‘Only UK journo’ going to cover Nicaragua election on ground says he was detained — RT World News
Reporter from left British newspaper said he was in Mexico to cover Sunday’s election and was arrested without any explanation. In advance of the vote, the US threatened Mexico with more sanctions.
Steve Sweeney (international editor, UK socialist Daily Morning Star), said that he had been put in custody by police while he made a transatlantic flight via Mexico City. His detention will continue and he may not reach Nicaragua in time for Sunday’s general election coverage.
This ballot was complicated, with President Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government calling it absurd. Just days before the election, US pressure mounted on Nicaraguan officials. The House passed the so called RENACER Act. It was a response against violations of Nicaraguan human rights.
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Sweeney is one of the many Ortega defenders who claim that the US continues its long-running bipartisan campaign for Ortega’s overthrow. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) famously ruled in Nicaragua’s favor after it accused the US of violating international law by supporting the Contras armed groups in the 1980s.
He said that he suspects his arrest was part of an attempt by Westerners to control the narrative about the election. Ortega is predicted to win the elections in a stunning landslide.
“I am the only journalist from a British newspaper covering the Nicaraguan elections from the ground,”He asserted. “Blocking me from doing so would leave the British press free to regurgitate their standard anti-Nicaragua fare unchallenged.”
My only British newspaper journalist is covering Nicaraguan elections on the ground. If I were to be blocked, the British press would continue to feed their anti-Nicaragua bias unaffected.
— Steve Sweeney (@SweeneySteve) November 7, 2021
US stated that it won’t recognize the result of the election. It also accused Ortega of crackingdown on the opposition. Sweeney suggests that this could indicate that Nicaragua is facing a coup similar to that which ousted Bolivian President Evo Morales.
“Solidarity with all those on the ground is now vital. We must not fall for the structural misinformation being fed through the mainstream press,”He pleaded for his release and called on Mexico to do the right thing.
He claimed the US barred him from entering Nicaragua for two weeks.
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Sweeney has been arrested, and sometimes even expelled from other countries. Turkey barred Sweeney’s entry in 2019, allegedly because he wanted to report on local elections. Sweeney, and the newspaper for which he works are outspoken critics of Turkey’s government.
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