Sergio Ramírez, Nicaraguan writer, during an interview with EL PAÍS in Madrid (Spain).Claudio Álvarez
Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez attends the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) to speak about the turbulent situation in Central America at a table organized by EL PAÍS. The region is in a difficult political situation characterized by the excesses of authoritarian regimes, corruption and violence.
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The writer, Cervantes Prize winner and former Vice President of Nicaragua will discuss these topics with EL PAÍS journalist David Marcial Pérez. The panel entitled “Exile, Censorship and Repression in Central America” will take place on Saturday, November 25th at 6:00 p.m. and is part of the FIL literature program.
Ramírez himself embodies many of the ills of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime in Nicaragua, certainly the most extreme case in the region. Without his law degree, his house and even his citizenship, the writer is one of hundreds of thousands of political exiles and persecuted people. Last year alone, 170,000 Nicaraguans applied for asylum in the United States.
Ramírez’s latest novel, Tongolele Didn’t Know How to Dance (Alfaguara, 2021), is in fact a fictional representation of the totalitarian tendencies of Ortega, the writer’s former companion during the Sandinista revolution against the dictator Somoza. Ramírez is also the founder of the Centroamérica Cuenta literary festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year with the participation of more than 70 authors from 20 countries. Born in Managua, the festival has become a traveling festival due to the political persecution of the Daniel Ortega regime against intellectuals and critical voices.
In addition to Nicaragua, the prospects in El Salvador are not much more encouraging. President Nayib Bukele is on his way to becoming another textbook leader. After the attack on the public prosecutor’s office and the Constitutional Court, he has already announced that he will stand for re-election next year, even though the constitution prohibits this. The persecution of the independent press and complaints about the lack of transparency in the economy are further ingredients, plus the bitter war against the gangs. More than a year ago, Bukele introduced an emergency regime that has managed to reduce violence rates, but at the cost of a spate of violations of civil rights and freedoms.
The contagion of the Bukele phenomenon, one of the most popular leaders on the continent, has reached neighboring Honduras. President Xiomara Castro also declared a state of emergency, following El Salvador’s example. Murders have fallen, but control by gangs and drug trafficking groups remains. Reports of torture are increasing in prisons now under military control.
Meanwhile, Guatemala’s elected president, Bernardo Arévalo, faces a turning point in being able to govern through the boycott of the country’s elites. Arévalo knew how to exploit Guatemalans’ fatigue with a clear anti-corruption message and a condemnation of the establishment, which has stepped on the accelerator in recent years with the prosecution of prosecutors, activists and journalists, especially those who sow authoritarianism examined the current government of Alejandro Giammattei.
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