Ortega Opens Negotiations With Opposition Party

Daniel Ortega, president of Nicaragua and chair of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party, is planning on reopening talks with the opposition party, Alianza Cívica, whose voice in politics has been silenced in recent years. On February 21, spurred by the deepening economic and political crisis in Nicaragua, Ortega agreed to untelevised negotiations mediated by the Catholic Church. The talks are scheduled for February 27 and are aimed at finding resolution to the political crisis that has plagued the country for the last ten months. Protests have resulted in the deaths of 325 people.

A storm of international and internal pressure forced Ortega to the negotiating table. According to Univision Noticias, the European Union, United States, and the Organization of American States (OEA) have been pressuring Ortega to release hundreds of political prisoners, hold free elections, and uphold human rights in Nicaragua. Recently, the three wealthiest men in Nicaragua, Carlos Pellas, Ramiro Ortiz, and Roberto Zamora, met with the president to ask for a “quick and credible” solution to the lasting crisis. President Ortega’s ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s recent difficulties in the international sphere have also caused Ortega to reconsider the stability of his administration.  

Ortega, a former Sandinista guerilla fighter, bank robber, and leader of the Nicaraguan Sandinista military government, was first elected president in 1984 after being one of the main organizers of the 1981 Sandinista junta. He was defeated by his opponent in the next election and two subsequent elections, but eventually returned to the office in 2007. He has since solidified his hold on power.

In 2018, after student protests asking for changes to the social security system turned into a full fledged revolt against the Ortega regime, 325 were left dead. The crisis has since heightened, and political resistance against the Ortega regime has continued. The government has been cracking down on protests and installing roadblocks in an attempt to tighten control of the situation. Ortega’s return to the negotiating table is a notable step in the right direction to ending the crisis.

An ex-Sandinista guerilla fighter, and Ortega’s former subordinate, Dora María Téllez has called the president “an animal of power.” It is still uncertain whether or not these new developments mean Ortega will loosen his hold on power, which he holds almost unilaterally with his wife Rosario Murillo.