Circles Robinson
23 de diciembre 2020
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HAVANA TIMES – On December 21, Michael Kozak, the US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, called Nicaragua’s new candidate inhibition law “a crude attempt to stay in power by Daniel Ortega.”
Back home, the president Kozak serves under has filed more than 50 lawsuits desperately trying to overturn US election results. Many Republicans have now told Trump to call it quits, but he has no intention. Most of his supporters believe his fairytale about stolen elections and other conspiracies. Likewise, he continues to receive many millions of dollars for his useless legal battles.
The US is outraged that Ortega would pass “crude laws” to remain indefinitely in power. They condemn these, while their fearless leader Donald Trump attempts to destroy US democracy and do the exact same thing.
In the last few days both the Nicaraguan dictator and the US wannabe have sounded off. Ortega and his wife accuse the US and Europe of following in the footsteps of Hitler. Trump warns the two Democratic senate candidates in Georgia “want to go into a communistic form of government. I have no doubt about it.”
Traditional leftists who still support the Ortega government base their logic on the foreign policy evils of the US government. Criticisms and sanctions against Ortega, his family and close collaborators must be wrong. If the US calls you a threat, you can’t be all that bad.
Whether you like Trump or not
In fact, the US has been spot-on in these last years in its characterization of the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua. Undemocratic, dictatorial, corrupt, violator of human rights, etc. It is one of the few things that unites both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
However, Ortega is also right when he criticizes US meddling in other countries affairs. The long, violent, and bloody history he refers to is also an indisputable truth.
The Ortega government is internationally condemned for massive human rights violations and crimes against humanity. All Nicaraguan and international human rights organizations that set foot in Nicaragua during the 2018-2019 period verified those crimes. Their detailed work earned them all a one-way ticket out of the country.
The Trump government has four more weeks to try and overturn the US elections that saw Joe Biden elected. But even if not successful, that is not a problem for the forward-thinking mogul. The excess millions raised for his legal challenges can be used at his personal discretion after January.
Meanwhile, down south, Ortega is on an offensive to eliminate any and all opposition to his government. He and his wife/VP call them all “coup mongers”, “traitors” and dozens of other unflattering adjectives.
Using repressive methods and models from Cuba, Russia, and Venezuela, Ortega has outlawed and criminalized most opposition political activity and independent journalism. The latest in a series of laws “to defend sovereignty” -read his rule-, passed on Monday. It eliminates all opposition from participating in future elections.
The masks are off and that is that, for now. The fact is when it comes to governing and power, Ortega and Trump were cut from the same cloth. It is like Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
