Venezuela Congratulates Nicaragua’s Ortega on Reelection Triumph

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué Monday congratulating incumbent Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on his landslide victory in Sunday’s elections.

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Caracas, November 7, 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué Monday congratulating incumbent Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on his landslide victory in Sunday’s elections. 

“The victory obtained by the Nicaraguan people is the result of an extraordinary mobilization of popular forces which demonstrate once again the elevated consciousness of the majority of the Nicaraguan people and its commitment to the construction of a sovereign, independent, and peaceful homeland,” reads the official statement. 

Ortega, who led the Sandinista guerrilla struggle that overthrew the US-backed Somoza dictatorship in 1979, was reelected to a third term with 72.1 percent of votes and two-thirds of the results accounted for. The right-wing runner up won just 14.2 percent of the vote and refused to recognize the outcome.

The Sandinistas also won Sunday’s parliamentary contests with 66.4 percent of votes. The polls took place overwhelmingly without violence according to international observers and saw a turnout of 65.8 percent. 

The victory has been welcomed by Latin America’s left, which has been reeling from a string of recent defeats at the hands of right-wing forces across the region.

Following Ortega’s election in 2007, Nicaragua became a member of the Venezuela-led regional bloc known as the ALBA, which was launched in 2005 as an alternative to the US-backed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.