Nicaragua appears to be going the way of Venezuela

Usurping democratic institutions, snuffing out political opposition, paramilitary gangs associated with the ruling party, economic activity in the capital city grinding to a halt . . . sound familiar?

But this isn't about Maduro and Caracas. This is Nicaragua in June 2018:

A surge of violence has snuffed out economic activity and dimmed prospects to peacefully resolve a political crisis here that began as a protest against tax increases and turned into a revolt against Nicaragua’s longtime leader Daniel Ortega.

Since mid-April, more than 100 people have been killed in confrontations with police during mass protests and what human-rights groups say are paramilitary gangs aligned with Mr. Ortega’s government.

Among them were 15 people killed at a peaceful Mother’s Day protest march last month in Managua and 11 people by paramilitary groups and police in the predominantly indigenous city of Masaya this past weekend, including a 15-year-old protester who witnesses say was executed by a policewoman. 

On Tuesday, violence flared in the quaint colonial city of Granada, home to hundreds of American retirees.

“We are going through very dark days,” said Humberto Belli, a former education minister. “The people are out in the street demanding that Ortega leave, but he has shown an unexpected ability to kill. We see more blood every day—three, four, five people killed on a daily basis. This has no end.”

The upcoming generation is not pleased:

. . . many Nicaraguans say they are fed up with Mr. Ortega and his wife, the unpopular Vice President Rosario Murillo, who they say have usurped democratic institutions and snuffed out political opposition. Government plans to confiscate large tracts of land to build a commercial waterway to rival the Panama Canal have cost the Ortegas rural support.

“Managua and the country are no longer calm. Ortega has to go now,” said Claudia Guillén, a 19-year-old university student.

And Managua apparently is nearly a ghost town:

The country’s capital of Managua, a sprawling city of modest malls, street vendors and office towers mixed with open pastures, is now largely deserted. Shops are closed and vandalized. Few people venture out at night. Walls are covered with graffiti calling Mr. Ortega a murderer. A group of police officers stand guard by a monument to the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, erected by Mr. Ortega, after protesters tried to knock it down during recent demonstrations.

Throughout Nicaragua, barricades have sprung up, blocking roads and snarling traffic, and making the key Pan American highway that links many of the country’s cities impassable. Tourism has been hit hard, hotel managers say, with occupancies at major hotels plunging and some international airlines paring back flights. 

“Economic activity has plummeted. People fear leaving their homes,” said Pamela Vanega, a waitress at a restaurant in one of Managua’s largest malls. 

Analysts say the surge in violence has set back any hope of a peaceful resolution. A dialogue between Mr. Ortega’s government and the opposition, sponsored by the influential Catholic Church, has been shelved. Nicaragua’s business class, which until recently worked closely with Mr. Ortega, is demanding new elections.

“My sense is that the situation will continue to deteriorate and the government will continue its repression,” said Eric Farnsworth, who heads the Washington office of think tank Council of the Americas. 

This is the second go-around for tyranny and economic ruin under Ortega. He was the most visible face among the nine members of the Directorate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a hardcore Marxist-Leninist party / guerrilla force founded in 1961. The FSLN staged attacks of various kinds throughout the next 18 years. By 1979, it was part of a broad coalition of forces, including the business community, the Chamorro family that ran La Prensa, the most prominent newspaper in the country, and the Catholic Church (at least that part of it that wasn't ate up with liberation theology), that opposed the regime of Anastasio Somoza.  The FSLN quickly broke its good faith with the coalition's other elements and usurped the revolution that toppled Somoza. After seizing total power, the new government quickly aligned itself with the Soviet Union and Cuba. It never was able to win majority support - in fact, the country was wracked by civil war throughout the 1980s - and Ortega lost to Violetta Chamorro in a presidential election in 1990.

But now, even former fellow Sandinistas are chafing at what Ortega is doing. Even his own brother. And Ortega's wacko wife seems to be playing an outsized role in the deteriorating situation:

Four former top Sandinista generals have been prominent participants in the anti-Ortega marches. Mr. Ortega’s brother, Humberto, a former Sandinista defense minister, has publicly expressed concern about how Mr. Ortega is managing the crisis.

Last month, the spokesman for Nicaragua’s army told news agency AFP that the army “would not repress” antigovernment protesters. 

The crisis comes just weeks before Mr. Ortega is scheduled to celebrate the 39th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista revolution. The reclusive Mr. Ortega usually gives a speech as tens of thousands of Sandinista supporters march in a parade.

Ms. Murillo is widely believed to be the power behind the throne in Nicaragua. Analysts say she has alienated many of Mr. Ortega’s old Sandinista comrades who resent her sway over him. Ms. Murillo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

An esoteric poet and believer of mystic spiritualism and religious syncretism, the eccentric Ms. Murillo always wears a multitude of turquoise rings. She is responsible for putting up about 140 “Trees of Life”—metal structures painted in vivid colors which light up at night across Managua. 

The structures, derisively called “Chayopalos,” slang for “Rosario sticks,” have become a favorite target of protesters. Many have been torn down or burned over the past two months.

“What has become clear is that the Ortegas highly personalized brand of governance has served to focus the personal repudiation and deep frustration of various sectors with them,” said John Feeley, a former U.S. ambassador to Panama. 

So now we have yet another Latin American basket case in our neighborhood.