30 de septiembre 2024
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Humberto Ortega Saavedra, former head of the Nicaraguan Army and brother of dictator Daniel Ortega, passed away at the age of 77 in Nicaragua, as confirmed in a brief statement by the Directorate of the Military Hospital School "Dr. Alejandro Dávila Bolaños" of the Military Medical Corps of the Nicaraguan Army. The retired army general had been under de facto house arrest since May 2024.
Ortega Saavedra, the younger brother of the dictator, died at 2:30 AM on September 30, 2024.
“At 01:55, the patient Humberto Ortega Saavedra, 77 years old, suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, and after being treated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts, he did not recover, and was declared dead at 2:30 AM," reads the statement, which was published by official media after 10:30 in the morning, more than eight hours after his death. The statement also omits that he was a retired army general, referring to Ortega Saavedra only as "the patient."
Dictatorship “acknowledges” his “transition to another plane of life”
In a statement published after the official confirmation of Humberto Ortega’s death, the dictatorship led by his brother Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, recalled his "strategic contribution" as a Sandinista militant and his "bravery in revolutionary actions."
It also highlighted "his writings, platforms, insurrectional and historical theories, which brilliantly compiled and exposed the Epics of the Heroic Nicaraguan People and the Sandinista National Liberation Front."
The statement also emphasized his family origins and expressed "solidarity with his children David, Elizabeth, Luis Amanda, Mariana, and Oscar Humberto, his grandchildren, and partners with whom he shared various moments of his life" after "acknowledging his transition to another plane of life."
However, the statement omits his de facto house arrest and isolation in the Military Hospital. It also does not mention whether there will be a funeral with the protocol honors due to a high-ranking military officer.
Children publish death notice
Official media also published the death notice issued by Humberto Ortega's children: "We, his children Elizabeth, David, Amanda, Mariana, Oscar Humberto, and grandchildren, announce with deep sorrow the passing of our beloved father and grandfather, Humberto Ortega Saavedra."
"We express our gratitude to all the people and friends who have shown their solidarity and prayers," they added.
The obituary concludes: "During this difficult time, the family asks for privacy and respect as we grieve."
Humberto Ortega Died Under De Facto House Arrest
Since June 11, 2024, Humberto Ortega had been in one of the rooms on the fourth floor of the Military Hospital in isolation, according to sources close to the retired army general, although a previous statement from the Military Hospital claimed that during his last health crisis in late September, he had been transferred from his home.
The health of retired General Humberto Ortega Saavedra, former head of the Nicaraguan Army, deteriorated on the morning of Sunday, September 29.
According to an earlier statement from the Military Hospital, "the patient suffered a sudden deterioration in his condition with cardiogenic shock and altered consciousness, which required intensive therapy to maintain blood pressure levels."
This was the first time that the Nicaraguan Army acknowledged that the retired general had been admitted to the Military Hospital. However, they omitted that he had been under a de facto house arrest since May 2024.
In June 2024, CONFIDENCIAL reported that the National Police had transferred the former army chief to the Military Hospital after he showed symptoms of having suffered a heart attack at home, where he was under house arrest. Neither the Army nor the Police admitted Humberto Ortega's condition at the time.
"On June 11, 2024, at 6:50 PM, the patient Humberto Ortega Saavedra, 77 years old, was admitted, coming from his home accompanied by attending physicians (Dr. Ariel Argüello and Dr. Jesser Rizo)," reads the Military Hospital's statement.
The statement that angered the dictatorship
The enforced measure of house arrest against former Army chief Humberto Ortega was imposed after the publication of an interview with the Argentine media outlet Infobae, in which he stated that his older brother, Daniel Ortega, does not have suitable successors.
In the interview, the former commander-in-chief of the Nicaraguan Army highlighted that he was receiving medical treatment at the private hospital Vivian Pellas. "I have had severe cardiovascular events in the context of the tense and polarized political and social conflict, and COVID, since 2018. I was urgently admitted to the Vivian Pellas Hospital in Managua. Subsequently, since December of last year, I have suffered additional health problems," he detailed.
Despite the retired general's health issues, the National Police, under the command of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, prohibited family members and private medical staff from entering the home of the former military chief, leaving him completely isolated.
“A doctor from the Ministry of Health has come, but all he does is take his blood pressure,” a source close to the family reported at the time.
Daniel Ortega's action against his brother
Nine days after the order for "de facto house arrest" was placed on former Army chief Humberto Ortega Saavedra, his brother, dictator Daniel Ortega, unexpectedly showed up on the night of May 28, 2024, to annul an order issued by the then-retired military officer in 1992. During the event, Daniel Ortega used several derogatory terms to refer to his brother in front of the high command of the Nicaraguan Army, refusing to mention his name at any point.
The dictator annulled an order that his younger brother had granted, while he was chief of the Sandinista Popular Army (EPS), to then-military attaché of the United States in Managua, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis F. Quinn, on January 14, 1992. Daniel Ortega stated that for 32 years, "the then head of the Army", referring to Humberto Ortega, had "given his soul to the devil." The event was also attended by police leadership, authorities from the revived Ministry of the Interior (formerly the Ministry of Governance), hundreds of military personnel, officers, and Ortega supporters.
"What a shame! What a shame! A betrayal of the people! A betrayal of the homeland!" Ortega exclaimed before invalidating the decoration by presidential decree. "Even then, the (then) head of the Army had given his soul to the devil," he added, never mentioning his brother's name, who had been under "de facto house arrest" since Sunday, May 19, 2024, following the publication of an interview in the Argentine media outlet Infobae.
Through the presidential decree, Ortega ordered to "annul, invalidate, and withdraw" the order, referring to it as "that infamy, that decoration for a Yankee military officer."
The second high-ranking military official to die as a political prisoner
Humberto Ortega is now the second high-ranking military official to die as a political prisoner under Daniel Ortega's dictatorship, and he is the highest-ranking among them.
The order against the former chief of the Nicaraguan Army was issued on the night of Sunday, May 19, 2024. The police set up a perimeter around the general's home, and he was also stripped of computers and cell phones, according to the newspaper La Prensa, which republished the interview.
The raid on the home of the retired general, 77, located on the outskirts of Managua, was led by a commissioner identified as Vladimir Cerda, who allegedly informed him that, "although he was not detained, nor under house arrest," he had to report "any movements he intended to make."
Before Humberto Ortega, on June 13, 2021, Sandinista guerrilla and retired Brigadier General Hugo Torres Jiménez was arrested and turned into a political prisoner of the Ortega Murillo regime during a political witch hunt against members of the Democratic Renovation Union (Unamos), formerly the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS).
During his imprisonment, Torres was subjected to "torture, cruel, and degrading treatment" until the day he died, on February 12, 2022, after more than two months during which the dictatorship kept his physical whereabouts and health condition hidden.
According to the Public Ministry, Torres died due to the "health issues he had," but no further details were provided, such as why he was subjected to isolation, hunger, and constant interrogations. It is also unknown which hospital he was taken to and the impact that the precarious conditions of his confinement had on the deterioration of his health.
In a video recorded before his arrest, the retired general expressed that he never imagined he would face another dictatorship in the twilight of his life. "These," he said, "are desperate clawing attempts by a regime that feels itself decaying, that has no legal basis, and that has no justification for remaining in power."
This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.
