Nicaragua as a warning: when communism comes to power, democracy disappears

History repeats itself, because many chosen to systematically ignore the facts of the greatest totalitarian movement of the last century.

Nicaragua: Four years of banning Holy Week without any condemnation from Pedro Sánchez
Nicaragua: a new communist persecution to Christians and two scandalous silences

Last Sunday, the communist dictator Daniel Ortega openly announced that there will be no more elections in Nicaragua. Thus, communism now has a new one-party regime, in this case with the dubious name of the "Sandinista National Liberation Front," a "liberation" that consists of abolishing democracy and freedom.

Obviously, Nicaragua did not become a dictatorship overnight. Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2007 and has since dedicated himself to degrading Nicaraguan democracy to prevent free elections from taking place in the country. Ortega clearly demonstrated his authoritarian tendencies as early as 2018, when his regime murdered hundreds of people to suppress student protests in the country. Since then, his dictatorship—because in fact it already was one—has unleashed a harsh anti-Catholic persecution that has even led to the prohibition of Holy Week, a religious festival deeply rooted in that Central American country.

Despite this, Ortega's regime has been systematically whitewashed by media outlets in various countries that avoid calling it a "dictatorship" and "far-left," simply because it is a far-left dictatorship. This is the case with the EFE news agency, controlled by the government of Pedro Sánchez, coincidentally the only government in the European Union with communist ministers.

It is important to remember that since 1917, communism has established more than fifty dictatorships worldwide. Nicaragua is already suffering its second, as Sandinista communism previously held power through a dictatorship, also under Daniel Ortega, between 1979 and 1990. Currently, communist dictatorships control one-fifth of humanity, specifically the inhabitants of mainland China, North Korea, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Despite being totalitarian regimes, none of these countries has been expelled from the UN.

In fact, as Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, reminded us today, Nicaragua currently chairs the committee that oversees the work of all UN-accredited human rights NGOs. For those who don't understand what this means, let me simply say that the UN has entrusted a dictatorship with overseeing the work of organizations dedicated to protecting human rights. It is utterly grotesque.

What happened in Nicaragua should serve as a warning to the world: when communism comes to power, democracy disappears. In fact, it is absurd that there are still democratic countries that tolerate the existence of totalitarian parties that seek to destroy democracy from within, including communist parties. The example of Nicaragua is yet another reason to demand that communist parties be outlawed in democratic countries. Democracy cannot accommodate those who seek to destroy it, those who seek to eliminate freedom and establish one-party regimes that, as history shows, have become notorious violators of human rights.

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Photo: AFP.