IBOV 188,268.59 ▲ 1.42% IPSA 11,238.63 ▼ 1.16% IPC MEX 64,499.43 ▼ 0.49% MERVAL 3,157,852 ▲ 1.53% COLCAP 2,626.71 ▲ 1.65% BVL PERÚ 60,702.89 ▼ 2.19% USD/BRL5.10▼ 0.09% USD/MXN16.99▲ 0.01% USD/CLP940.47▲ 1.38% USD/COP3,097▼ 0.40% USD/PEN3.35▲ 0.03% USD/ARS1,513▼ 0.02% USD/UYU40.24▲ 3.14% USD/PYG5,868▲ 2.61% USD/BOB12.36▲ 1.54% USD/DOP58.63▲ 0.22% USD/CRC447.58▲ 1.69% USD/GTQ7.63▲ 3.00% USD/HNL26.85▲ 0.57% USD/NIO36.62▲ 0.34% USD/VES830.41▼ 0.13% USD/PAB1.00— 0.00% USD/BZD2.00— 0.00% USD/JMD 157.28 — 0.00% USD/TTD6.73▲ 2.20% EUR/BRL5.92▼ 0.19% BRENT 88.88 ▼ 0.03% WTI 83.11 ▼ 0.11% IRON ORE 161.91 — — COPPER 6.61 ▲ 0.03% GOLD 4,461 ▲ 1.78% SILVER 65.59 ▲ 1.26% SOY 1,184 ▲ 3.20% CORN 480.50 ▲ 10.02% WHEAT 655.00 ▲ 3.93% COFFEE 317.25 ▼ 5.51% SUGAR 16.43 ▼ 1.79% ORANGE JUICE 138.55 ▼ 0.47% COTTON 85.03 ▲ 2.33% COCOA 5,719 ▲ 3.18% BEEF 223.60 ▼ 3.93% CATTLE 339.10 ▼ 3.16% LITHIUM 75.20 ▲ 1.47% PETR4 41.64 ▼ 0.05% VALE3 72.97 ▲ 0.83% ITUB4 38.60 ▼ 1.03% BBDC4 16.85 ▲ 0.36% ABEV3 14.89 ▼ 0.80% BBAS3 19.37 ▲ 0.47% B3SA3 14.26 ▼ 0.21% WEGE3 47.59 ▲ 0.49% PRIO3 59.14 ▼ 0.19% SUZB3 41.33 ▲ 2.35% RENT3 34.68 ▼ 0.09% AZZA3 15.89 ▼ 2.63% CSAN3 3.22 ▼ 1.83% RAIZ4 0.25 — 0.00% PCAR3 2.75 ▼ 0.36% GMAT3 3.65 ▼ 1.08% PSSA3 48.13 ▼ 0.54% CVCB3 1.33 ▼ 2.92% POSI3 3.36 ▲ 2.44% SLCE3 13.34 ▲ 0.30% NATU3 8.14 ▼ 0.73% IBOV 188,268.59 ▲ 1.42% IPSA 11,238.63 ▼ 1.16% IPC MEX 64,499.43 ▼ 0.49% MERVAL 3,157,852 ▲ 1.53% COLCAP 2,626.71 ▲ 1.65% BVL PERÚ 60,702.89 ▼ 2.19% USD/BRL 5.16 ▲ 0.01% USD/MXN 17.06 ▼ 0.24% USD/CLP 913.98 ▲ 0.04% USD/COP 3,140 ▲ 0.03% USD/PEN 3.36 ▼ 0.66% USD/ARS 1,493 ▲ 0.10% USD/UYU 40.27 ▲ 1.24% USD/PYG 5,939 ▲ 1.68% USD/BOB 11.64 ▼ 0.76% USD/DOP 58.34 ▲ 1.25% USD/CRC 445.92 ▲ 0.89% USD/GTQ 7.62 ▲ 2.21% USD/HNL 26.79 ▲ 1.57% USD/NIO 36.62 ▲ 0.69% USD/VES 762.44 ▼ 0.13% USD/PAB 1.00 — 0.00% USD/BZD 2.00 — 0.00% USD/JMD 157.28 — 0.00% USD/TTD 6.70 ▲ 0.61% EUR/BRL 5.95 ▲ 1.01% BRENT 88.88 ▼ 0.03% WTI 83.11 ▼ 0.11% IRON ORE 161.91 — — COPPER 6.61 ▲ 0.03% GOLD 4,461 ▲ 1.78% SILVER 65.59 ▲ 1.26% SOY 1,184 ▲ 3.20% CORN 480.50 ▲ 10.02% WHEAT 655.00 ▲ 3.93% COFFEE 317.25 ▼ 5.51% SUGAR 16.43 ▼ 1.79% ORANGE JUICE 138.55 ▼ 0.47% COTTON 85.03 ▲ 2.33% COCOA 5,719 ▲ 3.18% BEEF 223.60 ▼ 3.93% CATTLE 339.10 ▼ 3.16% LITHIUM 75.20 ▲ 1.47% PETR4 41.64 ▼ 0.05% VALE3 72.97 ▲ 0.83% ITUB4 38.60 ▼ 1.03% BBDC4 16.85 ▲ 0.36% ABEV3 14.89 ▼ 0.80% BBAS3 19.37 ▲ 0.47% B3SA3 14.26 ▼ 0.21% WEGE3 47.59 ▲ 0.49% PRIO3 59.14 ▼ 0.19% SUZB3 41.33 ▲ 2.35% RENT3 34.68 ▼ 0.09% AZZA3 15.89 ▼ 2.63% CSAN3 3.22 ▼ 1.83% RAIZ4 0.25 — 0.00% PCAR3 2.75 ▼ 0.36% GMAT3 3.65 ▼ 1.08% PSSA3 48.13 ▼ 0.54% CVCB3 1.33 ▼ 2.92% POSI3 3.36 ▲ 2.44% SLCE3 13.34 ▲ 0.30% NATU3 8.14 ▼ 0.73%
since 2009
Friday, September 11, 2026

Alert in Nicaragua following leak about Daniel Ortega’s deteriorating health

By · April 17, 2023 · 3 min read

The LatAm Brief

One email, every weekday morning. What moved in Latin American markets, politics and expat life.

Yesterday’s subject line: “YPF sells US$1.2bn bond, Argentina's biggest since 2015”

Free. We send a confirmation link first — nothing arrives until you click it. Unsubscribe with one click in any edition. If you stop opening us for 30 days we stop sending by ourselves, as we assume the interest is no longer there. See our privacy policy. We never share your email.

By Judith Flores

A mystery surrounds the state of health of Sandinista Daniel Ortega, who has always handled the issue as a state secret.

Former allies have leaked that he suffers from lupus and heart problems, chronic and incurable ailments.

He reappeared on the scene with his wife and vice-president-designate Rosario Murillo after rumors about his deteriorating health on social networks.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
One-stop reference
Company Intelligence
Every listed company in Latin America — financials, ownership and structure for 1,450+ companies across 26 exchanges, in one place.
Browse the directory →
RT
Ask Rio Times
17 years of Latin America reporting, on demand.
Open the full Ask Rio Times →

A more stooped Ortega received the president of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) a day after his son Laureano Ortega Murillo signed “cooperation projects” for his parents’ regime.

Since his return to power, Ortega has disappeared for long periods without explanation.

This situation has even generated rumors of his supposed death, but his physical deterioration is evident when he appears.

His appearances are nocturnal; most official activities, including military parades on Army anniversaries, occur at night.

Most patients with this pathology are sensitive to the sun.

Ultraviolet rays can activate or worsen lupus activity in the skin and other organs.

Sun exposure can cause fatigue, joint pain, inflammation, fever, and hair loss.

The issue of Ortega’s health conditions gained relevance again after Dr. Richard Saenz Coen – a political prisoner currently in exile and the gynecologist of Murillo-Ortega families until before the protests on April 18, 2018 – published that he presented medical complications due to chronic renal insufficiency.

At the same time, he reported that the medical team of the “presidential house” had been summoned due to the conditions presented by Ortega.

“I know this from reliable sources”, wrote the specialist, who had to respond to emergency calls in the early morning hours when he worked for them.

The large Murillo-Ortega family, their children, and respective nuclei live in the same place, in El Carmen, where they have built a bunker, a kind of citadel that has a sports field and where the children of the presidential couple have built their residences.

“He takes care of himself. He knows he has a chronic disease.”

“He is a guy who has lupus and a heart problem,” Oscar Rene Vargas, one of Ortega’s former allies and advisor during his first mandate, told Infobae.

Although Ortega has a medical team in Nicaragua and an equipped clinic at his residence in El Carmen, he regularly travels to Cuba, where rumors suggest he is being treated for lupus.

Lupus is a chronic and complex autoimmune disease that can affect the joints, skin, brain, lungs, kidneys, and blood vessels in a way that causes generalized inflammation and tissue damage in the affected organs.

This would explain the chronic renal insufficiency that Ortega is suffering from, according to the information provided by Dr. Saenz.

The specialist told La Gaceta that there was an alert in El Carmen after the leak about the deterioration of Ortega’s health.

“It is handled that they are trying to show Ortega this April 19, the old guard of the Sandinista is alert, waiting for Ortega to die to fall to Rosario Murillo”.

The so-called “historic Sandinismo” does not support Murillo. The regime will declare April 19 a “national day of peace in Nicaragua”.

Ortega is expected to make an appearance on that day.

If Ortega dies, he would be succeeded by his wife, Rosario Murillo, whom he has called co-president of the Central American nation and whom his former allies point out as “perverse”.

So far, the regime has not come out to “deny” the health relapse of Daniel Ortega.

Ortega was absent at the signing of projects with China on Friday.

In his place was his son Laureno Ortega Murillo, who is said to be the dynasty’s successor.

With information from LGI

Read More from The Rio Times

The Rio Times · Power Map
See who really holds power in Latin America
Click to open the Power Map

Rotate for Best Experience

This report is optimized for landscape viewing. Rotate your phone for the full experience.