COVID-19 is ravaging Latin America, but one country, Nicaragua, insists it’s tackling the pandemic better than any of its neighbors.
There’s just one problem: Doctors and critics of the government say Nicaragua’s numbers are fake.
They accuse the Central American country’s longtime president, Daniel Ortega, of hiding the pandemic’s real toll, and are struggling to get the real numbers and data out to the public.
That’s a difficult feat as much of broadcast and print media in Nicaragua is controlled by the government and members of Ortega’s family. News reports are filled with Ortega’s supposed successes at battling the coronavirus and bringing vaccines to the impoverished country.
“Thanks to God and for the wisdom of our president for his handling of the pandemic,” says an elderly woman highlighted in a recent TV report, holding her just vaccinated arm at a clinic.
But contrary to the narrative playing out in state media, Ortega has long downplayed the coronavirus. From the beginning, he has denounced lockdowns and mask mandates. His wife, Rosario Murillo, who is also vice president, encouraged large gatherings. Early in the pandemic, health care workers said they were even barred from wearing protective gear, so as not to alarm the public.
At this year’s May 1 International Workers’ Day ceremony, the first couple pumped their fists in the air as the international workers anthem played to a small maskless crowd. Ortega brought up the virus — although not the coronavirus.
“The most terrible virus that has infected our planet is the virus of capitalism,” said the 75-year-old leader. He blasted rich countries for hoarding vaccines.
Only about 2% of Nicaragua’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines donated from Russia, India and the United Nations-backed COVAX program. Last month, the Nicaraguan government secured a $100,000 loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to buy more vaccines.
On paper, the country of 6.5 million people has done an amazing job controlling its coronavirus outbreak. The government said it confirmed 97 new cases of infection in the week up to Tuesday, and 5,649 cumulative cases since the start of the pandemic. It omitted the total fatalities from COVID-19. The World Health Organization puts Nicaragua’s official COVID-19 death toll at just 184.
Almost all the other Central American countries, even those with smaller populations than Nicaragua, report deaths in the thousands.
