The international polling firm Latinobarómetro announced on Tuesday the decision not to measure Nicaragua in the latest public opinion study, due to the fear felt by the Chilean organization that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo will kidnap its pollsters.
“We want to make a public statement announcing that in this last wave of Latinobarómetro that we will apply now, we will not be able to measure Nicaragua because the conditions are not right. We cannot risk our pollsters being arrested,” the polling firm said on Twitter.
This would be the first time in 28 years that Nicaragua is left out of this regional study that annually analyzes the issue of democracy in 18 Latin American countries, “due to the risk it implies for pollsters,” insisted Latinobarómetro.
The Chilean organization in turn pointed out that, in the case of El Salvador and Venezuela, countries where there has also been a deterioration in democracy, “there is no problem” to continue applying the study.
Related news: Latinobarómetro describes Nicaragua as a “dictatorship” and “family sultanate”
We want to make a public statement announcing that in this last wave of Latinobarómetro that we will apply now, we will not be able to measure Nicaragua because the conditions are not right. We cannot risk our pollsters being arrested.
– Latinobarómetro (@Latinobarometro) December 6, 2022
The Latinobarómetro Corporation is a non-profit organization based in Santiago de Chile, and according to the information shared on its website, its work consists of investigating the development of democracy, the economy and society as a whole, “using indicators opinion polls that measure attitudes, values, and behaviors. The results are used by socio-political actors in the region, international actors, governments and the media.
Latest study on Nicaragua
The last time the Chilean firm measured Nicaragua was in November 2021,when he concluded that the dictator Daniel Ortega and the National Police head the list of corrupt in Latin America.
The study revealed that the repressive institution represents 46% in terms of the corruption index. It is only surpassed by President Ortega and his officials, covering 58% at the Latin American level.
The study also shows that Nicaragua is the country in Latin America where citizens are most afraid of expressing themselves publicly. In addition, the study showed that the citizens of the region “no longer tolerate governments that defend the interests of a few, the concentration of wealth, the scarcity of justice, the weakness of civil and political guarantees, as well as the delay in the construction of social guarantees”.
LThe survey showed that 53% of those interviewed are not so satisfied or very satisfied with the current system in which the country is subjected under the Sandinista regime. Among the citizens of 18 Latin American countries, Nicaraguans are the least willing to express their opinions in public and even within their families.
