Persian Gulf's shallow wa- weeks before the anniver- "commitment to regional
ters, aimed at underscoring sary of the American drone partners and maritime se-
American military might in strike in January that killed curity," the Navy said, dem-
the region, follows the kill- top Iranian military com- onstrating its readiness "to
ing last month of Mohsen mander Gen. Qassem So- defend against any threat
Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian sci- leimani. Iran has promised at any time." q