Rodolfo Gaitán, a Sandinista veteran who sells desserts in a basket in a crowded market in the capital, declared that he would vote to defend the benefits that poor people have obtained thanks to Ortega’s government.
Gaitán lives in a region near the capital, where, according to him, many people have received “chickens, pigs, zinc roofing sheets and credits” from the popular government so they are able to survive or start small businesses.
“The power is in the people,” stated the man, who was favored twice with loans of $ 350 each for the “Zero Usury” program, one of the projects that the government of President Daniel Ortega has driven with Venezuelan cooperation.
Mario Lechado, who has swept and collected garbage in the last 26 years in exchange of receiving 172 dollars a month, declared that he will vote because the government has done good things.
His greatest satisfaction is that his six children have the opportunity to study in a public school for free to have a better future than his.
Daniel Ortega, who is 70 years old, is aiming to have his third consecutive mandate since 2007 with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice presidential candidate for the Sandinista Front (FSLN).
The president runs without the participation of the opposition, which was excluded from the elections because of a controversial court ruling. They called on the population not to vote or to vote null in order to prevent his re-election.
I will vote for my president because no one has done what he does,
said Gloria Rodríguez, a retired, 91-year-old woman who monthly receives a food bag from the government.
However, there are people who declared they would not vote because they didn’t feel represented and others are against Daniel Ortega’s policies.
Some public employees reported that they were threatened with dismissal if they did not vote for the ruling party.