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Humberto Ortega, Nicaragua's ex-military chief who later turned critic of his brother, dies at 77

FILE - General Humberto Ortega, head of the Nicaraguan Army, confirms the announcement of his retirement from the army at the presidential house in Managua, Nicaragua, May 18, 1994. (AP Photo/Mark Hume, File) (Mark Hume, 1994 AP)

MEXICO CITY ā€“ Nicaraguan guerrilla fighter Humberto Ortega, a Sandinista defense minister who later in life became a critic of his older brother President Daniel Ortega, died Monday at 77, Nicaragua's army said.

The younger Ortega became the head of the Sandinista army and the countryā€™s defense minister after the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. Later in life, Humberto Ortega publicly criticized some actions of his brotherā€™s increasingly repressive administrations.

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He had been ill and effectively under house arrest for some time. He died Monday at a military hospital, the Nicaraguan military posted on social media.

A cause of death was not provided, but a government statement said he had had a prolonged illness. It also praised his bravery in ā€œrevolutionary military actions.ā€

Local media reported in May that police had surrounded Humberto Ortegaā€™s home, the same day online news outlet Infobae published a lengthy interview with him, in which he discussed his at times tense relationship with his brother.

He also characterized his brotherā€™s current administration as ā€œauthoritarian, dictatorialā€ in explaining that when the leader of such a government dies, it is very difficult for there to be continuity with the immediate group in power.

At the time, police said in a statement that the Health Ministry had visited 77-year-old Humberto Ortega, who suffered from heart problems, in his home and evaluated his health without ever saying why he was under police guard.

Venezuela President NicolƔs Maduro expressed his condolences in a statement, praising Humberto Ortega as a freedom fighter.

Dissident and former presidential hopeful turned political exile Juan SebastiĆ”n Chamorro told the Associated Press ā€œthe legacy of Humberto Ortega is intrinsically linked with the war.ā€ While Chamorro blamed the government for contributing to Ortega's death, he said he also had a hand in the state of the country today.

ā€œHe has a lot of responsibility, above all what has happened in the past 40-some years, and particularly in was policy that brought a lot death and destruction to the country,ā€ Chamorro said.

The younger Ortega joined the fighters of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and was wounded in the arm in 1969 during an operation to free Carlos Fonseca, the Sandinista commander, from a Costa Rican prison.

When the revolution succeeded in overthrowing dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, Humberto Ortega was made the head of the Sandinista army and defense minister.

He made military service obligatory and would later say in interviews that he had mobilized more than 320,000 young recruits as the Sandinistas battled the United States-backed ā€œContraā€ rebels in a war that began in 1981 and ended in 1990, leaving at least 35,000 dead.

Even after his brotherā€™s surprising election loss to Violeta Chamorro in 1990, Humberto Ortega stayed on as leader of Nicaraguaā€™s army for another five years, professionalizing its ranks and making it subordinate to civilian leadership.

Humberto Ortegaā€™s political thinking evolved as he moved from guerilla fighter to businessman. In 1981, he threatened to ā€œhang the bourgeoisie from the light posts,ā€ but by 1996 he was defending his fortune saying he wasnā€™t going to leave government ā€œon a bicycle.ā€

After his retirement in 1995, he split time between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, focusing on his business interests and penning essays that advocated a more centrist position and a national conciliation government.

Humberto Ortegaā€™s more moderate positions eventually became uncomfortable for his brother who returned to the presidency in 2007.

When widespread street protests in April 2018 became demonstrations against Daniel Ortegaā€™s government, the president responded with brutal repression from the police and paramilitary forces. Humberto Ortega called for an end to the use of paramilitaries and accused security forces of ā€œindiscriminate repressionā€ that left at least 355 dead.

ā€œThe army must speak with Daniel Ortegaā€ to control the situation, Humberto Ortega said in a local interview at the time.

In 2019, Humberto Ortega spoke out again after the arrest of some 168 opposition figures. His brother responded publicly, saying ā€œsome traitors and sellouts who had said that there wouldnā€™t be enough lightposts to hang all of the rich, now come out saying that these gentlemen are not terrorists.ā€

In February 2022, he also criticized his brotherā€™s administration with the death of former guerrilla and retired general Hugo Torres after eight months in a notorious Managua prison. Torres had split from Ortegaā€™s government years earlier and was an outspoken critic. Humberto Ortega wrote in a local news outlet that Torres had died at age 73 in a ā€œcruel imprisonment.ā€

President Ortega visited his younger brother in December, according to a government report that described his condition as serious.

The younger Ortega, author of several books of history and military strategy, had suffered from heart problems and was hospitalized in October 2021.

___

AP reporter Megan Janetsky and former reporter Gabriela Selser contributed to this report.

Follow APā€™s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america


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