# The President of Nicaragua has ended elections

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-nicaragua-has-ended-elections/1031811>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 20, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-nicaragua-has-ended-elections/1031811 "2026-07-20T19:00:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-nicaragua-has-ended-elections/1031811/1 "2026-07-20T19:00:28Z")

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His justification appears to be that elections are simply a means for “Yankees” to interfere with his country.

[https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ortega-says-nicaragua-will-no-longer-hold-elections-2026-07-20/](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ortega-says-nicaragua-will-no-longer-hold-elections-2026-07-20/)

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-nicaragua-has-ended-elections/1031811/2 "2026-07-20T19:09:27Z")

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There’s a simple solution.

Request a guard composed of Red Sox players and organization staffers to monitor elections, to prevent interference by the Yankees.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-nicaragua-has-ended-elections/1031811/3 "2026-07-20T19:17:57Z")

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I assume he’ll be asking for a Nobel Peace Prize next.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-nicaragua-has-ended-elections/1031811/4 "2026-07-20T19:19:04Z")

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Since it’s fore-ordained he’s going to win, by means fair or foul, he does sort of have a point. Why pretend you’re having elections when it’s all rigged anyhow.

For early stage dictatorships, maintaining the pretense that democracy is still operating is important. See Orban, Erdogan, Putin, trump, _et al_. But Ortega’s been in power for most of the time since 1979. Time to abandon the charade.