"This essential step is only possible by entering into a National Agreement on democratic cohabitation, which summons the power that results from the new correlation of forces from the free elections next November, nationally legitimized, and recognized by the international community"
Humberto Ortega Saavedra (January 10, 1947) is a Nicaraguan military leader, leading Latin American revolutionary strategist and published writer who is known for being the heroic and familiar counterpart of Somoza Debayle and his brother Daniel Ortega.
Humberto Ortega and his brother, current President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, founded the Tercerista tendency of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in 1975. He crafted the urban insurrection strategy that ignited civil war in Nicaragua in October 1977, leading to the fall of the Somoza dynastic dictatorship in July 1979. As Minister of Defense during the decade of Sandinista rule, Ortega oversaw the build up of the Sandinista Popular Army (EPS) and the prosecution of the war against the "contra" resistance factions and their peasant support base.
Following the electoral defeat of Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista Party in 1990, Humberto maintained control of the military. He retired in 1995, turning the job over to his second in command, Joaquín Cuadra. General Humberto Ortega started transforming the EPS into the non-political Nicaraguan National Army. Allegedly, he was behind the of many retired anti-sandinistas rebels.
After the protests in Nicaragua in 2018, their bad relationship between brothers was confirmed, Humberto called on his brother Daniel to deactivate the paramilitary forces that attacked the population and advance the general elections.
He spoke out about the arbitrary arrests of his brother's regime, and encouraged his government to release the accused, claiming that they are not terrorists, but opponents with different points of view. In December 2019, Humberto asked his brother Daniel to release the at least 168 opponents who, at that time, were detained for demonstrating against the government, he demanded free and fair elections from his brother.
In 2021 he again demanded the release of all dissidents and affirmed that decreeing a pardon or amnesty would send a "great message" that would prove that "it is moving in the right direction so that the international community takes it into account" and that it would have the opportunity to show a "humanitarian gesture",He said that the detainees have not attempted against the stability of the country; they are simply opponents who have their point of view as he. In response, Ortega classified his brother as a "home-trader" and to "defend the terrorists" .
Humberto Ortega deeply regrets the death of General Hugo Torres, describing his detention as a "cruel confinement".