Nicaragua is more than just Daniel Ortega
Christine Wade has a new post on Nicaragua’s Politics Are About More Than Just Ortega, Despite His Hold on Power for the World Politics Review. Basically, Daniel Ortega has delivered on social and economic promises and therefore remains extremely popular despite a his relative disregard for the formal rules of democracy. The political opposition has been, and remains, a mess even without Ortega's help.
I would have liked to see greater reflection upon "the history of U.S. intervention in the country casts a long shadow" in the post. Ortega alternates between significant economic and drug cooperation with the US and fiery anti-US rhetoric. His government kicked out a few US visitors, governmental and nongovernmental, in recent weeks. Election observers, not just those from the US, will not be welcome in November. How much lack of confidence in the opposition comes from the US' history of intervening in opposition politics?
From Pennsylvania, it appears that the US has played a relatively low-key role in Nicaragua during Obama's tenure. Republicans rarely get excited about Nicaragua anymore. Is that the way Nicaraguans see it? How much does Ortega's relatively practical approach to relations with the US and the international community help him with the voters?
It’s easy to get lost in the narrative about Daniel Ortega and the debate over whether he’s a veritable dictator or a true man of the people. His supporters and opponents can offer a litany of examples to support their side. There’s a glimmer of truth in all of it, but it’s far more complicated than headlines suggest. This preoccupation with Ortega also obscures other realities about Nicaragua and its politics, namely how the long legacy of U.S. intervention continues to shape relations between the two countries, why the opposition is in such disarray, and how the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere still manages to cultivate such an active citizenry.The Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) just nominated former Contra Maximo Rodriguez to represent them against Ortega in November's election while the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) will be without a candidate.
I would have liked to see greater reflection upon "the history of U.S. intervention in the country casts a long shadow" in the post. Ortega alternates between significant economic and drug cooperation with the US and fiery anti-US rhetoric. His government kicked out a few US visitors, governmental and nongovernmental, in recent weeks. Election observers, not just those from the US, will not be welcome in November. How much lack of confidence in the opposition comes from the US' history of intervening in opposition politics?
From Pennsylvania, it appears that the US has played a relatively low-key role in Nicaragua during Obama's tenure. Republicans rarely get excited about Nicaragua anymore. Is that the way Nicaraguans see it? How much does Ortega's relatively practical approach to relations with the US and the international community help him with the voters?
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