Nicaragua: Daniel Ortega wants “a North Korea in Central America”, says writer Sergio Ramírez

The writer and former vice president of Nicaragua Sergio Ramírez believed that the “aspiration” of the regime of Daniel Ortega “is build a kind of North Korea in Central America “and points out, in this sense, as” very symbolic “the closing of the Academy of Languages the country last week.

“Today, in Nicaragua, the regime tries to isolate itself from other countries, far from the European Union, it does not tolerate that there is an ambassador from Spain, struggling with countries like Costa Rica – which is next door -, outside of politics multinational organizations, “he explained in an interview with EFE in Brussels.

But “it is not possible” to imitate Pyongyang because “it is another geographical space, it is another reality”, he stressed.

Ramírez – winner of the Cervantes Prize in 2017 – felt that the decision taken last week by the Nicaraguan parliament to close the Academy of Languages ​​for not having entered the register of foreign agents.

“It is a measure that seems very excessive”, typical of “a totalitarian project at the wrong time, because in Latin America these kinds of regimes survive their past “, and that” must be seen in the context of what is happening in the country, where they are repressing all civil society organizations“.

“Everything causes repugnance to the regime”

“Be it music, literature, language, scientific research, everything causes disgust to a regime that wants nothing to do with creativity and sees in creativity a threat constant “, underlined the writer, whose last published novel, ‘Tongolele could not dance’, It is prohibited in Nicaragua.

Inspired by the unrest that the country experienced in 2018 and critical of the country’s situation, Ramírez assured that “fiction is more useful for explaining a reality than a book of essays or a speech”, because, she said, “a fiction book takes care of rhetoric and is very careful that the bare facts speak to describe a situation through the characters “.

In fact, he acknowledges that Dr. Morales, the book’s main character, is inspired by his own experience in the revolution that in 1979 overthrew the Somoza dictatorship with the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

“Each character is always an ‘alter ego’ of the author himself. Especially when you manage to draw such a clear parallel between my life and that of my character. We both entered the revolution. He is very young because he entered the guerrilla as a teenager He was a fighter, I do not. That’s a pretty big difference, “she said.

“He lost a leg, but we share the same critical disappointment and the same dark sense of humor in dealing with a great disappointment in life, which must have contributed to such a groundbreaking endeavor and then discover that collapsed in our hands and it became the opposite of what we thought it should have been, “he continued.

Ortega in power

Ramírez claimed that Ortega’s continuation in power “it depends on different circumstances” and underlined the “contradiction” that, despite the regime’s desire to isolate itself, “Nicaragua is a country included in the economic system of the United States“, a country that plays” the role of moral attorney more than anything else in Latin America “.

As for Russia, he stated that “it is not an effective ally for Ortega”, since it is “a paper tiger” That “play to be the great superpower because it has nuclear warheads.

“But while you have to invest all possible resources in your war in Ukraine, what can you offer Ortega more than buses breaking down the following year? “asked the former politician.

Ramirez also commented the alternation of left-wing governments who is experiencing Latin America and claimed that the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, “He clearly distanced himself from Ortega.”

The same is expected from Colombian Gustavo Petro if he manages to win the second round of the elections on June 19, but not so by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvawhether he returns to power in the October elections in Brazil.

“Lula is a populist”

“Lula is a populist who will repeat the speech of (the president of Mexico) López Obrador, who siblings should not be isolated“said the writer.

Ramírez, who has been in exile in Spain since last year after Nicaraguan justice accused him of inspiring hatred and conspiracy, said he is still looking for your “space” to write in Madrid.

It will publish in September “That day fell on a Sunday”a book of short stories, and is already preparing his next novel, of which he still does not know the subject.

By Dani Rovirosa and Lucero Contreras, EFE

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