Worldcrunch
As Nicaragua’s weakened opponents expend themselves in jail or exile or in rivalries, communist strongman Daniel Ortega has amended the constitution yet again, to lock himself and his family into perpetual power. Could Donald Trump’s reelection become a miraculous glitch in his plans?
Venezuela’s elections this year took a very different course than Nicaragua’s in 2021. In both Latin American countries, an authoritarian leader wanted to stay in power and committed electoral fraud to do so. But in Venezuela, the opposition was able to create resistance to Nicolás Maduro.
Through quiet diplomacy, Russia may be courting the rising star of Latin American populism, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. In time, he must decide between international respectability and a bear hug from Vladimir Putin.
With a sham court ruling, Venezuela’s President Maduro has paved the way for his unchallenged reelection as president this year, regardless of U.S. sanctions. This is happening as Latin America’s leftist governments, notably Brazil, watch in silence.
Leftist states defending rigged elections to be held Nov. 7 in Nicaragua are not so much protecting regional socialism as approving despotism itself, which they too were victims of…
Nicaraguan publication Divergentes takes a night tour of entertainment spots popular with locals in Managua, the country’s capital, to see how dictatorship and emigration have affected nightlife.
Daniel Ortega is inaugurated as president of Nicaragua for the first time on this day in 1985. What is Daniel Ortega known for? Daniel Ortega led the Nicaraguan Revolution, which overthrew the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle and was meant to liberate the small central American country from U.S. imperialism. Ortega’s first term of president […]
With Washington’s attention fixed on Russia, Ukraine and China, the upcoming Summit of the Americas will likely not be the “breakthrough” gathering to forge the equal ties Latin America has long sought from the United States. But Washington would be wise to invest in stronger unity in its own hemisphere.
Like other intellectuals of his time, the celebrated Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez admired Cuba’s Fidel Castro. What’s just been revealed, however, is also, as one text reveals, the Sandinista rebels who have stifled Nicaraguan democracy in past years.
Social distancing, disinfecting common areas and accessing health care: All three key tactics for curbing the spread of coronavirus are particularly complicated inside jails and prisons. While it might seem like an already self-isolating bubble, life inside prisons has changed dramatically since COVID-19 arrived. In an effort to keep healthy, many have lost their rights […]
None should be more dismayed by Daniel Ortega’s despotic slide than those who hailed his revolution as a triumph of democratic socialism, some 40 years ago.
Police and pro-government paramilitaries have killed more than 200 people — including a 14-month-old boy — since a wave of anti-Ortega protests began in mid April.
Governments in several Latin American states are facing angry voters who may remove them from power, but perhaps of greater concern is the spreading wrath against all politicians, everywhere.
-Analysis- Nicaragua’s crafty caudillo, Daniel Ortega, has weathered the storm — for now at least. But his grip on power is certainly not what it was before the dramatic developments of the past two weeks. The student-led protests that erupted on April 18 against changes to the country’s pension system left 46 dead after a […]
Protests in Nicaragua against a proposed tax hike to finance the social security system have revealed the people’s disgust with President Ortega’s regime. His brutal response does not bode well.
Indigenous groups say the Nicaraguan government should do more to protect the massive but quickly disappearing Bosawás Biosphere Reserve.
Just hours before outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama’s emotional farewell address in Chicago, another head of state was taking center stage down in steamy Central America to let just the opposite be known: He’s still very much here, with no plans to leave power anytime soon. Daniel Ortega, the long-serving leader of Nicaragua, first came […]
Nicaragua’s once revolutionary president Daniel Ortega has won reelection, this time with his wife Rosario Murillo as VP. It’s an accumulation of power and money that makies their own supporters squirm.
TEGUCIGALPA — The Central American countries of the “Northern Triangle” (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala) have long battled gang wars and drug-related crime that have left the region’s cities among the world’s most dangerous. Individual attempts in the past to defuse the crisis, including local gang truces and national crackdowns on drugs, have been largely […]
As President Daniel Ortega and his relatives continue to accumulate power in Nicaragua, they are becoming a close copy of the venal political dynasty Ortega fought to overthrow.
For the past 30 years, the American lawyer has been hunting down former despots all over the world. The trial of the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, which opened last month, is the latest fruit of his work.
Groundbreaking on the much heralded Central American project is said to be imminent. But huge doubts linger, including the bankrolling of the project by a mysterious Chinese businessman.
Faced with Colombia’s military strength and apparent resolve not to hand over a disputed swathe of the Caribbean, Nicaragua is inviting friendly Russia into the area.
Despite the high profile women presidents of Brazil and Argentina, the fairer sex is notably underrepresented in cabinet positions across Latin American governments.
-Analysis- SANTIAGO – After presenting their closing arguments, Peru and Chile are now awaiting the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on a maritime border dispute dating back to the 1980s. While the verdict is not expected for several months, how both countries respond to the ruling when it is […]
LA PRENSA (Nicaragua) MANAGUA – A leading women’s rights organization is calling on Nicaraguan authorities to declare a “yellow alert” over the country’s growing sexual abuse “epidemic,” La Prensa reports. Martha María Blandón, the Central American director of the international rights group Ipas, cites official court statistics to suggest that abuse cases are on the […]
EL DIARIO NUEVO (Nicaragua) MANAGUA – Is Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega the “Ho Chi Minh of Latin America?” That’s apparently what Surinam’s new ambassador in Nicaragua believes. During a televised swearing in ceremony in Managua this week, the ambassador, Subhas Chandra Mungra, said that Ortega, like the deceased Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, stands out […]
Economic growth and discretionary funds funneled from Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez have helped position Nicaragua leader Daniel Ortega as the frontrunner for Sunday’s presidential election. Critics say Ortega is defying term limits and building a corrupt