Some Reasons for Ortegas’ Absurdities

The severity of the UN Human Rights Mission report about the Nicaraguan government’s violations of these rights is undeniable.  A just report, not because of its investigators’ professionalism, but also because of the value of the graphic information and testimonies presented about what really happened. These were contributed by Nicaraguan citizens, independent media and foreign correspondents, which exposed the people responsible for murders and other atrocious acts.

Taking innocent citizens to trial and sentencing them for crimes committed by the government’s thugs is further proof of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship’s guilt. Judges and magistrates are merciless tools of the dictatorship’s excesses when it comes to “justice”.  

Ortega and Murillo are the main two figures of the oppressive political regime who insist on their version that goes against the facts. They continue to repress, ignoring the UN’s report and insulting its members. As if this wasn’t enough, they savagely decided to cancel the UN Human Rights Mission’s stay in the country, which is essentially the same as kicking them out.

The nerve and irrationality of those in power leads us to ask questions, looking for a way to explain the possible reasons for their absurd pigheadedness when they deny evidence and testimonies which continue to lead the world to blame them for the crisis the country is facing.

Do they really think that they are right and that the whole world is wrong? Are their principles (if they have any) so strong that it produces their pigheadedness? What kind of morals, ethics or conscience encourages them to not accept their guilt? Have they really stooped so low in their criminal ways that they don’t even suspect it, and instead of wanting to try and resolve the conflict in a civil manner, they lock themselves in with their false reasons for continuing to choose this path of terror?

I believe that they have a little of everything in order to remain stubborn in the face of the world, but I also think that there are other reasons for them to remain firm in their irrational political views. Here are some guesses to answer these questions:

*It’s true, the Ortega-Murillo power couple believe they are not only the owners of the country, but of their fanatics’ minds too, and they make them believe that their lies are true, and that “coup instigators” are the ones committing the crimes.

*The Ortega-Murillo power couple have never acted on any revolutionary principle, because if they had, they would have depended on collective party decisions and not on their vertical power structure.

*Their actions lack all political ethics, and this is reflected in how they have deformed and centralized State bodies, reforming the Political Constitution to suit them and tolerating the corruption of their officials in order to pay off their loyalty.

*They lack any morals because state repression is indiscriminate: they persecute, disrespect and slander bishops of the Catholic Church, they preach using Christian precepts for demagogic ends and they deify themselves when they call the popular insurrection as “sacrilege”!

*They put ethics to one side when they kill children, young people and people of all ages, whether they are children or relatives of State employees, Sandinista party members or Ortega supporters or not; they repress former members of the Police and (Sandinista and National) army who refuse to join in this repression.

*We already know about cases of repression against Daniel Ortega’s former comrades in the underground struggle and guerrilla fight, who were imprisoned and taken to trial for being “terrorists” because they opposed the dictatorship’s excesses, in a civil manner.

*Those who have experienced Ortega’s rage first-hand include former guerrilla fighter and former colonel Carlos Brenes, who stood out a lot more than Ortega during the underground and guerrilla struggle [against Somoza], but he was sent to prison and tried for being a “terrorist”.  Carlos Brenes was a member of the commando that stormed Chema Castillo’s home (1974)… to get his jailer today, Daniel Ortega, out of prison!

*Another treacherous display of ingratitude: two former members of the September Insurrection in Matagalpa (1978) are currently in prison and are being falsely charged with the murder of Lenin Diaz Mendiola, son of Bernardino Diaz Ochoa and Benigna Mendiola: Abdul Montoya Vivas and Rogelio Martin Gamez (Nachito).  Abdul is the son of former Sandinista legislator Erasmo Montoya, who collaborated with FSLN founder Carlos Fonseca Amador. His crime: marching and calling for the freedom of political prisoners.

Along with the reasons for their foolish obstinacy when they didn’t accept the UN’s report or call for early elections to resolve the political, economic and social crisis, the Ortega-Murilla couple have another absurdity that drives their other irrationalities: fear of losing the wealth they have accumulated from holding absolute power, stemming from La Pinata (when state coffers were raided by Sandinistas when they lost the polls in 1990). This reminds us of the popular and wise saying: “The person who has never had anything, and gets something, can go mad.”

Nobody knows just how much the Ortega-Murillo family have in material wealth, aside from disclosed real estate, companies and the media. Their children’s lives like royalty are not paid for with the salaries they earn for the positions they hold, much less the work they do, starting with their father, who has never worked in anything productive.

They might also be afraid because a part of their family capital lies in real estate and they cannot sell this. They cannot deposit their capital in USD abroad because of obvious reasons: because Orteguismo associated itself, out of political convenience, with countries, bodies and revolutionary parties who stand up to the United States’ predominant politics, and they are afraid that the US (which controls the international banking system) might take measures that affect their deposits.

And it doesn’t seem logical to think that they would have these in Venezuela, given the fact that Venezuelan cooperation efforts have been one of the sources of their income, unless of course these are illegal deals made with an official in this country or another Latin American country. They could have accounts in Russia. But, no matter where they are, the problem with the Ortega-Murillo couple’s money is that it has become internationalized, just like their political problems.

On the other hand, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has given rise to US participation which, as always, is looking for a way to fish in the uneasy waters of our countries, under the umbrella of international solidarity with our oppressed people who have been covered in blood by the dictatorship.

One last guess at why Ortega and Murillo are being pigheaded and holding onto power no matter what the cost: this is the “salvation” card they are playing with Arnoldo Aleman, before Luis Almagro, for early elections, but under the aegis of Ortega and only with his allied parties.

There are some grounds for this guessing work, including Ortega’s campaign against the bishops to justify a change in mediators and witnesses [in any resumption of the national dialogue] and his eagerness to deny the Civic Alliance representation. Their interest in making former president Arnoldo Aleman pass as the “leader of the opposition” is so that they don’t lose the legal protection that their partner has granted them. The fact is that neither Ortega or Aleman feel safe as they both run the risk of being tried for the illegal origin of their respective capital.