In Nicaragua, People “Speak in a Low Voice” or Stay Silent
Expressing opinions on any subject can cause the regime to brand someone as an opponent, so many choose to remain silent
By Ivan Olivares (Confidencial)
HAVANA TIMES – In Nicaragua people don’t talk about politics. At least not in public.
This affirmation has been confirmed by Nicaraguans who returned to their country on vacation at the end of 2024 and have told CONFIDENCIAL about their experiences. They all chose to be identified with pseudonyms because, although they don’t live in Nicaragua, they are still afraid of reprisals from the regime headed by Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo.
“Since before 2018, but particularly starting then and continuing up to now, a state of terror has been installed in Nicaragua in which the general population is afraid to share their political opinions, including their opinions on topics that are not necessarily political, but from the regime’s point of view are seen as critical issues that contradict the official discourse,” says sociologist Elvira Cuadra, director of the Center for Transdisciplinary Studies of Central America (Cetcam). She says that religious issues and the economy are among the topics about which people fear speaking out in Nicaragua, she adds.
Two Nicaraguan men in their late 20s –Everth, a worker in the commercial sector, and Benjamín, a university student studying Business Administration– and Josefa, an office worker nearing retirement, recounted how when they were in Nicaragua, the people they were in contact with didn’t talk about politics. They also remarked that the streets were less bustling than how they remembered.
“[This kind of] behavior is understandable, considering that the regime employs a number of different mechanisms to restrict and nullify freedom of expression and freedom of thought in Nicaragua. We have seen cases of people imprisoned for simply expressing an opinion, either verbally or on their social media accounts. The regime has passed different laws with the purpose of silencing critical voices and even silencing people’s opinions and expressions of discontent with certain situations,” says Cuadra.
The fear of speaking out or expressing opinions in Nicaragua
Everth, who has been away from Nicaragua for a little over a year, points out that he used to see “an occasional flag” of the Sandinista Front in various places he would see or visit, but that on this last trip these flags were everywhere. He said the “the headquarters of the White Cross, which is located in Don Bosco,” was surrounded by red and black flags.
Although his trip to Nicaragua was for a very short time, Everth says he didn’t talk politics with people. He said it wasn’t for lack of interest or opportunity, but because he didn’t know how people would react because, as he says, “in Nicaragua fear is always right on the surface.”
“If I say something negative about the Sandinista Front to someone I don’t know well, it could very well get me into trouble or I could suffer reprisals. It could also be that people think I’m trying to get information from them, to see if they speak badly of the government. That’s why I didn’t dare to talk about politics in Nicaragua –except with my family– and it was very clear to me that there is very little out-loud political talk,” says Everth.
The laws passed by the regime have imposed “a cloud of self-censorship on the population in general because people are afraid of reprisals,” says sociologist Cuadra. She asserts that “there is a set of surveillance mechanisms controlling the population, and that these are being implemented by people close to the regime who are monitoring and trying to identify people who are dissatisfied and what they are expressing.”
The most avoided conversation topic: politics
Benjamin also visited Nicaragua in December 2024, going to the cities of Granada and Ticuantepe. Although he acknowledges he wasn’t in contact with many people, he says that “when I had the chance to do so, we did not talk about politics.”
“I think people are keeping a low profile because they understand that the less they talk about politics or the Sandinista party, the better off they will be. It’s not because they have nothing to say. People don’t say anything –or they try to just say that everything is fine– in order to go unnoticed, as a form of self-protection,” Benjamin continued.
Benjamín said he sensed a “cloud of self-censorship” due to the fear of speaking out in Nicaragua. About his time in the country, he expressed: “I felt everything was too quiet. It wasn’t the talkative Nicaragua I remember. I felt it was silent, submissive.” He recalls that in the Central Park of Granada there was a recreational activity organized by the government party, and that the park was full of people, but also of policemen who were guarding the activity. “I think people are just trying to cope with the situation,” he says.
Josefa’s experience was slightly different. In her case, she says “I didn’t hear anyone talk about anything,” and that in Nicaragua, “I saw people acting normal,” although something that caught her attention was that “I didn’t see many children in the neighborhood. There weren’t many children who could get together to go play outside. The streets felt desolate.”
Silence and fewer people in Rivas and Granada
Everth had a similar experience. He highlighted two elements. The first was the number of people who were entering Nicaragua. The second was “the desolate climate. It was a strange atmosphere, it was not the same as when I left Nicaragua. The people seemed very distant, not as friendly as before,” he lamented.On the economic front, Everth noted that in the past, there were always many street vendors at the Rivas bus terminal, but this time there were very few, almost none. “Two street vendors in the whole terminal,” he says. Although there were quite a few people, he noticed that while there were about 15 modules, only three were operating. The rest were closed, and one of them displayed a “For Rent” sign.
Benjamin felt that many things had changed in the country in the almost year and a half since he left. “I don’t know, it felt more solitary. I felt everything was quieter, with less noise. Although I was only there for a short time, I was there in December, when there is normally much more movement in the streets,” he said.
Of his visit to Granada, Benjamin said that “it was strange to see the Calle La Calzada so empty. Too empty for a Thursday or Friday night. There wasn’t much movement,” although he says there were tour guides offering very low cost packages to go to the isletas [little islands in the lake]. “Maybe because business was bad,” he speculates. “I didn’t ask because I had no plans to go to the isletas,” he clarifies.
Elvira Cuadra concludes that people are pretending that they’re happy, that they’re fine, and that they keep their criticisms or expressions of discontent quiet, sharing them only in very trusted spaces, “or they keep them to themselves because they don’t dare express them in front of other people. All this creates a fiction of normality.”