Biographies, Articles
Daniel Ortega, Biography
Daniel Ortega joined the Nicaraguan revolution in 1963, helped lead its overthrow of theSomoza dictatorship and was elected democratic president of Nicaragua in 1984 and again in 2006".
The above statement seems rather simple. In most history books, a man with these accomplishments would be hailed as a hero. Unfortunately, the reality is much more complex and some people believe he is a saint while others believe he is the devil. The old adage "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and " Great men are rarely good men." seems to be true so many times in so many countries.
History 1961–1970
The Sandinistas took their name from Augusto César Sandino (1895–1934), the charismatic and historical leader of the country's nationalist rebellion against the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua during the early 20th century, c. 1922 - 1934. Sandino was assassinated in 1934 by the National Guard (Guardia Nacional), the police force of US-equipped Anastasio Somoza , whose family ruled a dictatorship of the country from 1936 until they were overthrown by the Sandinistas in 1979.
The Sandinistas were initially organized as a group of student activists at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) in Managua. Their aim was to overthrow the Somoza regime and establish a Marxist state (although such idealism appears to have been at least partly opportunistic, rather than devoted, as a means to secure Eastern Bloc military support to enable seizing and maintaining power by force).
The FSLN was founded in 1961 by Carlos Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, Tomás Borge and others as The National Liberation Front (FLN). Only Tomás Borge lived long enough to see the Sandinista victory in 1979. The term "Sandinista", was added two years later, establishing continuity with Sandino's movement, and using his legacy in order to develop the newer movement's ideology and strategy. By the early 1970s, the FSLN was launching limited military initiatives against the Somoza US-supported dictatorship. The FSLN is now a socialist Nicaraguan political party.
Daniel Ortega Saavedra was born on November 11, 1945, in the mining and ranching town of La Libertad, Nicaragua, in the municipality of Chontales. He was the third son of Daniel Ortega Serda, an accountant for a mining firm. The family later moved to Managua, where his father owned a small export-import business.
Ortega received his education in private and Catholic schools. He was an active Catholic during his youth, becoming a catechist and giving Bible studies to those who lived in poor neighborhoods. His seriousness, intelligence, oratorical skills, and religious devotion suggested to many that he would become a priest. He made good grades, but his parents sent him to four different high schools—trying fruitlessly to keep him out of a growing student opposition movement in the late 1950s. Ortega studied law for one year at Managua's Jesuit-run Central American University (c. 1961), but abandoned his formal education for revolutionary politics.
Much of the Ortega family had revolutionary credentials. Father Daniel fought in A.C. Sandino's 1927-1934 rebellion against U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, for which he served three months in prison. Daniel's younger brothers, Humberto (born 1948) and Camilo (born 1950) also became Sandinista revolutionaries. Humberto, a top military strategist, eventually became minister of defense of the revolutionary government, beginning in 1979. Camilo died fighting in the insurrection (1978). Their mother, Lidia Saavedra, became active in the 1970s in protests and went to jail for these actions. Daniel Ortega's wife was poetess Rosario Murillo; they had seven children. She worked with the FSLN after 1969 and was captured by the Somoza regime's security forces in 1979. After the victory she became general secretary of the Sandinista Cultural Workers Association and in 1985 became an FSLN delegate in the National Assembly.
Revolutionary Activity
After the 1956 assassination of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, founder of the Somoza dynasty, Luis Somoza Debayle succeeded his father as president and Anastasio Somoza Debayle assumed command of the National Guard. They terrorized suspected opponents of the regime to avenge their father's death. Repression kindled opposition, which surfaced after Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime in 1959. Ortega, still in high school in Managua in 1959, took part in a widespread student struggle against the Somoza regime. The protests of 1959 were organized by the Nicaraguan Patriotic Youth, which Ortega joined in 1960. Members later took part in several guerrilla insurgent movements, but only the FSLN survived. In 1960 Ortega was captured and tortured for his role in the protests. Not deterred from his opposition to the Somoza dynasty, he helped establish the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Youth, along with the FSLN's Marxist founders Carlos Fonseca and Tomás Borge. In 1961 Ortega was again arrested and tortured by the regime. But by 1962 he was again organizing revolutionary cells in Managua's poor barrios.
In 1963 Ortega was recruited into the FSLN, a Marxist-Leninist vanguard revolutionary party committed to the armed overthrow of the Somozas. He helped organize the Federation of Secondary Students and was again arrested and tortured. In 1964 he was captured in Guatemala with other Sandinistas and deported to Nicaragua, again to be imprisoned and tortured. Free in 1965, he cofounded the newspaperEl Estudiante (The Student ), the official paper of the Revolutionary Student Front (Frente Estudiantil Revolucionario—FER), the university support wing of the FSLN. By 1965 he had earned sufficient respect from other top Sandinistas that they named him to the FSLN's Dirección Nacional (National Directorate), the organization's top policy council.
In 1966-1967 Ortega headed the Internal Front, an urban underground that robbed several banks and in 1967 assassinated Gonzalo Lacayo, a reputed National Guard torturer. In November 1967 the security police captured Ortega, and he was given a lengthy sentence for the Lacayo killing. During his seven years in prison he and other Sandinistas exercised, wrote poetry, studied, and continued political activity—including resistance within the prison. During the seven years Ortega spent in jail the FSLN developed and grew.
History 1970s
On December 23, 1972, a powerful earthquake leveled the capital city, Managua. The earthquake killed 10,000 of the city's 400,000 residents and left another 250,000 homeless. About 80 percent of Managua's commercial buildings were destroyed. Somoza's National Guard embezzled much of the international aid that flowed into the country to assist in reconstruction, and several parts of downtown Managua were never rebuilt. Samoza’s ability to take advantage of the people's suffering proved enormous. By some estimates, his personal wealth soared to US$400 million in 1974. This overt corruption caused even people who had previously supported the regime, such as business leaders, to turn against Somoza and call for his overthrow.
In December 1974, a guerrilla group affiliated with FSLN seized government hostages at a party in the house of Minister of Agriculture in the Managua suburb Los Robles, among them several leading Nicaraguan officials and Somoza relatives. The siege was postponed specifically until the departure of the American ambassador from the gathering. At 10:50 PM, a group of 15 young guerrillas and their commanders entered the house. They killed the Minister, who tried to defend himself, during the takeover. The guerrillas received US$1 million ransom, and had their official communiqué read over the radio and printed in the local newspaper La Prensa.
The guerrillas also succeeded in getting fourteen Sandinista prisoners released from jail, and with them, were flown to Cuba. One of the released prisoners was Daniel Ortega. The group also lobbied for an increase in wages for National Guard soldiers to 500 córdobas ($71 at the time). The Somoza government responded with further censorship, intimidation, torture, and murder.
In 1975, Somoza imposed a state of siege, censoring the press, and threatening all opponents with detention and torture. Somoza's National Guard also increased its violence against individuals and communities suspected of collaborating with the Sandinistas. Many of the FSLN guerrillas were killed, including its leader and founder Carlos Fonseca in 1976. Fonseca had returned to Nicaragua in 1975 from his exile in Cuba to try to reunite fractures that existed in the FSLN. He and his group were betrayed by a peasant who informed the National Guard that they were in the area. The guerrilla group was ambushed, and Fonseca was wounded in the process. The next morning Fonseca was shot by the National Guard.
In 1974 the dictator Somoza declared a state of siege (1974-1977) and sharply increased repression of opponents. Under fierce persecution and with many of its elements isolated, the FSLN began to develop different "tendencies" (factions) based on different political-military strategies. In 1975 Ortega rejoined the National Directorate. The next year he resumed clandestine organizing in Managua and Masaya. He helped his brother Humberto and others shape the strategy of the Tercerista (Third Force) tendency of the FSLN. The Terceristas allied with the rapidly growing non-Marxist opposition, and their ranks swelled. Militarily much bolder than the other tendencies in 1977-1978, the Terceristas helped spark a general popular insurrection in September and October of 1978.
Ortega helped form and lead the Terceristas' northern front campaign in 1977, and in 1978-1979 helped lead the rapidly expanding southern front. The FSLN's three tendencies reunited in early 1979 as popular rebellion spread. Daniel and Humberto Ortega became members of the new, joint National Directorate. During the final offensive in June 1979 Ortega was named to the junta of the rebel coalition's National Reconstruction Government. On July 19 the Somoza regime collapsed and the junta took over the shattered nation.
Sandinista Rule (1979–1990)
The Sandinistas inherited a country in ruins with a debt of 1.6 billion dollars (US), an estimated 50,000 war dead, 600,000 homeless, and a devastated economic infrastructure. To begin the task of establishing a new government, they created a Council (or junta) of National Reconstruction, made up of five appointed members. Three of the appointed members belonged to FSLN, which included – Sandinista militants Daniel Ortega, Moises Hassan, and novelist Sergio Ramírez. Two opposition members, businessman Alfonso Robelo, and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro were also appointed. Only three votes were needed to pass law. The FSLN also established a Council of State, subordinate to the junta, which was composed of representative bodies. However, the Council of State only gave political parties twelve of forty-seven seats, the rest of the seats were given to Sandinista mass-organizations. Of the twelve seats reserved for political parties, only three were not allied to the FSLN. The preponderance of power also remained with the Sandinistas through their mass organizations, including the Sandinista Workers' Federation, the Luisa Amanda Espinoza Nicaraguan Women's Association, the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers, and most importantly the Sandinista Defense Committees (CDS). The Sandinista-controlled mass organizations were extremely influential over civil society and saw their power and popularity peak in the mid-1980s.
Upon assuming power, the FSLNs political platform included the following, nationalization of property owned by the Somozas and their collaborators; land reform; improved rural and urban working conditions; free unionization for all workers, both urban and rural; price fixing for commodities of basic necessity; improved public services, housing conditions, education; abolition of torture, political assassination and the death penalty; protection of democratic liberties; equality for women; non-aligned foreign policy; formation of a 'popular army' under the leadership of the FSLN and Humberto Ortega.
The FSLN's literacy campaign, which saw teachers flood the countryside, is often noted as their greatest success. Within six months, half a million people had been taught rudimentary reading, bringing the national illiteracy rate down from over 50% to just under 12%. Over 100,000 Nicaraguans participated as literacy teachers. One of the stated aims of the literacy campaign was to create a literate electorate which would be able to make informed choices at the promised elections. The successes of the literacy campaign was recognized by UNESCO with the award of a Nadezhda Krupskaya International Prize.
Role in Revolutionary Government
Ortega served on the junta of the National Reconstruction Government from 1979 until its dissolution in January 1985 and was the key liaison between the junta and the National Directorate, which set general policy guidelines for the revolution. In 1981 Ortega became coordinator of the junta, consolidating his leadership role. Within the National Directorate he became a leader of a pragmatic majority faction and emerged as the directorate's and junta's major international representative and domestic policy spokesman. When the FSLN had to choose a nominee for president for the November 4, 1984 election, the directorate selected Ortega. He won with 67 percent of the vote, competing against six other candidates.
The National Directorate and the junta in 1979 adopted, and have since followed, two pragmatic policies that are unusual for a Marxist regime: the economy would be mixed—40 percent in the public sector, 60 percent private—and political parties other than the FSLN (except those linked to the Somozas) could take part in politics and hold cabinet posts. The FSLN quickly consolidated its political advantage in the revolutionary government, fusing itself with the new Sandinista popular army and police and adding new seats to the Council of State in a move denounced by opponents as a power grab.
Ortega exercised no charismatic dominance of the Nicaraguan revolution, but gradually emerged as a first among equals within the top Sandinista leadership. A somewhat gruff and intensely private person, he showed little threat of developing the charismatic mass following that other directorate members feared. Moreover, his ability to concentrate power remained limited by the control of key ministries by other members of the National Directorate.
Ortega's sometimes abrasive or confrontational public style at times caused friction for the revolutionary government, especially with the United States. Members of the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Central America, for example, reported that Ortega's comments during two 1983 meetings were rather hostile in tone. In contrast, his religious background and longtime acquaintance with Miguel Obando y Bravo, Archbishop of Managua, made him a useful emissary to the Catholic Church hierarchy. But relations with the Catholic Church grew increasingly strained as the Church became an outspoken critic of the Sandinistas in the early 1980s.
As president of Nicaragua, Ortega established a modern team of technical advisers; his cabinet included other top Sandinistas as well as non-Sandinistas. Ortega's rise to the presidency was regarded by many as a commitment by the FSLN's National Directorate to continue the pragmatism of 1979-1985, a sign also reflected in his moderate inaugural speech.
However, daunting problems faced the Ortega administration and the FSLN's National Directorate. Under their leadership Nicaragua expressed solidarity with other Central American rebel movements, built up its military with the help of Cuban advisers, purchased Soviet-bloc arms, increased trade and friendship with the Soviet Union, and sought to increase independence from the United States while remaining friendly with Western Europe and Latin America. U.S. disapproval, however, had severe consequences.
Upon assuming office in 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for joining with Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador. His administration authorized the CIA to begin financing, arming and training rebels, most of whom were the remnants of Somoza's National Guard, as anti-Sandinista guerrillas that were branded "counter-revolutionary" by leftists This was shortened to Contras, a label the anti-Communist forces chose to embrace.
The Contras operated out of camps in the neighboring countries of Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. As was typical in guerrilla warfare, they were engaged in a campaign of economic sabotage in an attempt to combat the Sandinista government and disrupted shipping by planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's Corinto harbor, an action condemned by the World Court as illegal. The U.S. also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinistas, and, as with Cuba, the Reagan administration imposed a full trade embargo.
The Sandinistas condemned the contras as terrorists, and human rights organizations expressed serious concerns about the nature and frequency of Contra attacks on civilians. In 1982, under pressure from Congress, the U.S. State Department declared Contra activities terrorism. This meant the US could no longer openly support the Contras. The Congressional Intelligence Committee confirmed reports of Contra atrocities such as rape, torture, summary executions, and indiscriminate killings.
After the U.S. Congress prohibited federal funding of the Contras in 1983, the Reagan administration continued to back the Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran (then engaged in a vicious war with Iraq, which was also receiving US military aid at the time) and channeling the proceeds to the Contras. When this scheme was revealed, Reagan admitted that he knew about Iranian "arms for hostages" dealings but professed ignorance about the proceeds funding the Contras; for this, National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North took much of the blame.
Senator John Kerry's 1988 U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on links between the Contras and drug imports to the US concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems." According to the National Security Archive, Oliver North had been in contact with Manuel Noriega, the US-backed president of Panama.
The Reagan administration's support for the Contras continued to stir controversy well into the 1990s. In August 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series titled Dark Alliance, linking the origins of crack cocaine in California (largely aimed at its African-American population) to the CIA-Contra alliance. Freedom of Information Act inquiries by the National Security Archive and other investigators unearthed a number of documents showing that White House officials, including Oliver North, knew about and supported using money raised via drug trafficking to fund the Contras. Sen. John Kerry's report in 1988 led to the same conclusions. However, the Justice Department denied the allegations, and the mainstream US media downplayed them.
Unsuccessful Bid for Reelection
In February 1990 Ortega's bid for reelection was challenged by Violeta Chamorro. She questioned the Sandinistas' close links with Cuba and the Soviet Union and reached out to center and conservative parties to help defeat Ortega. In the 1990 presidential election, Ortega lost to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, his former colleague in the junta. Chamorro was supported by a 14-party anti-Sandinista alliance known as the National Opposition Union, an alliance that ranged from conservatives and liberals to communists. Contrary to what most observers expected, Chamorro shocked Ortega and won the election. In Ortega's concession speech the following day he vowed to keep "ruling from below" a reference to the power that the FSLN still wielded in various sectors.
He was also quoted saying: ...We leave victorious... because we Sandinistas have spilled blood and sweat not to cling to government posts, but to bring Latin America a little dignity, a little social justice.– Daniel Ortega
In Ortega’s last days as president, through a series of legislative acts known as “The Piñata”, estates that had been seized by the Sandinista government (some valued at millions and even billions US$) became the private property of various FSLN officials, including Ortega himself.
A second attempt to regain power in 1996 was again unsuccessful. Twenty-three presidential candidates ran in the October 1996 elections, but Ortega and Arnoldo Alemán emerged as favorites. After several days of vote counting, Alemán was declared the winner with 51 percent of the vote; Ortega came in second with 38 percent. Ortega conceded defeat but continued to question the legitimacy of Alemán's government.
In 1998, Daniel Ortega's stepdaughter Zoilamérica Narváez released a 48-page report describing her allegations that Ortega had systematically sexually abused her for 9 years beginning when she was 11. The case could not proceed in Nicaraguan courts because Ortega had immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament, and the five-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse and rape charges was judged to have been exceeded. Narváez's complaint was heard by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on 4 March 2002.
Ortega's policies became more moderate during his time in opposition, and he gradually reduced much of his former Marxist rhetoric in favor of an agenda of more moderate democratic socialism. His Roman Catholic faith has become more intense in recent years as well, leading Ortega to embrace a variety of socially conservative policies; in 2006 the FSLN endorsed a strict law banning all abortions in Nicaragua.
2006 Presidential Election
The 2006 Nicaraguan presidential election was held on 5 November 2006. FSLN presidential candidate Ortega won the election with 37.99% of the votes cast. The FSLN was the party out in force to celebrate a victory on the following night. International observers, including the Carter Center, judged the election to be free and fair. Ortega was congratulated by president Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, and then-president Fidel Castro of Cuba. Chávez, who spoke by telephone, chanted "long live the Sandinista revolution!" The White House confirmed on 8 January 2007 that U.S. President Bush also had called Ortega to congratulate him on his election victory.
While non-emergency abortions have long been illegal in Nicaragua, recently even abortions "in the case where the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life" have been made illegal in the days before the election, with a six year prison term in such cases too – a move supported by Ortega.
In his first week as President of Nicaragua, Ortega met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two heads of state toured shantytowns in Managua. Ortega told the press that the "revolutions of Iran and Nicaragua are almost twin revolutions...since both revolutions are about justice, liberty, self-determination, and the struggle against imperialism."
As of June 2007, a CID-Gallup survey published in the Managua daily La Prensa found that Ortega's approval level had dropped significantly: 26% of Nicaraguans had a positive image of his handling of the job, 36% a negative impression, and the remaining a neutral impression. The poll also indicated that 54% were still optimistic about Ortega and the government, in particular the health and education policies. Additionally, 57% of Nicaraguans believed the country is on the "wrong track", and only 31% believed that the country is on the "right track".
On 6 March 2008, following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis, Ortega announced that Nicaragua was breaking diplomatic ties with Colombia "in solidarity with the Ecuadoran people". Ortega also stated, "We are not breaking relations with the Colombian people. We are breaking relations with the terrorist policy practiced by Alvaro Uribe's government". The relations were restored with the resolution at a Rio Group summit held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 7 March 2008. At the summit Colombia's Álvaro Uribe, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Ortega publicly shook hands in a show of good will. The handshakes, broadcast live throughout Latin America, appeared to be a signal that a week of military buildups and diplomatic repercussions was over. After the handshakes, Ortega said he would re-establish diplomatic ties with Colombia.
On May 25, 2008, Ortega, upon learning of the death of FARC guerrilla leader Manuel Marulanda in Colombia, expressed condolences to the family of Marulanda and solidarity with the FARC and called Marulanda an extraordinary fighter who battled against profound inequalities in Colombia. The declarations were protested by the Colombian government and criticized in the major Colombian media outlets because FARC actions are deemed criminal.
On September 2, 2008, during ceremonies for the 29th anniversary of the founding of the Nicaraguan army, Ortega announced that "Nicaragua recognizes the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and fully supports the Russian government's position." Ortega's decision made Nicaragua the first country after Russia to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia.
Ortega's anti-American strands were shown alight during his second tenure as head of Nicaragua. His alliances with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela grew, as well as his ties to other isolated partners like the aforementioned Iran. More importantly, with the 2008 economic downturn he said that capitalism is in its death throes and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is the most advanced, Christian and fairest project. He also said God was punishing the United States with the financial crisis for trying to impose its economic principles on poor countries. "It's incredible that in the most powerful country in the world, which spends billions of dollars on brutal wars ... people do not have enough money to stay in their homes."
It is now September 2012 and he is still president.
Daniel Ortega joined the Nicaraguan revolution in 1963, helped lead its overthrow of theSomoza dictatorship and was elected democratic president of Nicaragua in 1984 and again in 2006".
The above statement seems rather simple. In most history books, a man with these accomplishments would be hailed as a hero. Unfortunately, the reality is much more complex and some people believe he is a saint while others believe he is the devil. The old adage "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and " Great men are rarely good men." seems to be true so many times in so many countries.
History 1961–1970
The Sandinistas took their name from Augusto César Sandino (1895–1934), the charismatic and historical leader of the country's nationalist rebellion against the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua during the early 20th century, c. 1922 - 1934. Sandino was assassinated in 1934 by the National Guard (Guardia Nacional), the police force of US-equipped Anastasio Somoza , whose family ruled a dictatorship of the country from 1936 until they were overthrown by the Sandinistas in 1979.
The Sandinistas were initially organized as a group of student activists at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) in Managua. Their aim was to overthrow the Somoza regime and establish a Marxist state (although such idealism appears to have been at least partly opportunistic, rather than devoted, as a means to secure Eastern Bloc military support to enable seizing and maintaining power by force).
The FSLN was founded in 1961 by Carlos Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, Tomás Borge and others as The National Liberation Front (FLN). Only Tomás Borge lived long enough to see the Sandinista victory in 1979. The term "Sandinista", was added two years later, establishing continuity with Sandino's movement, and using his legacy in order to develop the newer movement's ideology and strategy. By the early 1970s, the FSLN was launching limited military initiatives against the Somoza US-supported dictatorship. The FSLN is now a socialist Nicaraguan political party.
Daniel Ortega Saavedra was born on November 11, 1945, in the mining and ranching town of La Libertad, Nicaragua, in the municipality of Chontales. He was the third son of Daniel Ortega Serda, an accountant for a mining firm. The family later moved to Managua, where his father owned a small export-import business.
Ortega received his education in private and Catholic schools. He was an active Catholic during his youth, becoming a catechist and giving Bible studies to those who lived in poor neighborhoods. His seriousness, intelligence, oratorical skills, and religious devotion suggested to many that he would become a priest. He made good grades, but his parents sent him to four different high schools—trying fruitlessly to keep him out of a growing student opposition movement in the late 1950s. Ortega studied law for one year at Managua's Jesuit-run Central American University (c. 1961), but abandoned his formal education for revolutionary politics.
Much of the Ortega family had revolutionary credentials. Father Daniel fought in A.C. Sandino's 1927-1934 rebellion against U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, for which he served three months in prison. Daniel's younger brothers, Humberto (born 1948) and Camilo (born 1950) also became Sandinista revolutionaries. Humberto, a top military strategist, eventually became minister of defense of the revolutionary government, beginning in 1979. Camilo died fighting in the insurrection (1978). Their mother, Lidia Saavedra, became active in the 1970s in protests and went to jail for these actions. Daniel Ortega's wife was poetess Rosario Murillo; they had seven children. She worked with the FSLN after 1969 and was captured by the Somoza regime's security forces in 1979. After the victory she became general secretary of the Sandinista Cultural Workers Association and in 1985 became an FSLN delegate in the National Assembly.
Revolutionary Activity
After the 1956 assassination of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, founder of the Somoza dynasty, Luis Somoza Debayle succeeded his father as president and Anastasio Somoza Debayle assumed command of the National Guard. They terrorized suspected opponents of the regime to avenge their father's death. Repression kindled opposition, which surfaced after Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime in 1959. Ortega, still in high school in Managua in 1959, took part in a widespread student struggle against the Somoza regime. The protests of 1959 were organized by the Nicaraguan Patriotic Youth, which Ortega joined in 1960. Members later took part in several guerrilla insurgent movements, but only the FSLN survived. In 1960 Ortega was captured and tortured for his role in the protests. Not deterred from his opposition to the Somoza dynasty, he helped establish the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Youth, along with the FSLN's Marxist founders Carlos Fonseca and Tomás Borge. In 1961 Ortega was again arrested and tortured by the regime. But by 1962 he was again organizing revolutionary cells in Managua's poor barrios.
In 1963 Ortega was recruited into the FSLN, a Marxist-Leninist vanguard revolutionary party committed to the armed overthrow of the Somozas. He helped organize the Federation of Secondary Students and was again arrested and tortured. In 1964 he was captured in Guatemala with other Sandinistas and deported to Nicaragua, again to be imprisoned and tortured. Free in 1965, he cofounded the newspaperEl Estudiante (The Student ), the official paper of the Revolutionary Student Front (Frente Estudiantil Revolucionario—FER), the university support wing of the FSLN. By 1965 he had earned sufficient respect from other top Sandinistas that they named him to the FSLN's Dirección Nacional (National Directorate), the organization's top policy council.
In 1966-1967 Ortega headed the Internal Front, an urban underground that robbed several banks and in 1967 assassinated Gonzalo Lacayo, a reputed National Guard torturer. In November 1967 the security police captured Ortega, and he was given a lengthy sentence for the Lacayo killing. During his seven years in prison he and other Sandinistas exercised, wrote poetry, studied, and continued political activity—including resistance within the prison. During the seven years Ortega spent in jail the FSLN developed and grew.
History 1970s
On December 23, 1972, a powerful earthquake leveled the capital city, Managua. The earthquake killed 10,000 of the city's 400,000 residents and left another 250,000 homeless. About 80 percent of Managua's commercial buildings were destroyed. Somoza's National Guard embezzled much of the international aid that flowed into the country to assist in reconstruction, and several parts of downtown Managua were never rebuilt. Samoza’s ability to take advantage of the people's suffering proved enormous. By some estimates, his personal wealth soared to US$400 million in 1974. This overt corruption caused even people who had previously supported the regime, such as business leaders, to turn against Somoza and call for his overthrow.
In December 1974, a guerrilla group affiliated with FSLN seized government hostages at a party in the house of Minister of Agriculture in the Managua suburb Los Robles, among them several leading Nicaraguan officials and Somoza relatives. The siege was postponed specifically until the departure of the American ambassador from the gathering. At 10:50 PM, a group of 15 young guerrillas and their commanders entered the house. They killed the Minister, who tried to defend himself, during the takeover. The guerrillas received US$1 million ransom, and had their official communiqué read over the radio and printed in the local newspaper La Prensa.
The guerrillas also succeeded in getting fourteen Sandinista prisoners released from jail, and with them, were flown to Cuba. One of the released prisoners was Daniel Ortega. The group also lobbied for an increase in wages for National Guard soldiers to 500 córdobas ($71 at the time). The Somoza government responded with further censorship, intimidation, torture, and murder.
In 1975, Somoza imposed a state of siege, censoring the press, and threatening all opponents with detention and torture. Somoza's National Guard also increased its violence against individuals and communities suspected of collaborating with the Sandinistas. Many of the FSLN guerrillas were killed, including its leader and founder Carlos Fonseca in 1976. Fonseca had returned to Nicaragua in 1975 from his exile in Cuba to try to reunite fractures that existed in the FSLN. He and his group were betrayed by a peasant who informed the National Guard that they were in the area. The guerrilla group was ambushed, and Fonseca was wounded in the process. The next morning Fonseca was shot by the National Guard.
In 1974 the dictator Somoza declared a state of siege (1974-1977) and sharply increased repression of opponents. Under fierce persecution and with many of its elements isolated, the FSLN began to develop different "tendencies" (factions) based on different political-military strategies. In 1975 Ortega rejoined the National Directorate. The next year he resumed clandestine organizing in Managua and Masaya. He helped his brother Humberto and others shape the strategy of the Tercerista (Third Force) tendency of the FSLN. The Terceristas allied with the rapidly growing non-Marxist opposition, and their ranks swelled. Militarily much bolder than the other tendencies in 1977-1978, the Terceristas helped spark a general popular insurrection in September and October of 1978.
Ortega helped form and lead the Terceristas' northern front campaign in 1977, and in 1978-1979 helped lead the rapidly expanding southern front. The FSLN's three tendencies reunited in early 1979 as popular rebellion spread. Daniel and Humberto Ortega became members of the new, joint National Directorate. During the final offensive in June 1979 Ortega was named to the junta of the rebel coalition's National Reconstruction Government. On July 19 the Somoza regime collapsed and the junta took over the shattered nation.
Sandinista Rule (1979–1990)
The Sandinistas inherited a country in ruins with a debt of 1.6 billion dollars (US), an estimated 50,000 war dead, 600,000 homeless, and a devastated economic infrastructure. To begin the task of establishing a new government, they created a Council (or junta) of National Reconstruction, made up of five appointed members. Three of the appointed members belonged to FSLN, which included – Sandinista militants Daniel Ortega, Moises Hassan, and novelist Sergio Ramírez. Two opposition members, businessman Alfonso Robelo, and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro were also appointed. Only three votes were needed to pass law. The FSLN also established a Council of State, subordinate to the junta, which was composed of representative bodies. However, the Council of State only gave political parties twelve of forty-seven seats, the rest of the seats were given to Sandinista mass-organizations. Of the twelve seats reserved for political parties, only three were not allied to the FSLN. The preponderance of power also remained with the Sandinistas through their mass organizations, including the Sandinista Workers' Federation, the Luisa Amanda Espinoza Nicaraguan Women's Association, the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers, and most importantly the Sandinista Defense Committees (CDS). The Sandinista-controlled mass organizations were extremely influential over civil society and saw their power and popularity peak in the mid-1980s.
Upon assuming power, the FSLNs political platform included the following, nationalization of property owned by the Somozas and their collaborators; land reform; improved rural and urban working conditions; free unionization for all workers, both urban and rural; price fixing for commodities of basic necessity; improved public services, housing conditions, education; abolition of torture, political assassination and the death penalty; protection of democratic liberties; equality for women; non-aligned foreign policy; formation of a 'popular army' under the leadership of the FSLN and Humberto Ortega.
The FSLN's literacy campaign, which saw teachers flood the countryside, is often noted as their greatest success. Within six months, half a million people had been taught rudimentary reading, bringing the national illiteracy rate down from over 50% to just under 12%. Over 100,000 Nicaraguans participated as literacy teachers. One of the stated aims of the literacy campaign was to create a literate electorate which would be able to make informed choices at the promised elections. The successes of the literacy campaign was recognized by UNESCO with the award of a Nadezhda Krupskaya International Prize.
Role in Revolutionary Government
Ortega served on the junta of the National Reconstruction Government from 1979 until its dissolution in January 1985 and was the key liaison between the junta and the National Directorate, which set general policy guidelines for the revolution. In 1981 Ortega became coordinator of the junta, consolidating his leadership role. Within the National Directorate he became a leader of a pragmatic majority faction and emerged as the directorate's and junta's major international representative and domestic policy spokesman. When the FSLN had to choose a nominee for president for the November 4, 1984 election, the directorate selected Ortega. He won with 67 percent of the vote, competing against six other candidates.
The National Directorate and the junta in 1979 adopted, and have since followed, two pragmatic policies that are unusual for a Marxist regime: the economy would be mixed—40 percent in the public sector, 60 percent private—and political parties other than the FSLN (except those linked to the Somozas) could take part in politics and hold cabinet posts. The FSLN quickly consolidated its political advantage in the revolutionary government, fusing itself with the new Sandinista popular army and police and adding new seats to the Council of State in a move denounced by opponents as a power grab.
Ortega exercised no charismatic dominance of the Nicaraguan revolution, but gradually emerged as a first among equals within the top Sandinista leadership. A somewhat gruff and intensely private person, he showed little threat of developing the charismatic mass following that other directorate members feared. Moreover, his ability to concentrate power remained limited by the control of key ministries by other members of the National Directorate.
Ortega's sometimes abrasive or confrontational public style at times caused friction for the revolutionary government, especially with the United States. Members of the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Central America, for example, reported that Ortega's comments during two 1983 meetings were rather hostile in tone. In contrast, his religious background and longtime acquaintance with Miguel Obando y Bravo, Archbishop of Managua, made him a useful emissary to the Catholic Church hierarchy. But relations with the Catholic Church grew increasingly strained as the Church became an outspoken critic of the Sandinistas in the early 1980s.
As president of Nicaragua, Ortega established a modern team of technical advisers; his cabinet included other top Sandinistas as well as non-Sandinistas. Ortega's rise to the presidency was regarded by many as a commitment by the FSLN's National Directorate to continue the pragmatism of 1979-1985, a sign also reflected in his moderate inaugural speech.
However, daunting problems faced the Ortega administration and the FSLN's National Directorate. Under their leadership Nicaragua expressed solidarity with other Central American rebel movements, built up its military with the help of Cuban advisers, purchased Soviet-bloc arms, increased trade and friendship with the Soviet Union, and sought to increase independence from the United States while remaining friendly with Western Europe and Latin America. U.S. disapproval, however, had severe consequences.
Upon assuming office in 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for joining with Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador. His administration authorized the CIA to begin financing, arming and training rebels, most of whom were the remnants of Somoza's National Guard, as anti-Sandinista guerrillas that were branded "counter-revolutionary" by leftists This was shortened to Contras, a label the anti-Communist forces chose to embrace.
The Contras operated out of camps in the neighboring countries of Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. As was typical in guerrilla warfare, they were engaged in a campaign of economic sabotage in an attempt to combat the Sandinista government and disrupted shipping by planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's Corinto harbor, an action condemned by the World Court as illegal. The U.S. also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinistas, and, as with Cuba, the Reagan administration imposed a full trade embargo.
The Sandinistas condemned the contras as terrorists, and human rights organizations expressed serious concerns about the nature and frequency of Contra attacks on civilians. In 1982, under pressure from Congress, the U.S. State Department declared Contra activities terrorism. This meant the US could no longer openly support the Contras. The Congressional Intelligence Committee confirmed reports of Contra atrocities such as rape, torture, summary executions, and indiscriminate killings.
After the U.S. Congress prohibited federal funding of the Contras in 1983, the Reagan administration continued to back the Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran (then engaged in a vicious war with Iraq, which was also receiving US military aid at the time) and channeling the proceeds to the Contras. When this scheme was revealed, Reagan admitted that he knew about Iranian "arms for hostages" dealings but professed ignorance about the proceeds funding the Contras; for this, National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North took much of the blame.
Senator John Kerry's 1988 U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on links between the Contras and drug imports to the US concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems." According to the National Security Archive, Oliver North had been in contact with Manuel Noriega, the US-backed president of Panama.
The Reagan administration's support for the Contras continued to stir controversy well into the 1990s. In August 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series titled Dark Alliance, linking the origins of crack cocaine in California (largely aimed at its African-American population) to the CIA-Contra alliance. Freedom of Information Act inquiries by the National Security Archive and other investigators unearthed a number of documents showing that White House officials, including Oliver North, knew about and supported using money raised via drug trafficking to fund the Contras. Sen. John Kerry's report in 1988 led to the same conclusions. However, the Justice Department denied the allegations, and the mainstream US media downplayed them.
Unsuccessful Bid for Reelection
In February 1990 Ortega's bid for reelection was challenged by Violeta Chamorro. She questioned the Sandinistas' close links with Cuba and the Soviet Union and reached out to center and conservative parties to help defeat Ortega. In the 1990 presidential election, Ortega lost to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, his former colleague in the junta. Chamorro was supported by a 14-party anti-Sandinista alliance known as the National Opposition Union, an alliance that ranged from conservatives and liberals to communists. Contrary to what most observers expected, Chamorro shocked Ortega and won the election. In Ortega's concession speech the following day he vowed to keep "ruling from below" a reference to the power that the FSLN still wielded in various sectors.
He was also quoted saying: ...We leave victorious... because we Sandinistas have spilled blood and sweat not to cling to government posts, but to bring Latin America a little dignity, a little social justice.– Daniel Ortega
In Ortega’s last days as president, through a series of legislative acts known as “The Piñata”, estates that had been seized by the Sandinista government (some valued at millions and even billions US$) became the private property of various FSLN officials, including Ortega himself.
A second attempt to regain power in 1996 was again unsuccessful. Twenty-three presidential candidates ran in the October 1996 elections, but Ortega and Arnoldo Alemán emerged as favorites. After several days of vote counting, Alemán was declared the winner with 51 percent of the vote; Ortega came in second with 38 percent. Ortega conceded defeat but continued to question the legitimacy of Alemán's government.
In 1998, Daniel Ortega's stepdaughter Zoilamérica Narváez released a 48-page report describing her allegations that Ortega had systematically sexually abused her for 9 years beginning when she was 11. The case could not proceed in Nicaraguan courts because Ortega had immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament, and the five-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse and rape charges was judged to have been exceeded. Narváez's complaint was heard by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on 4 March 2002.
Ortega's policies became more moderate during his time in opposition, and he gradually reduced much of his former Marxist rhetoric in favor of an agenda of more moderate democratic socialism. His Roman Catholic faith has become more intense in recent years as well, leading Ortega to embrace a variety of socially conservative policies; in 2006 the FSLN endorsed a strict law banning all abortions in Nicaragua.
2006 Presidential Election
The 2006 Nicaraguan presidential election was held on 5 November 2006. FSLN presidential candidate Ortega won the election with 37.99% of the votes cast. The FSLN was the party out in force to celebrate a victory on the following night. International observers, including the Carter Center, judged the election to be free and fair. Ortega was congratulated by president Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, and then-president Fidel Castro of Cuba. Chávez, who spoke by telephone, chanted "long live the Sandinista revolution!" The White House confirmed on 8 January 2007 that U.S. President Bush also had called Ortega to congratulate him on his election victory.
While non-emergency abortions have long been illegal in Nicaragua, recently even abortions "in the case where the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life" have been made illegal in the days before the election, with a six year prison term in such cases too – a move supported by Ortega.
In his first week as President of Nicaragua, Ortega met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two heads of state toured shantytowns in Managua. Ortega told the press that the "revolutions of Iran and Nicaragua are almost twin revolutions...since both revolutions are about justice, liberty, self-determination, and the struggle against imperialism."
As of June 2007, a CID-Gallup survey published in the Managua daily La Prensa found that Ortega's approval level had dropped significantly: 26% of Nicaraguans had a positive image of his handling of the job, 36% a negative impression, and the remaining a neutral impression. The poll also indicated that 54% were still optimistic about Ortega and the government, in particular the health and education policies. Additionally, 57% of Nicaraguans believed the country is on the "wrong track", and only 31% believed that the country is on the "right track".
On 6 March 2008, following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis, Ortega announced that Nicaragua was breaking diplomatic ties with Colombia "in solidarity with the Ecuadoran people". Ortega also stated, "We are not breaking relations with the Colombian people. We are breaking relations with the terrorist policy practiced by Alvaro Uribe's government". The relations were restored with the resolution at a Rio Group summit held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 7 March 2008. At the summit Colombia's Álvaro Uribe, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Ortega publicly shook hands in a show of good will. The handshakes, broadcast live throughout Latin America, appeared to be a signal that a week of military buildups and diplomatic repercussions was over. After the handshakes, Ortega said he would re-establish diplomatic ties with Colombia.
On May 25, 2008, Ortega, upon learning of the death of FARC guerrilla leader Manuel Marulanda in Colombia, expressed condolences to the family of Marulanda and solidarity with the FARC and called Marulanda an extraordinary fighter who battled against profound inequalities in Colombia. The declarations were protested by the Colombian government and criticized in the major Colombian media outlets because FARC actions are deemed criminal.
On September 2, 2008, during ceremonies for the 29th anniversary of the founding of the Nicaraguan army, Ortega announced that "Nicaragua recognizes the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and fully supports the Russian government's position." Ortega's decision made Nicaragua the first country after Russia to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia.
Ortega's anti-American strands were shown alight during his second tenure as head of Nicaragua. His alliances with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela grew, as well as his ties to other isolated partners like the aforementioned Iran. More importantly, with the 2008 economic downturn he said that capitalism is in its death throes and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is the most advanced, Christian and fairest project. He also said God was punishing the United States with the financial crisis for trying to impose its economic principles on poor countries. "It's incredible that in the most powerful country in the world, which spends billions of dollars on brutal wars ... people do not have enough money to stay in their homes."
It is now September 2012 and he is still president.
