Remembering Ortega’s Gulag

President Obama sat quietly, enduring a 50-minute rambling diatribe from socialist Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend.

Ortega denounced what he called a century of “terroristic U.S. aggression in Central America” and lashed out at the U.S. trade embargo against Castro’s Cuba. He also condemned what he termed the "illegal" war that was waged against the Sandinista regime, that he once led, by U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s.

But if Ortega is interested in history lessons, then it might be useful, on this occasion, to reflect on the Marxist tyranny he once headed -- and on its barbaric and vicious oppression of the Nicaraguan people. In so doing, it becomes transparently clear that the United States was not just justified, but also noble, in its backing of the Contra freedom fighters, whose sole purpose was to liberate Nicaraguans from Sandinista despotism.

If Ortega wants to engage in history lessons, then its high time for a history lesson that involves the whole story, not just rhetoric about American “imperialism.” It's time for an honest reconciliation with who the Sandinistas really were and the tragic dark chapter they introduced into Nicaragua's history...

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