Nicaragua's president has not been seen in a month
As much of Latin America shuts down in the face of the coronavirus, Nicaragua is striking out as a radical outlier — urging citizens to go to the beach, enjoy holiday cruises and turn out for Easter-season passion plays.
Rather than discouraging crowds, the Sandinista government is trying to manufacture them. Authorities haven’t closed borders, businesses or stadiums. In a photo, a bunch of kids in swimsuits are sitting around a table at the beach. They're drinking Cokes, waving, grinning. “We have a unique country .?.?. and it’s best to enjoy it with your family!” wrote Juan Carlos Ortega, the son of Nicaragua’s president, in a tweet with the image of his children posted on April 4.
But what perhaps most sets the Central American nation apart is its president. Daniel Ortega doesn’t seem to be leading the charge against the coronavirus. In fact, he hasn’t appeared in public for a month. The government says he’s still in control. But Nicaraguans are nervously wondering if the former Marxist guerrilla is ill, dead or simply avoiding human contact.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has called on Nicaragua “to recognize the extreme gravity of the situation, and immediately adopt steps to address and contain the pandemic.” In Ortega’s absence, Vice President Rosario Murillo — also his wife — has been giving daily phone interviews to official media. Nicaragua has reported only nine cases of covid-19 and one fatality. Josefina Bonilla, a doctor and public health expert in Managua, the capital, said Nicaragua’s low number of cases reflected a lack of testing. Costa Rica, Nicaragua’s less populous neighbor, has confirmed more than 500 cases of covid-19.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-nicaragua-daniel-ortega-missing/2020/04/11/3ad1fafc-79c3-11ea-a311-adb1344719a9_story.html
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