Nicaragua

How It Started

Three key issues — fraudulent local elections in 2008, a questionable Supreme Court decision in October 2009 to permit the candidacy of incumbent President Ortega, and a presidential decree in January 2010 extending the Supreme Electoral Council magistrates in office after their terms expired — set the stage for a deeply flawed 2011 election process.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center did not deploy a full observation team for the presidential and legislative elections of Nov. 6, 2011, because of restrictive regulations. Instead, the Center sent a small study mission to focus on the election in relation to democratic development.
• A five-person delegation of members and advisors to the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter gathered diverse perspectives from political party leaders, civil society and private-sector representatives, constitutional scholars, domestic and international election observation groups, clergy, and ordinary Nicaraguans. 

Impacts

• The 2011 elections were a watershed event, realigning political power, dealing a debilitating blow to Nicaraguan democracy, and illustrating the limits of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the practice of election observation.
• The Carter Center issued a statement acknowledging the strong electoral support given to President Ortega but expressing concern about reports of significant deficiencies in the electoral process and the implications for democratic governance. “It is perplexing that a country that is showing social and economic improvement has at the same time permitted an erosion of democratic institutions,” the statement read.

This project ended in 2011.

How It Started

As 2006 began, Nicaragua had endured a nine-month political crisis, during which the executive and legislative branches recognized two different versions of the constitution. An agreement was reached that the next legislature, to be elected in November 2006, would decide whether to implement constitutional reform. At the invitation of the Supreme Electoral Council, The Carter Center returned to observe the nearly yearlong electoral process.

Our Work and Methods

• In March, The Carter Center sent a small delegation to observe the regional elections on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast.
• In November, a full international observation mission of 62 members was deployed to monitor elections for the presidency and vice presidency, the legislature, and the Central American Parliament.

Impacts

• The delegation found the overall election climate to be competitive and the election administration to be adequate, with improvements over past electoral processes. The military and police played a positive and nonpartisan role supporting the elections.
• Former President Daniel Ortega won an undisputed victory, although with a plurality rather than a majority of the vote. Four parties gained representation in the legislature, and the results of only one legislative race were questioned. The results were recognized by the international community, and the new president and legislature were inaugurated in January 2007.

This project ended in 2007.

How It Started

In late 2001, President Alemán’s term in office was coming to a close. He was one of the most unpopular presidents in Nicaragua’s history, dogged by widespread accusations of corruption during his term. Elections were set for November, with Vice President Enrique Bolaños running against former President Daniel Ortega.

Our Work and Methods

• The Center sent 50 observers to monitor electoral activities in the country’s 15 departments and two autonomous regions.

Impacts

• Bolaños was elected president.
• The Center’s observers found the November presidential and legislative elections to be generally smooth and fair but said behind-the-scenes politicking to determine party eligibility to be on the ballot revealed institutional weaknesses in the decade-old democracy.
• Observers urged Nicaragua to refine its political institutions, including the Supreme Electoral Council.

This project ended in 2001.

How It Started

As Nicaragua was still in the process of consolidating its transition to democracy, the Supreme Electoral Council invited The Carter Center to observe the country’s municipal elections in November 2000.

Our Work and Methods

• In September, a small study team evaluated preparations for municipal elections.
• An eight-person team was deployed to observe the Nov. 5 voting as well as preparations for the presidential election the following year.

Impacts

• The municipal elections were an important test of Nicaragua’s new electoral law and reformed constitution, and the results were expected to shape the politics of the national elections in 2001.
• The Sandinista and Liberal party composition of the Supreme Electoral Council produced concerns that electoral procedures might discriminate against other political parties, making transparency in electoral administration vital to the legitimacy of Nicaragua’s electoral processes.

This project ended in 2000.

How It Started

Nicaragua’s national elections in October 1996 represented a critical test of the nation’s new democracy. At the request of President Chamorro, the Supreme Electoral Council and the principal political parties invited The Carter Center to observe the election.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center’s Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government deployed a 47-person observation team to 14 departments on election day, preceded by four preelection missions to monitor the entire electoral process.
• After irregularities in the vote count and transmission prompted some parties to seek legal recourse, the Center’s team agreed to stay through Nov. 8 to assess the review process.

Impacts

• Despite considerable administrative challenges and disputes over election results, the process concluded peacefully with the election of Arnoldo Alemán as Nicaragua’s new president.
• The Center’s observers were impressed with the high voter turnout and the many party poll-watchers but urged all stakeholders to take steps to boost public confidence in the electoral process.

This project ended in 1996.

How It Started

Until Feb. 25, 1990, Nicaragua had never had an election in which the winners and all the losers accepted and respected the results. But in June 1989, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, along with the Supreme Electoral Council and the National Opposition Union, invited the Carter Center’s Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government to observe the 1990 electoral process.

Our Work and Methods

• In September 1989, President Carter led a small delegation to gain assurances that the election observation team would have full access to voting and, most importantly, the counting of ballots.
• Delegates returned to observe the voter registration process, the precampaign period (October-December), and the official campaign period (Dec. 4-Feb. 21).
• On election day, the delegation of 34 members divided into 14 teams to be present in all nine regions when the polls opened.

Impacts

• Opposition candidate Violeta Barrios de Chamorro emerged as the president-elect. Carter Center observers found the election to be fair and open, and President Carter skillfully brokered an agreement for a transition of power.
• President Carter wrote of this election: “For the first time in Nicaragua, power was transferred peacefully from the incumbent to a rival after a free and fair election. And for the first time in the world, a revolutionary regime that came to power through armed struggle turned over control of the government to its adversaries as a result of voters’ choice. The elections in Nicaragua were truly a historic moment for democracy.”

This project ended in 1990.

How It Started

At the invitation of President Enrique Bolaños (2002-2007) and leading civil society organizations, The Carter Center joined Nicaragua in its efforts to provide an effective mechanism to exercise the fundamental right to access to public information.

Our Work and Methods

• The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Program partnered with the Nicaraguan government and civil society to support the passage of a strong access-to-information law.
• Six government ministries piloted the adoption of a Voluntary Access to Information Strategy, designed to build a culture of access to information both within government and among Nicaraguan citizens.
• The Carter Center, in partnership with the government, published a handbook for public servants regarding the value of access to information and the officials’ administrative duties.

Impacts

• The access-to-information law was passed in May 2007, under the leadership of President Ortega, incorporating many of the Carter Center’s recommendations.
• The Center facilitated trainings and organizational meetings for civil society members throughout the public debate, ensuring that they were part of building an access-to-information culture.

This project ended in 2007.

How It Started

Representatives of the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter visited Nicaragua in 2005, when Nicaraguans were divided over a constitutional revision passed by the legislature but rejected by the president.

Our Work and Methods

• Formed in 2004, the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter is made up of former Western Hemisphere presidents, prime ministers, and Cabinet ministers dedicated to preventing democratic tensions from erupting into crises.
• Accompanied by the former foreign minister of Argentina, Dante Caputo, and the former minister for human rights in Mexico, Mariclaire Acosta, Carter Center staff experts on Nicaragua assessed the crisis in 2005 and encouraged dialogue.

Impacts

• The group reported its findings to the Organization of American States, encouraging that body to assist Nicaragua in overcoming its tense divide, and an OAS mission was undertaken.

This project ended in 2005.

How It Started

In the mid-1990s, staff members from the Carter Center’s Latin America and Caribbean Program traveled to Nicaragua to analyze land and property rights disputes and explore resolutions.

Our Work and Methods

• With the U.N. Development Program, the Latin America and Caribbean Program sponsored a forum in Nicaragua on property issues.

Impacts

• Participants, including national political officials, former property owners, current occupants, and foreign ambassadors, reached consensus on a few key reforms.
• At President Carter’s recommendation, a follow-up commission met to explore carrying out these and other reforms and made recommendations to the National Assembly, which subsequently passed a property law reflecting the spirit of the conference.

How It Started

In the fall of 1998, Hurricane Mitch became one of the deadliest hurricanes in Central American history, causing nearly 4,000 deaths in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding.

Our Work and Methods

• President and Mrs. Carter visited Managua in November 1998 to call international attention to the suffering and humanitarian need caused by the hurricane.

Impacts

• Following a flight over Nicaragua’s disaster zone, President Carter told reporters he predicted the recovery would be lengthy and urged lenders to forgive the country’s foreign debts and those of neighboring Honduras.

This project ended in 1998.

How It Started

Although Latin America spends relatively less on defense than most other regions, expenditures on expensive weapons systems divert scarce foreign exchange from more effective investments, including education. They also compel neighbors to spend more on defense and, by doing so, generate international tensions.

Our Work and Methods

·       Concerned about an arms race in Latin America in the 1990s, the Carter Center’s Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas urged governments in the region to pause before embarking on major arms purchases.

Impacts

·       Between April 1997 and March 1998, 28 current and 14 former heads of government signed a written pledge to accept a moratorium of two years on purchasing sophisticated weapons.

·       Among the signatories was Nicaragua President Arnoldo Alemán.

This project ended in 1998.