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Caribbean-Latin America
A Violent Sandinista Power Play in Nicaragua
2010-04-22
In a country where the terms "crisis" and "bad governance" are synonymous with politics, Nicaragua is no stranger to near-catastrophic brinksmanship by power-crazed caudillos. But even by Nicaraguan standards, the latest political crisis caused by President Daniel Ortega's push to extend his time in office has kicked the country's tinny democracy precariously close to calamity.

Unlike past battles between Ortega's Sandinista Front and opposition forces - tribal skirmishes that were mostly self-contained and had a sporting feel to them - this time the fight has been mostly one-sided and has caused collateral damage. On Tuesday, a mob of several hundred Sandinista thugs, armed with hand-held mortars, fired homemade fragmentation bombs at Managua's Holiday Inn Select hotel. Inside the building, opposition lawmakers - whose various parties form the majority in the legislature but are rarely in agreement - were discussing how to counter Ortega's attempt to reelect his cronies, and eventually himself.

At the heart of the crisis is Ortega's effort to remain in power, even if it means sacrificing the budding democracy that the Sandinista Overthrow Revolution helped plant 20 years ago. After being voted out of power in 1990 following a decade of U.S.-sponsored counterrevolutionary war, it took Ortega 16 years and three elections to return to the presidency in 2007. He won with a twiggy victory of 38%, thanks to a divided opposition. Upon returning to the presidency, Ortega initially tried to make an effort to live up to his slogan of "Reconciliation and National Unity." One of Ortega's closest advisers told me the Sandinistas were in a "battle for legitimacy," both nationally and internationally.

But others who know Ortega warned even then that his quest for power would eventually trump his need for legitimacy. "The principal goal of Ortega is stay in power and he is going to do everything possible to do so," Ortega's former vice president Sergio Ramirez said in early 2008. Ramirez said people who think Ortega will play by the rules and step down after his term ends in 2012 are "being a bit innocent."
Posted by:ed

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