Exiled Revolutionaries: Former Sandinistas Exiled Under the Ortega Regime, 2006 to the Present

After the 1990 presidential election, the Sandinista party was removed from power in Nicaragua. With the electoral defeat, former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega began consolidating power in the National Assembly. In reaction, the Sandinista party fractured and a group of prominent sandinistas founded the Movimiento Renovador Sandinista (MRS) in 1995 due to their disagreement with Ortega. In 2006, Ortega was re-elected president of Nicaragua. Steadily, the Ortega regime began restricting civil liberties and attacking opposition groups to his rule. Nicaraguans’ exile increased when in April 2018 student protests against social security cuts turned into a violent conflict between the Ortega regime and Nicaraguan citizens. Tensions were further exacerbated when Ortega arrested presidential candidates for the 2021 election.

Why did former Sandinistas (especially women) flee into exile during the Ortega regime (2006-present)? This paper investigates the motivations and experiences of exiled former Sandinistas by the Ortega administration between 2006 and the present. Through oral histories with exiles, I argue that these narratives offer insight into the Ortega regime’s transition into dictatorship and how the concept of Sandinistas was co-opted by the regime. I also illustrate how the Ortega regime turned against feminist, former Sandinistas as a means to consolidate power.