Nicaragua Veers Toward Dictatorship

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica—Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, running for a fourth consecutive term after imprisoning seven rivals, is widely expected to win an election on Sunday seen as a sham by the U.S. and opponents.

Since May, Mr. Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have unleashed a wave of repression that analysts say exceeds any seen in Latin America since the end of its military dictatorships in the 1980s. He has imprisoned 39 leading political opponents, businessmen, journalists and student and peasant leaders.