The Ortega mayor’s office of Santa María de Pantasma threatened to close the businesses in this municipality that do not make economic contributions to the sports leagues, days in which Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are deified.
“That is what bothers the most, they are not recreational activities, they are political activities,” criticized a business owner. Other companies that have received blackmail from the political operators of the regime in the localities are the agricultural cooperatives.
They complained, for example, that the mayor’s office demands that all baseball players’ uniforms contain the initials of the Sandinista party and that the red and black flag is always waved at each activity. Political secretaries and activists must give the opening words at each meeting and always thank Ortega and Murillo for “the blessed and free homeland in which we live.”
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Can they refuse to give money? -We asked a local merchant- “The problem is that they were very clear, if we do not collaborate, we already know what we are expecting,” he replied in a clear allusion to the fact that he would lose permission for his business to continue open or that he would eventually be signed as an opponent and be chased.
Dissatisfied, but…
The producer cooperatives that have historically sponsored baseball are also being blackmailed. Many of these companies are not supporters of the government and before they made their contributions out of love for the municipality and its people, but since they have seen the manipulation of Sandinismo, they have been suspended. Now they are required to contribute again.
Most have given in for fear of losing their legal status, as confirmed by an anonymous peasant. “It’s unbearable,” another complainant commented. “But what can we do? If we oppose, they label us as being against the government, it is better to collaborate to be able to put bread on our children’s table,” he commented with frustration.
The Sandinista onslaught is not only economic. The municipal stadium built under the administration of democratic governments and with financing from donor countries had been baptized with the name of Oscar Gadea Tinoco, in honor of the most constructive mayor that Santa María de Pantasma has ever had, who was ousted by armed force on the second of July 2022.
The mayor’s office has stopped calling it that and only refers to the facility as Municipal Stadium.
credit is stolen
According to Mayor Carmen Medina, imposed by the dictatorship, the stadium is owed to the “good government of the commander and the compañera”, however, this work was built with funds from donor organizations under the liberal administration presided over by Gadea Tinoco.
This work is considered one of the best stadiums in the department. “They don’t admit that it doesn’t cost them, but if they confiscate property, they also steal other people’s credits. But they are not fooling anyone, we all know who built that stadium,” said a citizen who asked to comment on condition of anonymity.
By United Voices
