General Humberto Ortega, brother and harsh critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, passes away

General Humberto Ortega, former Defense Minister, and brother and critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel OrtegaDied this Monday in a military hospital in Managua due to cardiorespiratory arrestThe Nicaraguan military reported. He was under police surveillance after being questioned over the “dictatorial” succession of the head of state.

“The patient, Humberto Ortega Saavedra, 77 years old, suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, and despite treating him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers, he did not come out of that condition,” the army said in a statement, declaring him dead at 02:30 Went.”

On Sunday, the army had said that General Ortega’s health had deteriorated. “Sharp decline” in the last few hours.

On May 21, Nicaraguan police set up a medical unit in the home of a retired general, One measure interpreted by opposition media in exile as house arrest.

The police detention began after he said in an interview that his 78-year-old brother Daniel had no heir and his power would not be able to withstand his eventual death.

On May 28, President Ortega said at a public event that his brother had committed an act of “treason” by honoring a United States military officer in 1992.

The Ortega brothers were part of the Sandinista guerrillas who fought the dictatorship of the Somoza family, which ruled the Central American country with an iron fist for more than four decades (1936–1979).

After the revolution’s victory in 1979, Humberto Ortega remained head of the army until 1995, while his brother took over the reins of government. First as a board member and then individually.

In 1990, Daniel Ortega was defeated in an election, although he regained power in 2007 and was consistently re-elected in elections called into question by the United States and the European Union.

The former army chief and younger brother of President Ortega was admitted on July 11. “With a complex health condition” And a day earlier, according to the Military Medical Corps, “there was a sudden deterioration in his condition due to cardiogenic shock and altered state of consciousness, requiring intensive medical treatment to maintain blood pressure levels.”

Retired General Humberto Ortega (1947), one of the strategists of the armed rebellion against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979. Founder of the Sandinista Popular Army, which he led from 1979 to 1995After questioning the “dictatorial” succession of the head of state, he was placed under surveillance at his residence in Managua.

In an interview with Argentine media infobay, Published on May 19, the retired general reflected on his “dictatorial” power His brother, who is about to turn 79 and has been in power in Nicaragua since 2007, has no suitable successor. Neither will his wife, Rosario Murillo, nor any of his children, and there will be a major power vacuum in the event of his eventual absence or death, which is why elections must be called.

After questioning the “dictatorial” succession, Authorities confiscated cell phones and former military chief of staff and commander of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) who led Nicaragua between 1979 and 1990.

Ten days after criticizing the “dictatorial” succession, President Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo announced “Traitors of the country” to the retired general during an official program telecast and in the presence of the army and police leadership.

The President criticized that his brother, whom he did not name, was awarded the ‘Camilo Ortega’ medal in the highest degree (gold) in 1992. United States government attache to Nicaragua, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis F. to quinnWhen he led the army (1979–1995).

Ortega accused his brother of “betraying the country” “Gave my soul to the devil” For the decoration, 32 years ago, American soldiers, an action he described as “desecration”, “selling the motherland”, “national disgrace”, “national shame” and “an act of surrender”.

However, on September 3, 2019, President Ortega himself awarded the medal to Lieutenant Colonel William Hogan, then-Principal Officer for Defense Affairs and Defense Attache of the United States to Nicaragua.

Nicaragua has been going through a political and social crisis since April 2018.Which was strengthened after the controversial general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for the fifth and fourth consecutive terms, with his main challengers in jail and whom he later expelled from the country, and deprived of their nationality. Gave. and their political rights.