There were no surprises in the November 5th municipal elections in Nicaragua. Just as in last year’s Presidential election, the official polling places shone empty due to the massive abstention, even as the Supreme Electoral Council took great pains to declare another record level of participation, manipulating at whim the data regarding the voter roles.
Cuban writer Leonardo Padura announced in Managua the publication of his new novel, set for release in January 2018. The book, “The Transparency of Time” features the reappearance of the emblematic detective Mario Conde, now as a retired police officer in the contemporary Cuba of 2014.
Instead of trying to silence the independent media as the COSEP private sector communiqué suggests, what the country needs is to recognize the right of the independent press to exercise their critical function without any kind of constraint.
Their desperate desire to impose the story of their starring role in the supposed miracle of our national history pretty much epitomizes the existential tragedy of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, Vice President and heir to the dynasty. However, despite their near monopoly control of the communications media and hence their ability to spread this message repetitively, the story doesn’t manage to be believable or credible.
US ambassador Laura Dogu has a thermometer to measure the business climate in the country: queries made to her by foreign investors. Although she notes that regarding political issues and particularly the November 6 elections, “They need not talk to me, it’s enough to listen to the voices of Nicaragua.”
In defining the key moment of President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba, journalist and blogger Yoani Sanchez, who directs the site known as 14yMedio, doesn’t hesitate in naming the live press conference when – to the general astonishment of Cubans – President Raul Castro found himself obliged to respond to the question of a CNN reporter regarding the Cuban political prisoners.
The arrival of the first Cuban migrants in the U.S., although only a small fraction of the more than 6,000 Cubans still stranded in Costa Rica, symbolizes the collapse of that hateful wall raised by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega to block their passage through Central America.