Q24N — For decades, Daniel Ortega was surrounded by men who were key figures in the armed struggle against the Anastasio Somoza dictatorship and in the triumph of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution.
Many of them took up arms, risked their lives in combat, and held some of the most important positions in the new government. They were considered heroes of the revolution and pillars of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) — Sandinista National Liberation Front.
However, the passage of time transformed several of these former comrades into enemies of the very power they helped establish. Today, some have died in state custody, others remain imprisoned, and several were sidelined from the inner circle of power by the very leadership they helped consolidate.
One of the most striking cases is that of Commander Hugo Torres Jiménez.
In December 1974, he participated in the historic guerrilla operation that led to the release of Daniel Ortega and other Sandinista prisoners. Ortega had been implicated in the murder of National Guard Sergeant Gonzalo Lacayo and was serving a seven-year prison sentence for his participation in the 1967 assault on the Kennedy branch of the Bank of London in Managua.
Hugo Torres was one of the men who risked his life to secure Ortega’s release and later fought as a guerrilla commander until the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution in 1979. He was part of the leadership that helped establish the new revolutionary government and for years was a respected figure within the historical Sandinista movement.
History took an unexpected turn more than four decades later. In June 2021, Hugo Torres was arrested during a wave of arrests targeting opposition members, former guerrillas, journalists, businesspeople, and presidential hopefuls. The regime accused him of allegedly “undermining Nicaragua’s independence, sovereignty, and self-determination,” as well as promoting foreign interference, invoking Law 1055. He remained imprisoned in solitary confinement, and his health progressively deteriorated while he was in state custody.
On February 12, 2022, he died without ever regaining his freedom. The commander who had risked his life to free Daniel Ortega ended up dying in a prison run by the government of the same man he had helped to release from prison decades earlier. For many, his case represents the greatest irony of Sandinismo: the man who helped establish the revolutionary project ended up becoming one of its most emblematic victims.
Another case that shook even the ranks of Sandinismo was that of Humberto Ortega, Daniel Ortega’s younger brother and founder of the Ejército Popular Sandinista (Sandinista People’s Army).
After the triumph of the revolution, he was the new government’s chief military strategist and played a decisive role in organizing the Armed Forces during the 1980s. For a long time, he was considered one of the most influential men in the country. However, as the years passed, he began to distance himself from the political course adopted by his brother.
In interviews and public statements, he warned that Nicaragua should prepare for a democratic transition and questioned the concentration of power around Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Shortly afterward, he was placed under house arrest, isolated from public life, and under strict surveillance. Not even being the president’s brother prevented him from being imprisoned. He died months later, demonstrating that the regime made no exceptions when it perceived dissent within its own family circle.
The purge also reached Bayardo Arce Castaño, one of the nine historical commanders of the National Directorate of the Sandinista Front and for decades considered Daniel Ortega’s main economic advisor.
Arce was one of the most powerful figures in the regime and one of the main links between the government and the business sector. His name was also linked for years to the controversies surrounding the so-called “Sandinista piñata,” a process by which numerous leaders of the Sandinista National Liberation Front were accused of appropriating state properties, companies, and assets after leaving power in 1990. However, after decades at the top of the power structure, he eventually fell from grace.
The regime itself investigated him, arrested him, and subsequently charged him with money laundering and defrauding the state. He was held incommunicado for months, and images later released showed a clear decline in his physical health, increasing concerns about his well-being. It was paradoxical that one of the men who had defended the government for so many years and was one of its key operatives ended up being prosecuted and imprisoned by the very power he had helped to consolidate.
The list also includes Carlos Fonseca Terán, son of Carlos Fonseca Amador, founder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. For years, he was one of the leading ideologues of Sandinismo, a writer, and a close associate of the regime. His surname represented one of the revolution’s most significant historical symbols. However, he too was eventually caught up in the internal purge.
He was arrested and removed from public life amidst a growing climate of distrust toward former Sandinista leaders. His case made it clear that the regime no longer distinguished between historical commanders, relatives of the founders, or former close collaborators when it perceived internal differences or risks to its absolute control of power.
The cases of Hugo Torres, Humberto Ortega, Bayardo Arce, and Carlos Fonseca Terán share a common denominator: none of them were traditional opponents of Sandinismo.
On the contrary, they were all part of the revolution, shared years of struggle with Daniel Ortega, held positions of enormous power, and, at different times in their lives, supported the Sandinista leader when he needed it most.
They risked their freedom, their careers, and even their lives for a political project they helped establish. However, as the years passed, they ended up being caught by the very power structure they helped build. Hugo Torres died in state custody; Humberto Ortega spent his last months under house arrest and in isolation; Bayardo Arce was arrested and prosecuted by the very regime of which he was one of the most trusted men; and Carlos Fonseca Terán also ended up imprisoned.
For many, these cases show that neither loyalty, nor decades-long friendship, nor family ties guaranteed protection when differences arose with the leadership of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
The story of these former Sandinista commanders and leaders paints a picture that is difficult to ignore. Men who fought together, who shared trenches, who helped free Daniel Ortega from prison, who contributed to the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution and helped establish the new revolutionary government, ended up imprisoned, persecuted, or ostracized by the very power they helped to build.
For many Nicaraguans, this series of events better encapsulates an old saying that has resurfaced today: “The devil pays poorly those who serve him well.”
Story translated and adapted from Novedades – Diario Informativo