(San José) The Nicaraguan press in exile in Costa Rica reported Wednesday that Humberto Ortega, brother of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, was urgently admitted to the Managua military hospital after “symptoms of a heart attack.”
“At around seven o’clock in the evening on Tuesday June 11, a contingent of police forces transferred retired general Humberto Ortega to the military hospital in Managua to deal with a medical emergency,” the Confidencial newspaper reported, citing reports. “sources related to this establishment.”
Nicaraguan media outlets working mainly from Costa Rica, such as 100% Noticias and the daily La Prensa, reported that Humberto Ortega, a former army chief and critic of his brother’s authoritarian government, had been admitted “for symptoms of a heart attack at home.”
The Nicaraguan government made no comment.
The weekend before the announcement, Humberto Ortega, 77, gave an interview to an online media outlet in which he said his brother Daniel, 78, had no successor and that his circle of power would collapse. if he were to disappear.
A week later, Daniel Ortega accused his brother of committing an act of “betrayal of the country” in 1992 by decorating a U.S. serviceman. “The head of the army had already sold his soul to the devil,” he added, pronouncing the annulment of the decree by which the medal had been awarded.
Humberto led the army until 1995, while Daniel led the movement before being elected president from 1985 to 1990.
Political differences between the brothers emerged in the 1990s and they have gone their separate ways ever since.
Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2007 and has since engaged in increasingly authoritarian practices, removing presidential term limits and taking control of all state organs.
