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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| A Tyrant Returns To Managua |
| 2006-11-07 |
| Latin America: Daniel Ortega's near-certain return to power in Sunday's election is a new Marxist disaster for Nicaragua. For the rest of us, Ortega should be kept at arm's length as global forces send him their message. It's a shame, because Nicaragua had a lot going for it. The Central American state is very poor, but it did have a free trade pact with the U.S. in the works, much of its national debt has been forgiven and its leaders were dreaming of a new cross-country canal to rival Panama's. It had even begun attracting foreign investment from Asia with factories ready to go up, as well as U.S. retirees seeking inexpensive paradise homes. Not insignificantly, Nicaragua, in one of the region's best political neighborhoods, was supported by friendly states, such as El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama, all working for free trade, sustainable development and becoming dynamic "jaguar" states in this continent's answer to Asia's tigers. All of these advantages, along with $220 million in U.S. aid, stand to go down the tubes with the new Ortega presidency. Foreign investment, worth $291 million, already is fleeing. Corruption is set to snowball, given Ortega's rapacity and socialism's inability to create wealth. The economy will tank as the government grows and the private sector is abused. And thousands of refugees will join millions of illegal immigrants already flooding the U.S. It's hard to find an election more infuriating for its wasted opportunities. Technically, it probably was close to what the government legislated it to be, so it will likely get the imprimatur of democracy from gullibles like Jimmy Carter, who observed the process. Ortega walks off with the presidency with just 40% of the vote, a result based on legal changes he himself had a hand in after making an alliance with corrupt officials. The opposition did its part to blow this, too, refusing to unite behind one candidate, though they could plainly see how low Ortega's bar for victory was. Make no mistake: Daniel Ortega is a totalitarian. He insists he's changed and even found Jesus, but he's aligned with the region's tyrants. He's never apologized for the civil war he inflicted or his crimes as dictator from 1979 to 1990. He still faces charges in The Hague for crimes against humanity from Nicaragua's indigenous Indians. He's likely to turn his country back into a satellite, not of the Soviets, but of his patrons, Cuba and Venezuela. From there, he may again set off to destabilize the region as he did during the 1980s, when he armed El Salvador's Marxist terrorists. Ortega's changed all right, but only in his mastery of new tactics. When he was booted from office in the 1990s, he vowed to "govern from below," and piece by piece he has. Through various legal maneuvers, he controls the courts, the electoral authority and the legislature. That should effectively concentrate his power as president. He may say he's a new Ortega, but it only calls to mind his false claims during his Marxist Sandinista regime from 1979 to 1990 that he wasn't really Marxist, or that he would build a truly good communism, different from all the others. History shows he was lying. And so does the present. Ortega outspent his nearest rivals by 20% to 50% and shamelessly pandered for votes. He got energy handouts from Chavez and openly distributed them as bribes to voters. He doled out other goodies on his campaign tour, a man at his side ladling checks and medicines from a big black bag, playing candy man and claiming this was how poverty would end. That's some sustainable economic solution. Like all Marxist regimes, Ortega's will fail just as surely as his last. He may have Chavez to bail him out for a while, but the Venezuelan leader has spread his overseas pork too thinly, and faces a potential electoral defeat at home next month. As for the U.S., we'll probably recognize Ortega as president for the time being. But we should be ready for his old tricks as he tries to create wealth through robbing Nicaragua's middle class, shipping illegal immigrants our way, destabilizing neighbors and making himself dictator for life. It's unlikely we can throw him out. But when the realities of globalization hit and the pork barrel from abroad runs dry, he'll face the music on creating sustainable development through market forces. Let's hope he doesn't destroy Nicaragua first, taking it from the second-poorest country in the hemisphere to the first. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #3 I had heard that Ortega is not the same man that left office. He has since converted to Catholicism. Not sure if the will make him a more just ruler but we have to respect the vote. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-11-07 16:31 |
| #2 It's an attention span thing. They wouldn't... Hey! Is that Elvis? |
| Posted by: Fred 2006-11-07 16:13 |
| #1 Short memories. They deserve what they get. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2006-11-07 13:03 |