MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – South Florida’s Nicaraguan community is standing in solidarity with voters in their homeland.
Many are questioning the legitimacy of the country’s election after President Daniel Ortega had many of his opponents arrested.
Ortega is expected to win a fourth term.
On Sunday night, President Biden issued a statement blasting the “sham elections.”
The midday march from the Nicaraguan Consulate in Miami to Jose Marti Park drew hundreds of protesters with the same message.
“We are raising our voice against this government that have killed many people in Nicaragua and they’re continuing to do it,” said Christopher Mendoza, a protestor.
The opposition party and many others view the process as a sham election because seven presidential candidates are either in jail or on house arrest, including Berta Valle’s husband Felix Maradiaga. She spoke with Local 10 News earlier this week.
“He was taken away from the car in a very violent way, he was beaten,“ she said.
The South Florida protests Sunday, even at a sit in at Rubio Dario Park, were filled with passionate people, mostly from the Nicaraguan exile community.
People who oppose the process are now unifying, with calls on the international community to step in and to not legitimize the election.
“We don’t want him anymore, we don’t want him anymore in the power,” said Carla Garcia. “He has to leave.”
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