The former head of the Nicaraguan Army, retired general Humberto Ortega Saavedra, acknowledged that in the country “what there is not here is democracy”, and stressed that the Sandinista leadership —headed by his older brother Daniel Ortega— “it has strayed from the democratic course” and “it is marking an authoritarianism”, although it tried to transfer part of the blame to the Nicaraguan opposition.
In an interview with the influential Spanish newspaper El Paísthe former military chief recounted that “The possibility of having democracy in Nicaragua was born when Somoza fell and was legitimized with the political constitution of 1987 (…) Then came the election of Doña Violeta (Barrios de Chamorro) and until that moment the course of what we call today began to be forged. democratic revolution. That is yet to be done.”
“Currently,” he continued, “there is a leadership that came from those struggles, that has strayed from the democratic course and that is establishing an authoritarianism that is not correct, as well as the position of political opponents who do not want any negotiations because they are waiting for the government to completely collapse and for it to collapse on its own.”
This is the second interview, in less than a month, which the former military chief provides to an international medium. In both, he has accused the opposition of being intransigent and trying to overthrow the Sandinista government, although the facts show that his older brother broke all the agreements with the opponents, whom he later persecuted, imprisoned and recently exiled and declared “stateless.”
Regarding the stripping of the nationality of 317 Nicaraguans and the exile of 222, mostly opposition leaders, the retired general said “this is totally arbitrary and disproportionate. Not only to them, but to anyone, the simplest peasant”.
“That is not what we fought for, that is why tens of thousands died to oust Somoza. It was not to put in an authoritarian system, it was to really create a new democracy. But neither was democracy perfect during Doña Violeta, nor under Dr. (Arnoldo) Alemán, nor under Enrique Bolaños. Lately, it has gotten more bogged down,” she added.
The role of Rosario Murillo
The journalist Javier Lafuentedeputy director of the American edition of El País, asked the former military chief “How far do you think Rosario Murillo’s power over Daniel Ortega goes?”, to which the retired general replied: “Rosario Murillo has the weight that Daniel Ortega wants to give her”.
“He has publicly said, although it is not constitutional, that for him she is co-president. She is saying that he and she are in charge there. You don’t have to do a lot of research, ”she finished.
He stressed that, within the Nicaraguan government, “the fundamental one is Daniel Ortega,” which is why he never mentions other people. “I always talk about Daniel Ortega, without trying to disrespect her, because he is responsible for what happens in Nicaragua. I can’t be seeing the lens through it.”
Lafuente insisted on the role of the vice president and wife of the dictator, and asked her: “Can you imagine a Nicaragua governed only by Rosario Murillo?”
“I remember that the famous Comandante Cero, Eden Pastora, said on one occasion that she could not be the imposed successor to the Sandinista movement. I think it would be very difficult, very complex. Until now, she gives her all her strength and she has her right, but I see it as very difficult to think of a situation with her alone in front, ”replied the former head of the Nicaraguan Armed Forces.
The last time Humberto criticized Daniel in public was after his death. of the historic Sandinista combatant Hugo Torres, who died in police custody in February 2022 due to an “illness” not yet specified by the authorities.
After four years without seeing each other in person, the Ortega Saavedra brothers met at Humberto’s house, the night of last December 23. The Nicaraguan Executive assured that Daniel visited his relative because he “has suffered very serious health problems, with consequent weaknesses and acute collateral illnesses.”
Insist on a dialogue
Last Tuesday, March 7, the retired general published an opinion article in the newspaper La Prensa, in which he called a “holy truce” in the sociopolitical crisis that the country is experiencing. In the text, he exonerated his older brother for human rights violations in Nicaragua, as well as for the failure of the two national dialogues in 2018 and 2019.
Ortega stressed, in the interview with El País, that “As long as there is no way to overcome this total lack of communication between two who are refusing, I don’t see how they can set up a dialogue, a negotiation that can produce an agreement. What I try is not so much to be lamenting what happened, but to see how it never happens again and that Nicaragua does not collapse again.
“There are some forces that say that you cannot negotiate with a government that is criminal, who is accused of crimes against humanity, a lot of things. And the Government also says that they (the opposition) are the ones who caused the situation in 2018. I don’t see that there is another way but to seek the meeting again.
For the former Minister of Defense, Daniel Ortega is “the one who should have the initiative to find a form of communication to generate a dialogue with the same opponents who have been denied space.”
He pointed out that, in order to seek dialogue, his older brother “will have to rectify all the excesses, this situation in which he has placed the opposition, because with it excluded there can be no agreement for the 2026 elections.”
“If he does not rectify, it will be very difficult for him to continue, he will isolate himself and it will be difficult to govern,” he added.
