Lies my tankie and sapos told me

There are really only two classes of people who are supporting the Ortega regime: tankies and sapos. Tankie is a Spanish term for individuals from foreign countries with cursory knowledge of another place but defend that place’s autocratic regime because it claims to be “Marxist.” Sapos are the Ortega supporters who often have personally benefitted from — or stand to benefit from-the FSLN controlling all levels of government and public funds.

At the start of 2021, in January, Nicaragua’s new laws entered into effect that were modeled on Putin’s autocratic Russia. Basically, in violation of the right to free speech enshrined in the Nicaraguan Constitution, no citizen could criticize the Ortega regime to international actors or the press. The word “sanctions” became a crime if uttered or repeated. Additionally, any funding for nonprofits or the media that came from an international foundation, which is very common, would be declared illegal and “money laundering.’

In response to this law, the opposition candidate Cristiana Chamorro closed down her journalism foundation before December 2020. However, the Ortega regime was so scared of seeing Cristiana on the ballot — after her mother beat Ortega in 1990 with 55% of the vote- that she was accused of money laundering via the foundation anyways. And placed on house arrest. And her candidacy and the related political party were nullified, a legal process that normally should take a long time and able to be appealed but happened almost immediately.

There is very well known sapa author based in New York. She tweeted pictures of the 2021 election ballot to show there were opposition candidates. But if you know this sapa, look at the picture: do you see Cristiana Chamorro on that list? No. Because she has been on house arrest for months. In fact, here’s said sapa’s picture of the ballot:

Under Nicaraguan law, you are presumed to be innocent. And there is no electoral rule that a person charged with a crime cannot run for office. But in Ortega’s regime, the law means nothing. It can be ignored or rewritten overnight, or Sandinista Judges will just interpret it in twisted ways.

Along a similar line, some academic tankies in the US have been trying to paint the FSLN victory as something related to black liberation. This is odd, seeing as Ortega and his VP wife are mestizxs. Also, there was a black Presidential candidate for Nicaragua, but…. he got harassed nonstop by the Orteguista controlled Policia Nacional.

Again, let’s see if we can spot the name of George Henriquez on the ballot in that picture the sapa took:

In Nicaragua, there is a special term known as “partido zancudo” and “zancudear” — zancudo means mosquito, and this refers to very small political parties with no real national scope or membership that just buzz around without doing anything. They are a mere nuisance in terms of weight and actual control- think of the Green Party in the US or the Libertarians.

The only parties on this ballot that are not FSLN are classic zancudos.

The super majority of the international press was denied entry into the Country. The Ortega regime prescreened arrivals and only allowed individuals and groups that would give them favorable coverage. This is similar to when Donald Trump banned critical media from the White House daily briefings.

One such pre-screened and pro Ortega group that traveled to Nicaragua claimed that “signage” was all over for different candidates. They claim this proves the election was fair and transparent and open. Yet no images of banners for Medardo Mairena, Cristiana Chamorro, Felix Maradiaga, or George Henriquez are shown.

The only nonprofit group operating in Nicaragua that is not affiliated with the regime — Urnas Abiertas- used pollwatchers to determine that only about 18% of the population voted. And the Ortega regime mandates all state employees to vote and participate in events, and each neighborhood has CPC — community organizers- who knock on doors and hound after people to vote.

For a Presidential election, less than 1/5 people voting is a farce.

The Sapos may lie to the high heavens and scream about soberania, but they at least probably have some vested self interest in seeing Ortega remain in power forever. Like a relative or relative(s) that are CPC or work for the state. I can understand them, in part — term limits and democracy are annoying when you can lose. It’s fun to close the system when you are in power.

The tankies are much, much worse. The fig leaf of “Marxism” to defend Ortega is beyond laughable at this point. The 2018 protests started in response to two longstanding problems: the rampant deforestation that has led to wildfires at the Indio Maiz forest reserve on the South Atlantic Coast and Ortega’s desire to reduce the pension paid to retired senior citizens.

Ecocide and reducing pensions….sounds like something Ronald Reagan would boast of. Or the IMF would impose. Numerous peer reviewed and rigorously researched books have been done about the systemic poverty and underdevelopment in Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast. This problem has existed since Somoza, even before Somoza, and also pervaded during the Presidencies between Ortega’s time in power.

The decades promised, but only recently completed. Bluefields-Nueva Guinea road, which allows for driving from Managua to Bluefields now in under four hours- was an important step and done from 2019 to 2021 when Ortega was in power. Granted, it was mostly financed with funds from the World Bank, Nation of Japan, and Inter-American Development Bank.

Still, algo es algo.

The elephant in the room, though, is the cult of the personality. The pernicious and widening belief in a single individual, in this case Daniel Ortega, as a savior and for whom all power concentrates and flows. Ortega famously hung out in Costa Rica during most of the fighting before the fall of the Somoza regime, and only returned to Nicaragua once Managua was claimed.

He wasted zero time in grabbing power with both hands when returning to Managua after Somoza fled and was responsible for the mass, sudden deportation of foreign legions because they suspected that their Trotsky, social democratic leanings and aspirations were about to get obliterated in a classic Stalin power play.

And they were right.

In Nicaragua, Ortega is king. He has followed the “fake privatization, pocket cash” playbook of Carlos Menem in Argentina.

Equally important, no credible evidence has ever come to light that the 2018 protests received financial support from a foreign nation OR that any foreign nation has planned a military intervention to oust the Ortegas. Tankies and Sapos love to scream about the Reagan years and Contras, but almost fifty years have passed.

Also, as a journalist myself who has reported on stories in different countries, I will never forget how the black Nicaraguan journalist Angel Gahona was shot in the head while surrounded by police and trying to film protests. I am not linking to this, because the actual video of a bullet hitting his head is still available. I prefer to respect his last moments on Earth, but will fight to defend his legacy.

Even more disturbing, the Policia Nacional — the Nicaraguan police who are given politicized ideological training to follow orders from Ortega and the FSLN only — quickly found two black young men in Bluefields that were nearby and accused them of shooting Angel. Angel’s own family dismissed this Kangaroo Court as one big lie.

So, here’s a flow chart for when talking to sapos or tankies.

→They scream “Nicaragua held a sovereign election”. You: show me the presidential ballot with the names of Cristiana Chamorro, Felix Maradiaga, George Henriquez, and Medardo Mairena.

→They scream “Ortega and FSLN will spur black liberation comrades!” You: so why was Ortega in power since 2006 but only started construction of the Bluefields carretera after getting money from the World Bank? Why did the navidad roja genocide occur with FSLN in power?

→They scream “Ortega is a Marxist! A socialist!” You: why is he overseeing rampant deforestation and cutting pensions for the elderly? Why aren’t there more nationalizations of industry like all the Casa Pellas businesses? Or BAC?

Recently, reports from sources in the central neighborhood of Jorge Dimitrov in Managua are that the police have been stopping and harassing anybody — drivers and pedestrians — who don’t have an ink stain on their thumb indicating they voted. The regime is furious that the Nicaraguan population has refused to dance along to their farcical circus.

But the tankies have long since left; who knows what autocratic regime they will visit next? North Korea is supposed to have lovely winters.

And the sapos don’t have anything to worry about — Ortega will be in power as long as he’s alive, protecting and enriching them at the cost of democracy and civil liberties for the majority of Nicaraguans.