The 3C’s of Corruption in Nicaragua
Political, economic and moral corruption abound in the regime, but neither the Commander in chief of the official corruption nor his successor can stop the “unauthorized corruption.”
By Manuel Orozco (Confidencial)
HAVANA TIMES – Corruption involves the decay or degeneration of that which is respected and commonly accepted. It typically manifests as abuse of authority and of the moral, social, political and economic norms that are practiced in a society.
The Nicaraguan dictatorship exhibits the distortions of the 3Cs of corruption: political, economic, and moral, which have completely trampled and violated the democratic values. Instead, for them, the political, economic and moral corruption are the basis, or the glue, of this dictatorial regime.
A scaffolding of political corruption
The principal transgression of the Ortega-Murillo duo has been to invent a scaffolding of dynastic presidential succession that is masked behind a legal framework. The result is the imposition of laws that go against the common good, and Constitutional changes that lead to the criminalization of democracy.
Apart from that, the rulers have taken on the work of facilitating the road to power through the transactional exchange of loyalty for positions of authority or command. Nicaragua has become a country in which the exercise of governing is subordinated to the discretion and will of Rosario Murillo, through her direct operators, with no effort to follow the steps and procedures of institutional order.
The entire process of bureaucratic and administrative decisions must submit itself to Rosario Murillo’s approval. In addition to assuming the job of giving orders, her operators take on the role of big cheeses in their operations network, removing and installing people, or simply reminding their staff that “they” have a direct line to the co-president and the employee had better follow their orders and behave well, otherwise they’ll be reported.
There are no checks and balances within the institutions; what exists is a monopoly rule exercised by the political power that orders and commands. Neither is there a rule of law which citizens could appeal to, or protection they could seek from the law. The laws in Nicaragua are subject to whatever interpretation Rosario Murillo dictates. Government entities have no autonomy, but operate according to the directions of Compañera Rosario’s chosen employee of the moment.
State capture as a form of kleptocracy
According to the International Monetary Fund, State capture is the quintessential procedure of economic corruption that permits the ruling family to engage in massive kleptocracy and promotes the construction of a new economic elite.
Under this system, the family in power authorizes the legislative branch to apply for loans for public works activities from international organizations such as the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE). [Generally, 70% of debt is for construction and public works.] That’s how it’s been since the famous pact with the private sector. However, the one writing the laws isn’t the Legislature but the Executive branch which then delivers (as opposed to reviewing and returning) the document to the Sandinista deputies in order to formalize their preapproval.
Annually, public investment amounts to a little over a billion dollars, at least two-thirds of which are dependent on outside loans.
Once the money has been disbursed, the State uses it to set up contracts for the construction of highways, buildings, and other infrastructure, in which the bids are awarded to friendly businesses. Another small amount is used for a different type of investment, such as in housing. There’s no investment in technology, innovation, business development. Nothing of the kind.
Two-thirds of the public investment comes from debt and is spent on these contracts. Instances of kleptocratic abuse abound.
One clear example is the socially motivated housing program, which employs over 80 million dollars a year for loans and subsidies (averaging around 10% of the mortgage value). The program is managed by INVUR [government institute for urban and rural housing] which directly convenes its network of construction companies to participate in bidding and receive contracts. General Oscar Mojica, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, is the intermediary, and Gabriela Palacios, INVUR’s director, is the operator.
There are similar cases in the Custom’s agency, involving contracts to unload the Chinese merchandise which are routinely assigned to partners of Laureano Ortega; or rental contracts for the assembly plants in the free trade zone. There are small examples – benefits involving less than ten million dollars a year. However, multiplied by a hundred, they begin to structure an economic elite that has enriched itself on the basis of loans and favors from the dictatorship, in exchange for reconstituting themselves as a new “large capital.”
The moral degradation of the “leadership”
The corruption that Nicaraguans most habitually breathe is the regime’s intentional and conscious immorality. The dictatorship leans on the use of disrespect to human dignity as a social norm. The leaders and operators of this dictatorship display great moral arrogance and consider themselves above everyone else.
This is manifest in many ways, including scorn for religious faith, ingrained and abusive machismo, and a generalized mistreatment of the ordinary public.
The Ortega-Murillo duo and their followers demonstrate disrespect for the country’s religious traditions and faith, beginning with Rosario Murillo, who plagiarizes Biblical passages for her own speeches. Murillo has given her followers open license to attack any person who she considers under the influence of their religious beliefs and possibly challenging dynastic power, unless they subordinate their religious faith to the regime’s practices. God save anyone who declares that what Rosario Murillo is doing goes against the Christian faith. Worse yet would be saying that your parish priest said that in a sermon – both you and the priest would end up in jail.
Macho arrogance within the inner power circle is another of the most visible moral transgressions. Officials from the highest summits of power go out for revelry, drinking and more, taking full advantage of their political status when dealing with people in poverty. Another goes with his gym friend to hold private sessions. These things take place even among the mid-level functionaries of the mayor’s offices and other public offices who organize intimate encounters with men and women, who are treated as merchandise.
When the employment situation doesn’t allow stable, well-paid work, the nouveau riche of Murillo’s circle present themselves as influential people, whom one should be grateful to. It’s enough to see how this “new bourgeoise” transformed the color of Managua’s Club Terraza.
The country is suffering from a degradation similar to that of the 19th century, or even to the feudal style of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, who supposedly claimed the right to “accustom” any bride before her wedding night. Inside the dictatorship, many are aware of Ortega’s abuses that have remained unpunished for decades.
Wherever you are, all those who claim to be connected with the compañera Rosario treat ordinary people with self-importance and arrogance. “Don’t talk to me like that, because I’m a friend of the Social Security Director;” “No buddy, that’s not how it is, I’m in charge here and you don’t get a vote, so just button your lip;” “Look, I’m going to let it go this time, but don’t let me catch you hanging out with someone that the compañera Rosario wouldn’t like.”
While Rosario Murillo carries out her purges and persecutions within the circle of power, those affected spew their frustrations on other people; they yell at the girl they took out, at the “boyfriend” of the moment, at the salesperson behind the counter.
People watch and feel indignant at these immoral aberrations, and try to navigate in such a way as to avoid coming in contact with such types. But they neither like nor approve of the immoral arrogance of the dictators and their followers.
Murillo and the corruption
Rosario Murillo’s pretensions in presenting herself as a champion of the struggle against corruption as her way of officially justifying the purges and confiscations, resembles a dynastic version of the Afghan Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. It’s a façade that justifies economic and physical violence, and legalizes the exercise of corruption. However, everything has a limit.
Excesses eventually take their toll on the human body and on social and political institutions. The excess of corruption in Nicaragua is not unique, and as in imperial Rome when bacchanalia and political transgressions exceeded the limits of their perpetrators’ actions, weaknesses accumulate and the structures begin to tremble as a result of these abuses.
While many believe it’s tautological to say that the dictatorship will eventually fall from power, we don’t know when and how.
But as we measure the future of an economic contraction in 2026 (which weakens the capture of the state), the reduction in the number of those remaining within the circle of power (accompanied by their fear and resentment), international isolation, the silent resistance that includes a “running tally” people are keeping of all their grievances and the systemic corruption in the regime, signs of a growing erosion can be identified that could shape popular resistance.
However, it’s clear that the overflow of public corruption is already burying Ortega and Murillo: the commander-in-chief of corruption, who enriches the ruling family and finances the dictatorship, and his dynastic heiress, desperate to purge politicians, businessmen, and military figures from the old Sandinismo who overshadow her, are racing against the clock, unable to stop the “unauthorized corruption” that now competes with their official corruption.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.