Nicaragua's Ortega seen tightening grip in election that critics call a sham

FILE PHOTO: A woman watches a televised speech by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega during an event where he agreed with his Honduran counterpart Juan Orlando Hernandez to define their borders in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of Fonseca, which they share with El Salvador, in Managua, Nicaragua October 27, 2021. REUTERS/Maynor Valenzuela

MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega runs for a fourth consecutive term on Sunday in an election seen in Washington as a sham that looks certain to cement his hold on power and deepen the struggling Central American country's international isolation.

The Biden administration is preparing to ramp up sanctions https://www.reuters.com/world/exclusive-us-preparing-new-sanctions-response-nicaraguas-nov-7-election-2021-10-29 to protest the one-sided vote, but it must tread carefully to avoid encouraging economic migration or a destabilizing upheaval in the second-poorest country in the Americas.