Nicaragua’s National Assembly on Dec. 21 passed a law to prevent people whom the government believes financed attempts to oust President Daniel Ortega, or encouraged sanctions against his officials, from standing in 2021 general elections. The Law in Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination for Peace was backed by 70 votes from Ortega’s ruling Sandinistas in the 92-member assembly. Critics of the government see the legislation as an attempt to muzzle opposition to Ortega, who in November 2021 will seek his third consecutive term in office. The law doesn’t specify how the ineligibility of candidates will be determined. “Those who ask for international sanctions against Nicaragua or its officials should be candidates in the empire,” the speaker of the national assembly, Gustavo Porras, said in reference to the United States during debate on the bill. Porras is 1 of 27 Nicaraguan officials who have …