Daniel Ortega must be stopped

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Daniel Ortega has ruled Nicaragua, off and on, since 1979. Now, it seems, his countrymen are about to kick him out of power — for keeps.

Massive anti-government protests broke out in mid-April, following Mr. Ortega’s announcement that he was changing the country’s social security system by raising taxes and lowering benefits.

Mr. Ortega quickly reversed the reforms, but the anti-government momentum has proven unstoppable. The protests have now become an uprising, with many calling for early elections so the people can rid themselves of the loathsome Ortega regime.

Leading the charge against the government is the 19th of April Student Movement, which has borne the brunt of Mr. Ortega’s brutal campaign to quash the protests.

Amnesty International reports that the regime has implemented a “shoot to kill” policy against the student protesters. Armed forces storm universities with AK-47’s and shoot indiscriminately into crowds of students. During a march on Nicaragua’s Mother’s Day, government mobs killed 15 demonstrators in a single day.

Government-paid mobs patrol the streets, not searching for criminals but for students opposed to the regime. It is unarmed students, hunted down by pro-Ortega police and paramilitaries, who have suffered the majority of casualties.

Since the protest started, Nicaraguan security forces and government-armed pro-Ortega thugs have killed more than 120 people. More than 1,200 others have been injured. Hundreds have been detained.

The toll taken by government-sponsored violence in Nicaragua overshadows that experienced in Venezuela’s recent uprisings, which claimed around 160 lives in all of 2017. Nicaragua, with less than one-fifth of Venezuela’s population, is on pace to exceed that butcher’s bill in only 10 weeks. At this rate, nearly 1,000 Nicaraguan protesters could be slaughtered by the end of the year.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet with leaders of the student opposition movement. Instead of vacationing, they have spent their summer ducking bullets and defending themselves against AK-47s with rocks.

The students’ anger is intense. In face-to-face meetings with regime officials, they have publicly denounced them as “assassins,” rhetoric which they know places them — and their families — at great personal risk.

The sheer power of the student movement has forced the regime to “negotiate” with the students and other members of civil society — hence the public meetings. While Mr. Ortega still refuses to cooperate, he will inevitably have to come to the table.

The students I met came to Washington, D.C., to rally American support for their call for regime change through early elections.

But Latin America’s democracies must play a role, as well. And Nicaragua’s democratic neighbors thus far are treating the protesters with the same negligence they showed Venezuela’s democratic dissidents.

At the recent General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), only a few countries issued statements condemning the regime’s violence. Such passivity will serve only to embolden Mr. Ortega to continue his repressive response.

As a collective, the OAS’s policy toward Nicaragua is deeply flawed. For example, the organization is financing upgrades to Nicaragua’s electoral system, giving the regime improved hardware and software. Yet Mr. Ortega has rigged elections since 2006. Providing him with new computers and technology will just improve his ability to continue doing so. Do U.S. policymakers really believe it serves U.S. interests to support aid that directly abets the Ortega regime’s machinations to retain power?

The Trump administration has helped rally Latin America against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. It should launch a similar regional effort to discourage Mr. Ortega’s vicious repression and diffuse the crisis.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently issued visa restrictions against Nicaraguan officials directly involved in human rights abuses. Regional governments should reciprocate these travel restrictions. History has repeatedly demonstrated that autocratic regimes crumble from within, but not without significant international pressure.

• Ana Quintana is a senior policy analyst specializing in Latin American issues at The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies.