It seems like the latest chapter in the saga of communism playing out near Uncle Sam’s backyard is unfolding right in Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega, the longtime figurehead of Nicaragua, has decided it’s finally time to go full-on Scrooge and decree that his country won’t bother with elections anymore. The curtains are down for democracy, and it’s lights out on any hopes of a peaceful political challenge. The Ortega regime is packing up the ballot boxes, setting the stage for a good old-fashioned dictatorship. You can almost hear him muttering about “never again” while nervously twirling his villainous mustache—obviously dyed.
Ortega’s Nicaragua is today’s poster child for what happens when the infamously iron-heavy hand of communism latches onto a nation and cinches it tight. The usual suspect, Marco Rubio, is jumping into the fray, calling out Ortega’s cowardice. The senator is doing his best to remind everyone that America’s not planning on grabbing popcorn and watching this flick from the comfort of the sidelines. No sir, this move represents the desperate attempt of a regime afraid of what could happen if the Nicaraguan people were given a chance to voice their actual will—a glorious echo of the drumroll we’ve heard play out in places like Venezuela, where turning your back on communism is nothing short of an encore-worthy round of applause.
Geographically sandwiched between El Salvador, which is cleaning up its act with tech hubs and tidy streets, and Panama, critical in trade routes, Nicaragua couldn’t have picked a more crucial spot to toss out democracy and hoist its red flag in peace. The United States and its allies are left scratching their heads, you can imagine, wondering if a future involving midnight helicopter shows is brewing.
It’s a plot with familiar twists if you’ve ever taken a class on Cold War geopolitics. Ortega’s gambit is right out of the Eastern Bloc handbook: tighten your grip, smile through gritted teeth, and keep that revolutionary spirit (read: desperate repression) alive and well. Meanwhile, back here in the States, the Democratic Socialists of America have their own cheeky little wishlist that has conservatives seeing red—get rid of the Senate, they say, pack the Supreme Court, and sprinkle a few extra states into the mix for good measure. What Ortega is doing across the border is the extreme kind of handiwork that gets people here worried about similar antics in their own backyard.
As Rubio’s spotlight on Cuba suggests, the fingers of past regimes might be more involved in current events than we’d like. Could it be time for America to remember that it’s historically been more than just a bystander in these affairs? You can bet Ortega is hoping to avoid hearing any helicopter blades in the stillness of a Nicaraguan night. Whether it’s Nicaragua or its spectrum of neighbors, the callus in the Western Hemisphere seems to be thickening, and what’s clear is that nobody’s singing praises of “Fortunate Son.”
