"[Fill-in-the-blank] has survived because he is a shrewd street-fighter. All of his decisions -- political, economic, and personal -- are made with the goals of maintaining his personal power and pursuing his private...vendetta, regardless of how these decisions might affect the welfare of his countrymen."
The quote above refers toFidel Castro, but it could be an analysis of any number of leaders in Latin America and around the world in the last hundred years. Having a good fight in you is certainly an indispensible quality as a politician, there is no doubt. But when is it time to let go? When is it time to let a new generation lead?
For me, the moment has arrived.
Most readers here remember well Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s current president, who held power for almost 10 years (1980-1990) during the tumultuous period that followed the Sandinista Revolution. After Ortega was defeated by Violeta Chamorro, he continued to play an active role in Nicaraguan politics as a member of the National Assembly, forging strategic relationships with the opposition PLC party leaders, principally former President Arnoldo Aleman(1996-2001), whose now infamous pacto succeeded in marginalizing all potential political resistance by dividing control of key Nicaraguan institutions between their two parties (FSLN and PLC). Aleman has since been convicted of embezzlement and money-laundering, but retains "country as prison" privileges due to this alliance. One of the key laws they agreed to change during these intervening years was the law stipulating the percentage (lowered from 40% to 35%) and margin of victory (now 5%) required to win a presidential election. Meanwhile, however, both the PLC and FSLN parties suffered internal divisions that led to the creation of two new political parties.
Enter Herty Lewites, a brilliant mind within the FSLN who served as tourism minister and later became a popular Managua mayor. He was one of the few who intended to try to work within the FSLN to bring needed changes and improvements. But, when he announced his intention to run for the party’s nomination in January 2006, Ortega called him a traitor and organized his expulsion from the FSLN, forcing him to run independently. Lewites maintained a strong focus on the social issues that had inspired the Sandinistas in the beginning, but recognized that Nicaragua’s foreign policy needed to be based on more than anti-imperialistic rhetoric.
Before he died tragically of a heart attack in the middle of the campaign, he had said:
"I think we should be respectful, but firm, with Washington. I think we must maintain good relations. Nicaragua and the United States need each other."
It was a similar position to the new Liberal party candidate, Eduardo Montealegre, a young Harvard-educated businessman who emphasized the need for external investment and strongly objected to Aleman’s corrupt leadership, but who never gained much traction due to Aleman’s continued influence around the country.
So now here we are in the midst of another Ortega presidency, with gleeful convicted criminal Aleman still pulling strings behind the curtain. What has happened? Nicaraguan politics have been dominated by 2 people—2 families, really—for 25+ years. Two families that now have so much power and influence that no one else—even people with good ideas and sufficient experience—appear to even have a chance. Two families that care more about perpetuating their own legacy than resolving the problems of Nicaragua. In only one year, Ortega has managed to concentrate sufficient power in the hands of his wife Rosario Murillo that analysts are saying she is more important than the current Vice-President Jaime Morales. Oh, and did I mention he’s advocating to remove Nicaragua’s prohibition on consecutive terms?
All this history and the current situation here in Nicaragua begs the question: is it ever healthy for a democracy—any democracy—to perpetuate the political dynasty of one or two families? In some countries like Nicaragua, perhaps dynasties are inevitable. But for other nations, the power to prevent them still lies in the voices, the hands, and the votes of ordinary citizens.
"It is the power itself that must be constrained, checked, dispersed and carefully balanced, in order to ensure the survival of freedom." -Al Gore
We must use OUR power, and we must not be afraid, as Al Gore reminds us.
"Our founders taught us that public fear is the most dangerous enemy of democracy because under the right circumstances it can trigger the temptation of those who govern themselves to surrender that power to someone who promises strength and offers safety, security and freedom from fear."
So, to borrow a phrase from JFK’s inaugural address, the torch MUST be passed to a new generation, lest the flickering flame of democracy be weakened, or even snuffed out, by entitlement, corruption, or fear of the unknown.
Ya es hora.