By Diego Oré and Daina Beth Solomon

(Reuters.) Nicaraguans voted Sunday for a new president in a campaign by Daniel Ortega, a long-serving President. He has been determined to keep his grip on power and jail critics in a race the United States dismisses as a sham.

Ortega was a former guerrilla leader who overthrew a dictatorship of right-wing families in 1979. He is expected to be re-elected with Vice President Rosario Murillo to keep his title as America’s longest-serving leader.

After being elected president in 1980, Ortega lost in 1990. Ortega was again elected in 2007.

Ortega’s police has held nearly 40 opposition leaders since May. They include seven candidates for the presidency, prominent journalists, and some former rebel allies.

Ortega is only opposed by five lesser-known candidates from small allied parties.

The 92 seats on the unicameral Congress are also up for grabs, which is also controlled by Trump’s allies. Around 4.5 million Nicaraguans can vote.

Jason Marczak is a Washington-based Atlantic Council researcher who specialises in Central American politics. He dismissed Sunday’s vote as “widely disccredited” and stated that Ortega’s popularity can only be defeated with brute force.

“His win will be only possible by locking up potential competitors,” he stated.

Ortega’s current term turned particularly restrictive in 2018. In 2018, he crushed peaceful demonstrations against spending cuts. He killed more than 300 and injured thousands.

A new law was passed by the ruling party last year that penalizes any form of dissent. Foreign journalists are now prohibited from entering the country.

Last Friday’s border agent turned in one Reuters reporter, and another Nicaraguan citizen was returned to the station.

Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary-of-State, deplored last month’s “sham electoral,” and accused Ortega (75), and Murillo (70) of seeking an authoritarian dynasty.

Officials from the United States stated last week that new sanctions are being looked at against the government of the power couple. This sentiment was echoed in Europe by leaders of the European Union, as well as future reviews regarding Nicaragua’s position in the CAFTA regional trading pact.

Ortega was a Cold War-era U.S. antagonist, and a Marxist rebel in the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship. He brushed off international criticism by saying that Nicaragua must defeat imperialists, and that sanctions won’t stop him.

Although most analysts think Ortega will prevail in the immediate term, much like their leftist counterparts in Venezuela and Cuba, in recent years they warn of new refugee waves from Nicaraguans if there is prolonged instability.

Due to economic turmoil before the coronavirus pandemic, many have moved to Costa Rica or to other countries to seek refuge.

The gross domestic product fell nearly 9% between 2018 and 2020, as compared with a robust average growth rate of just 4% in 2000.

Marczak from the Atlantic Council is one of those analysts who already see past Sunday’s results.

“The issue isn’t what happens on November 7,” he stated, but “how strongly the U.S.A and other democracies react on November 8,.”