Before I throw shit on Nicaraguan politics, you must understand Nicaragua was one of many geopolitical pawns played by Washington and Moscow to exert their influence in Latin America. Ongoing foreign interference has destabilised the region leading to high levels of corruption, weak institutions and poor governance. This paved the way for a series of corrupt and incompetent political regimes on both sides of the political spectrum.
Since coming to power in 2007, President Ortega has taken apart most institutional checks on presidential power. In 2014, presidential terms were abolished and Ortega has now been elected to a fourth consecutive term. The electoral council is stacked with its supporters while barring the opposition political parties from participating in the 2021 election. (Human Rights Watch, 2022).
León was the epicentre of a brutal crackdown against protesters in 2018. What started as a protest against social security reforms, became a nationwide call for President Ortega to resign. León is also a student city with some of the most prestigious universities in Central America. We were lucky to speak with some students who led free walking tours around the city.
One of the students said he was sick of seeing pro-government Che Guevara propaganda posters around his campus. I told him my university was also full of Che Guevara posters, but it still represented the anti-establishment. He found this very amusing.
Later that day we took a street art tour with a communications student. León is full of street art depicting scenes of the revolution. She said the revolutionaries were more focused on their facial hair and good PR than running a functional government.
On my final day, I took a guided tour of the Museo de la Revolución. My guide Juan was the son of a Sandinista revolutionary. He was reading off a script and giving me the usual political propaganda. After an hour Juan switched to English and asked me to follow him to the roof, out of earshot from the older Sandinistas sitting downstairs.
Overlooking the city of Leon, he said young people felt frustrated and cheated by the Ortega regime and another civil war was inevitable. He had the look of desperation in his eyes. I was overcome by guilt and I didn’t know what to say. I would be leaving the country the next day, but this was his everyday reality.
Nicaragua was our favourite country in Central America. Sadly, it feels like things will get worse before they get better. For the sake of our Nicaraguan friends, I hope I am wrong.
