Daniel Ortega tightens his grip on Nicaragua
But an economic slump could eventually weaken the president’s power
TWO months ago Monimbó, a neighbourhood of Masaya, south-east of Managua, was in turmoil. Opponents of Nicaragua’s authoritarian president, Daniel Ortega, had taken over the city. Roadblocks guarded by masked men defended it from government forces. The opposition’s short-lived rule was the peak of a widespread uprising against Mr Ortega, in which perhaps 320 people died. Monimbó was the first place to rise up against the Somoza dictatorship, which Mr Ortega overthrew in 1979. In July this year it was the last to fall as his paramilitary forces retook Masaya.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Ortega holds on”
From the September 1st 2018 edition
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