Nicaraguan strong man Daniel Ortega is anxious to rid his country of his enemies. Over the past two years, in response to growing opposition among the populace, he has imprisoned hundreds if not thousands of political dissidents. Then, suddenly, early last month, he released 222 Catholic priests and other activists, stripped them of their citizenship, and put them on planes for the United States.
The release was not, as some hoped, a sign that Ortega is softening. Quite the opposite. The move has been compared to Fidel Castro’s 1980 Mariel boatlift, which saw 125,000 Cuban prisoners–many of them criminals and mental patients–released and put on boats destined for America. Christopher Sabatini, a Latin American expert based in London, noted the following about Ortega’s action:
This is a purging not just of Nicaragua’s infamous jails – it is a purging of its political system. It is a very troubling sign.
In addition to freeing then deporting the imprisoned, Ortega’s policies are inspiring hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans to flee, so that the country is hemorrhaging political opponents. About 163,876 Nicaraguans were detained while entering the US in the 2022 fiscal year, compared with 50,722 in all of 2021 and only 3,164 in 2020. By thus ridding himself of domestic enemies, Ortega is steadily tightening his grip on power. As Juan Pappier of Human Rights Watch commented:
The country is on the verge of becoming the western hemisphere’s equivalent of North Korea.
Note that not all of those now opposing Ortega are exactly champions of freedom. Many, perhaps most, are like Ortega himself Sandinistas–ie, anti-American, socialist revolutionaries named for Augusto César Sandino (1895–1934), who led a rebellion against the U.S. in the 1930s. Their complaint against Ortega is that he has betrayed the revolution while they have remained true. Now, they are en route to America.
Ortega knows that the only thing standing in the way of his goal is domestic Nicaraguan opposition. He has to get rid of his enemies, and he knows where to send them.
Fortunately for Comandante Daniel, he has an accomplice in Washington. Joe Biden’s administration announced this week that the Department of Homeland Security would be revising its Temporary Protected Status (TPS) policy as it relates to Nicaragua. TPS, which is hardly ever “temporary,” makes it possible for the illegals that it covers to enter and remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation. Liberalizing the Nicaragua’s TPS will be an open door to the country’s disaffected and a welcome safety valve for Daniel Ortega.
That, apparently, is what we’re here for.
For more, see Politico.