Nicaragua’s unlikely opposition faces rocky road to defeat Ortega By Staff Writer 1 day ago
MANAGUA, (Reuters) – Lesther Aleman, a lanky and bespectacled 20-year-old student, had never taken part in a protest until April when he became the public face of a revolt that has shaken the rule of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
The straight-’A’s student won national fame when in a live broadcast he called Ortega a “murderer” for the violent repression of protests that left more than 200 people dead. The crackdown reawakened memories of Nicaragua’s decade-long civil war that ended in 1990.
Aleman and another 40 student leaders, some still in their teens, went into hiding after receiving deaths threats. He now forms part of a broad new coalition of students, businessmen, farmers and environmentalists trying to negotiate a return to peace and Ortega’s departure from office.
The group, the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, aims to create a generation of leaders from outside the ruling Sandinista movement and discredited opposition parties.
Ortega, 72, has dominated Nicaraguan politics for decades. After the leftist Sandinistas toppled dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, Ortega led the country until 1990 before returning to power at the ballot box in 2006 for the first of three consecutive terms.
While critics say Ortega has imposed a corrupt, authoritarian regime in the impoverished nation of 6 million people, the Alliance faces a rocky road to defeat him.
The group is led by people with little political experience, many of whom have been at odds in the past or did not know each other until recently. Former Ortega allies say he is seeking to exploit divisions in the coalition to cling to power.
Aleman said the Alliance’s leaders know that, while popular anger is rising against Ortega, they must stand together to defeat him and rule.
“At the start we had a lot of doubts and distrusted each other…but now tensions have eased,” said Aleman, the son of a trucker. “We know we need to remain united.”
CRISIS ALLIANCE
Aleman joined a demonstration on April 18 to protest plans to cut pension benefits that soon snowballed into a nationwide revolt after Ortega supporters clubbed students and pensioners with baseball bats and metal tubes.
Bats gave way to guns in following days with police and masked militias firing at protesters armed with homemade mortar launchers and slings. The violence enraged thousands of Nicaraguans who poured into the streets to demand Ortega’s resignation.
Like many, Aleman said he was inspired by the leftist Sandinista revolution, which topped Somoza and resisted the U.S.-backed Contra guerrillas during the following decade.
“I ask you Ortega: where is freedom you promised then?” he asked.
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