Piñata sandinista

The Piñata sandinista is a case of corruption and appropriation of public and private property by Nicaraguan Sandinista leaders before leaving power in 1990. In the period between the electoral defeat of 25 February 1990 and the inauguration of their adversary Violeta Chamorro on 27 April of the same year, the Sandinistas transferred the ownership of a large amount of real estate and public property, some previously expropriated, to their related organizations and, mostly, personally to their leaders such as President Daniel Ortega himself, his brother Humberto and the leader Tomás Borge. Other assets (such as transportation companies, lumber, sugar factories and slaughterhouses) were nominally taken over by the FSLN but later passed into the private hands of Ortega's relatives and collaborators. The two main laws that implemented the piñata were those known as Law 85 and Law 86. En el periodo entre la derrota electoral del 25 de febrero de 1990 y la toma de posesión de su adversaria Violeta Chamorro el 27 de abril del mismo año, los sandinistas transfirieron la propiedad de gran cantidad de inmuebles y bienes públicos, algunos previamente expropiados, a sus organizaciones afines y, mayoritariamente, personalmente a sus dirigentes como el mismo presidente Daniel Ortega, su hermano Humberto y el dirigente Tomás Borge. Los familiares y personas próximas al presidente se apropiaron de empresas y tierras, otros bienes (como empresas de transporte, madera, fábricas de azúcar y mataderos), se pasaron nominalmente a manos del FSLN pero posteriormente pasaron en manos privadas de los familiares y colaboradores de Ortega. Las dos leyes principales que aplicaron la piñata fueron las conocidas como ley 85 y ley 86.

During the first government of Violeta Chamorro there were thousands of lawsuits against the State by the expropriated former owners. In an appearance in April 2010, the Attorney General of Nicaragua, Hernán Estrada, informed that the Nicaraguan State had paid some 1.3 billion dollars in compensation for the "piñata". Within Sandinismo, divisions were also created between those who benefited and those who did not, between the clientelist sector of the former and those who denounced the practice for ethical and principled reasons.