# Daniel Ortega

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Daniel Ortega," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/daniel-ortega/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The president of Nicaragua, and the case John Kiriakou contrasts with Cuba: where he read the 2021 Cuban protests as a test run, he said Nicaragua's circumstances — a social security shortfall, a rise in the price of bread, and eight opposition party leaders arrested and imprisoned before an election — amounted to grounds for a real uprising.*

- **Position:** President of Nicaragua
- **What weakened him (per Kiriakou):** A social security shortfall and a rise in the price of bread
- **Before the election:** Eight opposition party leaders arrested and imprisoned
- **Kiriakou's verdict:** 'That necessitates a real honest-to-god uprising'

**Daniel Ortega** is the president of Nicaragua, and the subject of one of [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s sharpest distinctions between protests he regards as manufactured and protests he regards as earned.

Discussing [the 2021 Cuba protests](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cuba-protests-2021), which he had just called a test run, Kiriakou volunteered Nicaragua as the contrasting case. *"I've been following these demonstrations in Nicaragua. They started off because of a shortfall in the social security system, and the government raised the price of bread. And if you're poor and the price of bread goes up, that's a pretty big deal. But this social security thing was a very big problem, and it began to weaken the government of Daniel Ortega."*[1]

## The arrests

What moved his assessment was the treatment of the opposition before the vote. *"So the election comes up — there's supposed to be an election this year — and so far eight opposition leaders, that is the leaders of eight opposition parties, have been arrested and imprisoned. So now there's nobody to run against Ortega."*[2]

His conclusion is stated as a judgement rather than a prediction: *"now to me, that necessitates a real honest-to-god uprising."*[3]

## See also

- [The 2021 Cuba protests](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cuba-protests-2021)
- [Haiti](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/haiti)
- [Sanctions Effectiveness](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/sanctions-effectiveness)

## Sources

1. Cuba Crisis, Marxism & Automation (2021-07-13), at 11:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0vejtIEhE&t=666s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-07-13-caleb-maupin-cuba-crisis-marxism-automation/
2. Cuba Crisis, Marxism & Automation (2021-07-13), at 11:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0vejtIEhE&t=696s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-07-13-caleb-maupin-cuba-crisis-marxism-automation/
3. Cuba Crisis, Marxism & Automation (2021-07-13), at 12:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0vejtIEhE&t=727s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-07-13-caleb-maupin-cuba-crisis-marxism-automation/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/daniel-ortega/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt