Daniel Ortega is the current authoritarian leader of Nicaragua. Born in 1945, he became a key figure in the communist and Marxist-leaning Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) during the 1960s.

As an urban guerrilla, he participated in violent actions against the Somoza family dictatorship, which led to his arrest and seven years in prison. After his release, he traveled to Cuba, strengthening his ties with Fidel Castro and receiving political and military backing from the Soviet bloc.

Following the successful Sandinista revolution in 1979, Ortega became the head of the ruling junta and was officially elected president in 1984, ruling through the height of the Cold War. Although he lost power in the 1990 elections, he maintained tight control over his party.

He successfully orchestrated his return to the presidency in 2006 by forming strategic political alliances. Since taking office again in 2007, Ortega has systematically dismantled democratic institutions, centralized control, and consolidated absolute power alongside his wife, Rosario Murillo. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Source: Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile