Daniel Ortega’s Killing Machine

I really don’t want to write this story. Or, at least, I didn’t expect to. When I moved to Nicaragua for work over a decade ago, I was naive. Idle. Foolish. In a word: American. Even years of PRI antics in Mexico, my ancestral homeland, could not have prepared me for what was to come.

My thinking was as follows: Ortega had gotten elected one year earlier (2007), in clean elections according to the Carter Center, but there had been no major violence like in the 1980’s.

I, and many others, thought that either 1) Ortega would be honest about his slogan “peace and reconciliation” or that 2) the Nicaraguan Constitution would prevent him from running for a second term. No matter how bad he was, I hoped, he would be one and done. And the next Pres could clean up the mess.

Foolishness.

In 2010, Ortega replaced on a whim the members of the Electoral Commission, and his end game was to rewrite the Constitution and scrap term limits. The opposition got pissed, they organized a counter-protest in downtown Managua, and then Ortega unleashed his Plan B: the Turbas aka his violent paramilitary forces.

With the National Police present at the April 2010 protest, masked men, the “turbas,” showed up with homemade mortars which they fired at the Holiday Innnear downtown Managua. Why a Holiday Inn? Are they really big HoJo fans? Did they not get credit card miles redeemed to their satisfaction? No. They chose this target because the Opposition Party was meeting there — it is surrounded by a large cast iron fence. They hoped they’d be safe. They were wrong.

We all were.

The Turbas rocked the hotel with mortars and two days later attacked, again with mortars, the National Assembly (Congress). These violent hooded thugs were joined not just by police, but official members of the FSLN (Sandinista) party.

So, basically, you can’t protest or oppose Daniel without being a target of violence. But, you say, aren’t there elections in Nicaragua? Don’t people still vote? Well, yes. Kinda. You are least go through the motions. Basically, there is/was/will always be massive voting fraud thanks to the Sandinistas. The fraud is so bad — the system so rigged — that opposition parties now are nonexistent.

An example. When my family and I lived near the Busto Jose Marti in Managua, our neighborhood during election week was a funny sight: days before the voting started, people would be walking around the streets carrying new tin roof tiles. Why? Because they had gotten their “ayuda solidaria” in advance of voting.

Of course, they were all members of the FSLN. Our nextdoor neighbor once bragged that he had voted at five different locations…on the same day and in the same election. He was FSLN.

The tipping point. In April of this year, after years of having to stomach Ortega’s total control on power, students led protests that originally started against cuts to Social Security, but turned into a referendum on the Ortega-Murillo regime. Basically, the people are sick of them.

And Ortega replied with murder.

Some background. For years, Ortega has operated a paramilitary group known as the Juventud Sandinista. They are normally masked and armed and are never EVER arrested or stopped by the police. For example, in Managua there were anti-Maduro protests by Venezuela immigrants, and the armed faction of the JS appeared with the goal to intimidate the protesters into silence.

There are rumors that the JS are paid a “estipendio” or stipend of 200–300 pesos to show up and bring the ruckus. In my old neighborhood, there were rumors that JS coordinators recruited known gangmembers. Regardless, these JS turbas do not show up by magic: they arrived in buses or riding in trucks without plates.

Shouldn’t the police stop a car without any plates? Yes. Shouldn’t the police stop any person with a gun who is out in pubic and wearing a mask? Yes. But numerous images show the police coordinating with the JS in Managua. There are reports of the JS entering peoples’ homes by force and kidnapping suspected protesters. Also, the JS allegedly burned a family alive in their house after the family refused to left the JS and police use the second story for a sniper’s nest.

That’s including two young children under ages of five. On JS FB groups, individuals have liked one of the graphic images of the dead younger child and said “this is what happens when you go up against the Commander!”

In addition to the JS, the military in Nicaragua has officially claimed to not be involved. However, the Ortega regime’s forces brutally attacked the massive anti-government protests on Mother’s Day and this included snipers stationed up high in the National Baseball stadium in Managua. Ballistics experts assured they were using Dragunovs and they notched some headshots from considerable distance.

That sure does sound like…the people shooting high powered rifles from distance with precision had serious military training. No?

This has gotten way too long for an internet feature, but two final thoughts to guide you.

FIRST, THIS IS NOT THE 1980s. By and large, the people who are against Ortega are peaceful protesters who are PRO democracy. They are not Somoza sympathizers. They are not Contras. They are not delinquents. They are not gangmembers.

They wear masks to prevent being identified and later targeted by the Juventud Sandinista. They have mortars to prevent armed Juventud Sandinista killing squads from getting close enough to shoot. They have lifted up roadblocks in towns and neighborhoods to prevent the JS killing squads from entering and to put economic pressure on Ortega.

And note: Ortega’s own residence in the Carmen neighborhood is “tranque” city with tons of roadblocks. If Ortega is doing this, why shouldn’t normal citizens?

This point is super important because…I refuse to link to bad takes, but lots of people who have little daily contact with Nicaragua are making specious arguments defending Ortega and the FSLN. For the record, a good chunk of the legit, original Sandinistas who helped remove Somoza have denounced Ortega and his JV.

I am the (grand)child of immigrants and I can understand feeling a cultural affinity for Nicaragua even though you were born and grew up in Miami. But, like, if you only spent two summers in Nicaragua with the abues a few decades ago, you really should save your hot takes on breaking political news for your own private thinking pleasure.

SECOND, ONLY TRUST TWO SOURCES: La Prensa and 100% Noticias. The Ortega family has bought stakes in other newspapers, or censored them (and TV channels), so almost all of the TV stations and newspapers are just regime mouthpieces. For example, three channels feature a daily, hour-long program hosted by Ortega’s wife.

And, yes, the website Confidencial is also normally reliable for info.