Daniel Ortega

Co-President — Nicaragua

Country momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).

• Kept the economy functioning under Western sanctions.
• No verified signature megaproject; the interoceanic canal is long dead.
• Thousands of opponents jailed or exiled; independent press crushed.
• Modest forces; the apparatus serves internal control.