A family of six Nicaraguan presidents looks to provide a seventh
It may take an old dynasty to oust a younger one
WHETHER THEY like it or not, Nicaraguans are in thrall to dynastic politics. In the 1950s the Somoza family dictatorship pulled off Latin America’s first parent-to-child transfer of power in almost a century. In 1979 Daniel Ortega banished the Somozas in a revolution. Today the autocratic Ortegas rule Nicaragua. Rosario Murillo, the vice-president, is Mr Ortega’s wife; their children run television channels. But neither clan comes close to the influence of the Chamorros over the past 150 years. They have provided six presidents—and may add a seventh, if elections later this year go their way.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Chamorro tomorrow?”
From the March 31st 2021 edition
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