The recent survey carried out by the Interdisciplinary Consultancy in Development (CID Gallup) places the dictator of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, in the sixth position of leaders in Latin America with the best performance with 37 percent support.
Despite the fact that in the survey —conducted in May 2022— the Nicaraguan president is above Colombia, Ecuador and even his counterpart Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, the lawyer Juan Diego Barberena, a member of the political council of the Blue National Unity and Blanco (Unab), considers that this percentage is not a good rating.
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“You have to put a lot of thought into the answer that marks the percentage of those surveyed; I think that it is not a good qualification that they are giving Ortega, especially at a time when the left and progressivism have repositioned themselves in the region.
«If we see the case of (Gabriel) Boric, in Chile; the case of Gustavo Petro, in Colombia; Pedro Castillo in Peru, the case of Xiomara Castro, in Honduras, represents a rebound in leftist progressivism,” the expert stressed in an interview with Article 66.
Relying on this approach, Barberena said that Ortega’s approval compared to other presidents in the region “is not favorable; that is, 37 percent approval obviously represents the decline of Daniel Ortega as ruler.
He added that the regional firm is reflecting what Daniel Ortega represents “not only for Nicaraguans but also abroad, which is the autocratic exercise of power.”
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Regarding the position that Ortega occupies in comparison to other leaders, the jurist explained that the survey is not in weighting between presidents, “but rather that the citizens themselves make their qualification as the respective ruler.”
«There is an interesting panorama represented academically in the region and it is that in the face of social exclusion due to some neoliberal policies that deepen social inequalities, there are sectors that prefer totalitarian regimes that do not solve structural problems, but rather immediate problems that had not been solved before. », he emphasized.
afraid to comment
Regarding the qualification that Nicaraguans can give Ortega and considering that the CID Gallup survey was conducted through telephone calls, Barberena pointed out that there is “a fear effect” to give an opinion because they do not know if their opinion would harm them and cause more repression against him.
“There is a lot of fear, but, beyond that, the approval —in the survey it is not favorable— because 37 percent reflects the effect that Daniel Ortega is not solving the needs of Nicaraguans.”
He also emphasized that the percentage given to the Nicaraguan dictator “represents Ortega’s core and floor of voters, those who mostly approve of his administration and do not necessarily take into account the great majority of Nicaraguans who disapprove of his administration because they have been harmed by their ignorance and ineptitude.
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To date, Daniel Ortega remains one of the most criticized and repudiated presidents for the repression and siege since 2018 against dozens of opponents. He currently holds more than 190 political prisoners.
The recent survey places the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, as the leader on the list of the best evaluated president. The study carried out in Latin America has an 83% evaluation, despite criticism for his controversial decisions within the country, which has led to his being labeled a “dictator”, according to some sectors.
