Nicaragua: The Construction of a Patrimonial and Repressive Regime

ABSTRACT At the beginning of the 21st century Nicaragua was a weak liberal democratic regime that held free and competitive elections. Since Daniel Ortega came to power in 2006, a process of de‐democratisation has been taking place in which the regime increasingly resembles a traditional caudillismo , where the head of state controls the state administration, the election machinery, the courts and oversees and arbitrates business. However, from 2018 onwards the political system has been sealed off and transformed into an authoritarian one that combines elements of a hereditary and family‐based nature, rooted in personal loyalty and caudillismo , with others of a more repressive nature where dissent is persecuted and punished with imprisonment and exile.