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

MEXICO CITY — 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 country’s defense minister after the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. Later in life, Humberto Ortega publicly criticized some actions of his brother’s increasingly repressive administrations.

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 “revolutionary military actions.”

Local media reported in May that police had surrounded Humberto Ortega’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 brother’s current administration as “authoritarian, dictatorial” 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 Nicolás Maduro expressed his condolences in a statement, praising Humberto Ortega as a freedom fighter.

Dissident and former presidential hopeful turned political exile Juan Sebastián Chamorro told the Associated Press “the legacy of Humberto Ortega is intrinsically linked with the war.” 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.

“He 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,” 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 “Contra” rebels in a war that began in 1981 and ended in 1990, leaving at least 35,000 dead.

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

Humberto Ortega’s political thinking evolved as he moved from guerilla fighter to businessman. In 1981, he threatened to “hang the bourgeoisie from the light posts,” but by 1996 he was defending his fortune saying he wasn’t going to leave government “on a bicycle.”

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 Ortega’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 Ortega’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 “indiscriminate repression” that left at least 355 dead.

“The army must speak with Daniel Ortega” 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 “some traitors and sellouts who had said that there wouldn’t be enough lightposts to hang all of the rich, now come out saying that these gentlemen are not terrorists.”

In February 2022, he also criticized his brother’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 Ortega’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 “cruel imprisonment.”

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.