Nicaragua and the Normalization of Authoritarianism from the Left

Resumen

The political experience of Nicaragua demonstrates the shifts of the left toward authoritarianism in Latin America. Since 2007, with the return of Sandinismo led by Daniel Ortega, it was thought that it would be a transitional government in response to the dictatorships that Nicaragua had already experienced and that Sandinismo had so strongly fought against, but it was only characterized by the centralization of power, the co-optation of the media and the armed forces, the elimination of the system of checks and balances, and the restriction of freedoms. Ortega relies on an anti-imperialist discourse and on the defence of national stability, when in reality he only co-opts state institutions and confronts the people when they oppose the regime. This only demonstrates how the normalization of authoritarian practices can trap a country and its people, setting democracy aside and welcoming autocracy.