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Humberto Ortega, Nicaragua's ex-military chief who later turned critic of his brother, dies at 77

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaraguan guerrilla fighter Humberto Ortega, a Sandinista defense minister who later in life became a critic of his older brother President Daniel Ortega , has died at age 77, Nicaragua's government announced Monday.
Canadian Press
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FILE - General Humberto Ortega, head of the Nicaraguan Army, confirms the announcement of his retirement from the army at the presidential house in Managua, Nicaragua, May 18, 1994. (AP Photo/Mark Hume, File)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaraguan guerrilla fighter Humberto Ortega, a Sandinista defense minister who later in life became a critic of his older brother President Daniel Ortega, has died at age 77, Nicaragua's government announced Monday.

The younger Ortega became the head of the Sandinista army and the country’s defense minister after the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979.

Later in life, Humberto Ortega publicly criticized some actions of his brother’s increasingly repressive administrations.

He had been ill and effectively under house arrest for some time and died Monday at a military hospital, according to a statement by the Nicaraguan military posted on social media.

The Associated Press