"This is a more serious effort, but it should have been done months or even years ago," said the AS/COA vice president.

With signs the opposition coalition is poised to make gains, the special advisor to AS/COA analyzes what the November 14 legislative elections mean for the country's future political course. 

"The hard-won lessons of the 20th Century of the evils of dictatorship are now being forgotten," said AS/COA's Brian Winter to The Wall Street Journal.

"He's taken steps with impunity. And each one gets further and further down the path of dictatorship," said the AS/COA vice president.

The hemisphere has a short window to show another dictatorship will not be tolerated, writes Panama’s former vice president.

By denying the Ortega regime of the legitimacy it seeks, Washington and the international community can discourage other budding dictators, writes AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth for Univision.

"The international community can and must acknowledge that the elections are fraudulent," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth in Univision.