04-08-2016: Latin American Weekly Report

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega has swept away the last vestige of opposition to his government and consolidated his ironclad grip on power. The supreme electoral court (CSE), subjugated to the Ortega administration, issued a ruling on 28 July dismissing 28 national legislators (including 12 alternates) from the main opposition Partido Liberal Independiente (PLI). The move means that the national assembly, the only state institution not in thrall to Ortega, is now completely controlled by the ruling Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN). Days later Ortega confirmed that his wife, First Lady Rosario Murillo, would serve as his running mate in November’s presidential elections, formally entrenching the family dynasty.