Foreign Digest: The European Union, Japan and Nicaragua

European Union: Like Italy’s stricter program that I recently posted about, the European Union also has developed a pass for those who are vaccinated against Covid-19 or have recent negative test results to allow for travel or entry at certain locations. Member States have the option to join the program. Japan: The ruling center-right party won the Japanese parliamentary elections. Japan is an ally of the United States, particularly versus Communist North Korea and China. Nicaragua: Nicaragua’s Marxist Sandinista dictatorship reportedly engaged in a cyber disinformation campaign against political opponents. As I had also noted in a previous post, the leading opposition figures have been jailed and thus effectively barred from standing for election as Daniel Ortega seeks a fifth term today. He had come to power in 1979 in a coup with the Sandinistas, backed by the Soviets, until losing Nicaragua’s first free and fair election in 1990 and then returned to power through an election four years ago. Ortega had promised not to be as tyrannical, but has broken his promises by becoming increasingly authoritarian. I had posted about his bloody repression of protests last year. Nicaragua, with Belarus, was one of two States chided by the World Health Organization for inaction on the Coronavirus pandemic.