A meek Ortega reappears for the first time after the fall of Maduro: “They took him in a completely disproportionate action”

By Wilfredo Miranda Aburto In DIVERGENTES, January 15, 2026

Twelve days after the fall of Nicolás Maduro, the Sandinista strongman reappeared with an unusually restrained speech, loaded with indirect references to the United States, but without the anti-imperialist thunder of his habitual rhetoric, much less mentioning Donald Trump. The moderation is not accidental: according to the US magazine POLITICO, the Ortega-Murillo regime has opted for lowering the decibels while silently cooperating with Washington on anti-drug matters to ward off direct pressure from the Republican administration.

Twelve days after the fall and capture of his principal ideological ally in Caracas, Daniel Ortega reappeared for the first time this Thursday in a graduation event of police inspectors, and gave a speech in which, even though he condemned “the invasion” of Venezuela on the part of the United States, avoided mentioning president Donald Trump and modulated to the point of meekness his habitual and historic anti-imperialist tone. “We join the cry to return president Nicolás Maduro to his people. They took him in a completely disproportionate action,” he exhorted, accompanied by his wife, the co-president Rosario Murillo and the top leadership of his regime in the Olof Palme convention center.

Since Donald Trump ordered Operation Absolute Resolve in the early morning of January 3^rd, the co-presidential regime has adopted the same rhetoric of Chavism now led by Delcy Rodríguez: they call for Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, but in practice they genuflect to Washington. Before the Sandinista strongman reappeared, the regime took 14 hours to refer to the capture of the Chavista leader, and then came the publication of a series of press releases lacking the usual anti-imperialist fire of the co-presidential diplomacy.

The speech of Ortega that Thursday night followed the same tone, with copious criticisms “against the imperialists of the earth” and a barrage of indirect references to the United States, even though modulated in a meek and calm tone. “They made 300 planes fly over the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with 150 helicopters, the armaments that they have there on the warships. Imagine, risking death to capture president Nicolás Maduro. What gave them that power? What organization exists in the world which endorses an act of terrorism like this?”, said Ortega, always without mentioning the Republican president.

Also, as is habitual in his tirades, Daniel spoke about peace and quoted Rubén Darío. After doing a long recounting of the political history of Nicaragua since the eighties, he again insisted on “terrorism”, but always in an indirect manner toward Washington. “They are terrorists…they are sowing terror in the world…and what the world wants is peace. Our sympathy for the Venezuelan people (…) We join the cry that they return president Nicolás Maduro to his people. They took him in a completely disproportionate action, without any arrest warrant,” asserted Ortega.

“They are silently cooperating”

The lowered anti-imperialists decibels of the co-presidential regime are due, according to a source of the White House quoted this week by the US Magazine POLITICO, that the Ortega-Murillos have warded off direct pressure from the Trump administration, cooperating silently with the work of contention against drug-trafficking, in contrast with Cuba which has been present in the narrative and the threats of the Republican president.

In the analysis of the journalist Nahal Toosi, backed by diplomatic and official former security sources, suggests that Managua has known how to play a fundamental card: operational utility for Washington. Despite the fact that the first Trump administration included Nicaragua in the so called “troika of tyranny”, the reality on the ground reveals a paradox. According to this US media, a high official under conditions of anonymity stated that Nicaragua is collaborating with Washington to stop drug trafficking and fight criminal structures in their territory, a statement which contrasts with the official announcement made last March on the withdrawal of DEA operations in Nicaragua, motivated by the “lack of cooperation” of the regime.

“Nicaragua is cooperating with us to stop drug trafficking and fight criminal elements in their territory,” stated the White House official, under condition of anonymity, for being, as he explained, a sensitive national security issue. The administration, he added, is watching “closely” the conduct of the Nicaraguan regime, without offering greater details.

The Department of Justice, on their part, refused to comment on the apparent contradiction between that cooperation and the federal report which announced the withdrawal of the DEA, while the antidrug agency itself did not respond about whether this plan continues or has been modified.

This technical collaboration creates a dilemma for Washington. While the State Department is sanctioning figures within the circle close to Ortega-Murillo for human rights violations, “other entities maintain open channels with the Army of Nicaragua and the National Police for regional operations.” This pragmatism allows the Sandinista regime to present itself as “a necessary partner in a convulsive region” to avoid becoming a priority target of Trump, who has focused his regional pressure on countries with greater strategic, migratory or energy importance, while Managua maintains an anti-imperialist discourse and extending relationships with Russia, China and Iran.

Experts consulted in the report also pointed out that Ortega has learned to not generate “excessive noise” which might provoke a direct reaction from the US president. In contrast to Maduro, who opted for constant public confrontation, the Managua regime has alternated its anti-imperialist rhetoric for internal consumption with discrete management of security interests which concern Washington.