Why is Rosario Murillo still attacking the opposition?
After imprisoning, banishing and declaring them non-citizens
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The dictatorship has encouraged physical attacks on them, ordered them imprisoned, declared them stateless, banished them, and confiscated everything they owned in the country. Apparently, for the dictatorial duo, that’s still not enough.
HAVANA TIMES – Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua’s all-powerful vice president, first lady and only government spokesperson, speaks so constantly about love, peace, and harmony that anyone would think nothing could perturb her. Nonetheless, the intensity of her rants against those who oppose her politically reveals her discomfort – the constant unease of someone who hates others for thinking differently.
Murillo has turned the full force of her rancor against all who oppose her. The dictatorship has allowed physical attacks against them, ordered them thrown in prison, declared them non-citizens, banished them and stripped them of everything they own in the country. However, apparently the dictatorial duo is still not mollified.
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In the past few days, the dictator’s wife has unleashed a new round of insults against members of the opposition. Breathing fire with every word, she calls them: “cowards, hypocrites, fakes, dolts, tiny specks, non-existent, idiots…”
“Obsessed and frustrated”
Opposition activist and now banished political prisoner Samantha Jiron believes that Murillo is a woman obsessed with control. Hence, the fact that the members of the opposition she banished are now beyond her control frustrates her, and she’s having difficulty living with this.
“She hasn’t yet been able to fulfill her obsession to control absolutely everything, and so she turns that frustration into continual insults, seeking descriptive adjectives to discharge her hate,” stated 24-year-old Samantha, who endured a year and three months in prison because of her opposition to the dictatorship of Ortega and Murillo.
Alex Hernandez, another former prisoner now banished and living in exile, stated that Murillo is a person with a vocation for repression, which means that her assaults will never cease, even though she’s succeeded in silencing everyone around her.
“She needs to repress”
Hernandez also pointed out that Murillo and the entire Ortega regime are in a vicious cycle involving the use of force, which will be very difficult for them to escape.
“Over time, the repressive methods will probably change in intensity, but not the intention and need to resort to them. As time goes on, repression becomes a necessity for dictators, since it’s the only way to maintain ‘loyalty’ in their circle,” Hernandez assessed.
He also asserted that her paranoia is also an issue which keeps her on the defensive, launching expletives to try and project strength.
“The dictatorship needs to project itself as strong, not only against those who oppose it, but also to the very ones close to them. Because of this, as time passes and paranoia grows in the heart of the dictatorship, we’ve seen an ever-greater number of minor regime figures falling into disgrace. That’s intended as a message of warning to those in their ranks who could come to think about daring to express an opinion that differs from the official one. In addition, it’s a warning for those who aren’t sympathetic to the regime, to keep in mind that the repressive forces don’t discriminate, even on behalf of the regime’s “friends.” That’s another way to maintain the image of control over the country,” Hernandez expressed.
Murillo named her rivals
On Thursday, July 12, Murillos rants were particularly loud, and included the specific identity of some of her rivals: those who “proclaim themselves renovators.” This was a clear allusion to the members of the [now-outlawed] “Democratic Renewal Union” (Unamos), formerly known as the “Sandinista Renewal Movement” (MRS). All the leaders of this group are in exile.
“All of us who proudly brandish the red-and-black flag, without cowardice, without duplicity, without grumbling, without the hypocrisy and falsity of those who proclaim themselves agents of renewal, like dolts who are servile to the [US] Empire,” fumed Murillo in her daily discourse, which is broadcast over all the official channels.
The MRS was founded in 1995 by a group of highly-respected dissidents from the Sandinista Front, who disagreed with the direction the FSLN had taken under Daniel Ortega, currently the dictator in power. In 2021, given the stigma of violence and death that became attached to the term Sandinista, due to Ortega’s and his wife Rosario Murillo’s actions, the members of this group – many of them new members – decided to change the name to Unamos.
A regime driven by fear of losing power
Ana Margarita Vijil, former MRS president now a banished and stateless ex-political prisoner of the regime, declared that Murillo’s words make clear her profound fear of losing power. Vijil noted that Murillo’s direct mention of the “Renovators” is because they continue fighting from exile to remove the dictatorship from power.
“They saw the massive demonstrations of 2018 and thought that through terror, through force of arms, through the use of snipers shooting the kids in the head, they’d be able to silence [the opposition], but they couldn’t. They’ve tried jail, murder, denationalization, confiscation, forced exile, banishment; and nothing [has worked], they haven’t managed [to silence us],” said Ana Margarita.
She’s certain that Murillo is attacking them because they’re on the right road.
Tamara Davila, also a banished and stateless former prisoner and member of Unamos, added that Murillo is so isolated and fearful of losing power that all she can do is hurl insults at her adversaries.
“The only thing keeping them in power is the repression, so they have to rant and rave, and exercise repression, in order to feel strong and in control. Instilling fear and terror is the only thing sustaining them in power,” Tamara Davila concluded.