Humberto Ortega

Humberto Ortega Saavedra was a Nicaraguan revolutionary, military leader, writer and businessman. One of the nine members of the National Directorate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), he co-founded the Tercerista tendency faction within the FSLN and was the "major theorist" of the urban insurrection strategy that toppled the Somoza family dictatorship. A four-star general, Ortega was minister of defense from 1980 to 1995, between the victory of the Sandinista revolution in 1979 under the National Reconstruction Government, through the first presidency of his brother Daniel Ortega, and into the presidency of Violeta Chamorro who defeated Daniel Ortega in 1990. He was also chief of the army, overseeing its transformation from the partisan Sandinista Popular Army (EPS) to the professionalized Nicaraguan Armed Forces under civilian control. Later in life he spoke out against repression by his brother's government. Hours after a May 2024 interview in which he sharply criticized his brother, Humberto Ortega was placed under house arrest. The following month, he was transferred to a military hospital where he died in September 2024.

Early life

Humberto Ortega Saavedra was born in La Libertad, a mining town in the Chontales Department of central Nicaragua on 10 January 1947. His parents Daniel Ortega Cerda and Lidia Saavedra, committed Nicaraguan nationalists, had six children: Humberto, Daniel Ortega, Camilo Ortega (1950–1978), Germania and two more who died in infancy. The family moved to Managua in the 1950s. Humberto Ortega taught Catholic catechism classes in Managua as a youth before repudiating Christianity. He also led the Nicaraguan Patriotic Youth (JPN). == Career ==

Career

Sandinista Revolution Ortega founded the Sandinista Brigades in 1962, then formally joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in 1965. He and other Brigade members were suspended from the FSLN for eight months for "ultra-leftist tendencies," including unauthorized military actions. In 1971, Ortega was part of an FSLN delegation with Fonseca, Agüero and Rufo Marín that received General Staff military training in North Korea. Humberto Ortega was "major theorist" After his security detail shot and killed a 16-year-old in 1990, in 1994 a military tribunal acquitted Ortega of allegations he was involved in a cover-up. This eleborated his thesis of "El Centrismo", having turned toward centrism in later years. a departure from earlier views like a 1981 threat to "hang the bourgeoisie from the light posts". In this period he divided his time between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. ==Criticism of Daniel Ortega and house arrest==

Criticism of Daniel Ortega and house arrest

Ortega spoke out on the "indiscriminate repression" of his brother's government in response to the anti-government protests that began in April 2018, killing at least 355 people, and spoke out again against the arrests of 168 opposition figures in 2019. In May 2024, Ortega was stripped of his communication devices, given a police summons, and placed under house arrest following the publication of an interview with Infobae during which he described his brother's regime as "authoritarian, dictatorial" and said there was no one to take power when Daniel dies, including his wife and vice president Rosario Murrillo. Ortega also said he was targeted for assassination because of his criticism of the regime. Prior to house arrest, Ortega had been receiving medical care at a private hospital in Managua. In June, an audio message from Ortega was smuggled out to the press. He described himself as a political prisoner and said he thought the imprisonment could kill him at any time. ==Personal life and death==

Personal life and death

Ortega was married to Ligia Trejos Leiva, the Costa Rican widow of his best friend and comrade Carlos Aguero. Trejos's daughter with Aguero, Elízabeth, later adopted the surname Ortega. Ortega died at the Dr. Alejandro Dávila Bolaños Military Hospital in Managua on 30 September 2024, at the age of 77. He had suffered from heart problems, and had been hospitalized since 12 June 2024. ==Bibliography==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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