use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place = , burial_coordinates = , monuments = , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship =

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, education = , alma_mater =

National Autonomous University of Nicaragua The National Autonomous University of Nicaragua ( es, link=no, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, UNAN) is the main state-funded public university of Nicaragua. Its main campus is located in Managua. The original campus, UNAN-Leon, is ...

Central American University José Simeón Cañas Central American University ( es, Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"), also known as UCA El Salvador, is a private university with nonprofit purposes in San Salvador, El Salvador, run by the Society of Jesus. ...

, occupation = , years_active = , era = , employer = , organization = , known_for = , notable_works = , style = , title = Ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, term_start = 1979 , term_end = 1981 , title2 = Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs , term_start2 = 1981 , term_end2 = 1990 , title3 = National Assembly Deputy , term_start3 = , term_end3 = , predecessor = , successor = , party =

Sandinista National Liberation Front The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after ...

(1973–2005)

Sandinista Renovation Movement The Sandinista Renovation Movement (''Movimiento Renovador Sandinista'' or MRS, in Spanish) is a Nicaraguan political party founded on 21 May 1995. It defines itself as a democratic and progressive party, made of women and men, which promotes the ...

Democratic Renewal Union , movement = , opponents = , boards = , criminal_charges = , criminal_penalty = , criminal_status = , spouse = , partner = , children = , parents = , mother = , father = , relatives = , family = , callsign = , awards = , website = , module = , module2 = , module3 = , module4 = , module5 = , module6 = , signature = , signature_size = , signature_alt = , footnotes = Victor Hugo Tinoco Fonseca (born June 10, 1952) is a Nicaraguan politician and former Sandinista guerilla. He was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs with the

, ambassador to the

and a deputy in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. In the late 1990s he grew critical of

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...

and was expelled from the party in 2005, joining the

(MRS) instead and later its successor, the (Unamos) party. In June 2021, he was part of a wave of arrests of opposition figures, including seven aspiring opposition candidates for president in the

2021 Nicaraguan general election General elections were held in Nicaragua on 7 November 2021 to elect the President, the National Assembly and members of the Central American Parliament. President Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front sought re-election, ...

Biography

Victor Hugo Tinoco was born on June 10, 1952, in León. He attended high school at the National Seminary where he began studying philosophy. It was as a seminarian that he connected with the

(FSLN), and joined in 1973 while studying for a degree in sociology at the

(UNAN-Managua). He then moved to León where he worked in the Revolutionary Student Front (FER).Cid, Amalia del
"11 Opositores Encarcelados En Las Últimas Semanas; Estos Son Sus Breves Perfiles."
''La Prensa'', June 14, 2021, via ProQuest. He also has a postgraduate degree in advanced business management from the

(UCA). Following the fall of the Somoza dictatorship, Tinoco was appointed ambassador to the

, serving from 1979 to 1981. In 1981 he became Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (vice-chancellor), a position he held until 1990. He was also a member of FSLN Assembly. He led the Nicaraguan delegation at Manzanillo talks with the United States in 1984 and was the chief Sandinista representative in the Contadora negotiations. He was also a member of the FSLN National Directorate and twice served as a National Assembly deputy, first for the FSLN (from 1997 to 2001) and later for the

(MRS). As of 2010, he was head of the MRS bench. He grew critical of

, particularly seeing Ortega’s 1998 pact with

Arnoldo Alemán José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo (born 23 January 1946) is a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 81st president of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002. In 2003, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to a 20-year prison term; ...

as a turning point toward authoritarianism. The cooperation with Alemán’s ostensibly incompatible ideology (he represented the right-wing

Constitutionalist Liberal Party The Constitutionalist Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, PLC) is a political party in Nicaragua. At the 2006 Nicaraguan general election, Nicaraguan general election of 5 November 2006, the party won 25 of 92 seats in the N ...

) was unpopular among Sandinistas and that reaction spurred a greater suppression of dissent, in Tinoco’s view, leading to a strengthening of the authoritarian current in the FSLN overall. Hoping to open up space for differing opinions within the party, he mounted an ultimately unsuccessful challenge to Ortega in 2001 in the FSLN internal primary elections for president. Then in February 2005 he was expelled from the party for his support of

Herty Lewites Herty Lewites Rodríguez (December 24, 1939 – July 2, 2006) was a Nicaraguan politician. He was Mayor of Managua and a candidate for president in the 2006 Nicaraguan general election when he died suddenly. Early life and involvement in the N ...

's candidacy against Ortega. He served as campaign manager to Lewites, who broke from the FSLN to continue to pursue his presidential bid under the

, until Lewites' sudden death four months prior to the election. Following the revocation of MRS's legal status, Tinoco became a member of its successor, (Unamos). In June 2021 Tinoco was part of a wave of arrests of opposition candidates for president in the November 2021 elections and other opposition figures. He was arrested on June 13, 2021, the same day as other Unamos leaders including

Suyén Barahona Suyén Barahona Cuan is a Nicaraguan activist. She is president of the party (Unamos), an opposition group that is the successor to the Sandinista Renovation Movement. She is also a member of the Blue and White National Unity opposition group tha ...

, Ana Margarita Vijil and Tinoco’s former Sandinista comrade, commander

Dora María Téllez Dora María Téllez Argüello (born 1955) is a Nicaraguan historian known for her involvement in the Nicaraguan Revolution. As a young university medical student in León in the 1970s, Téllez was recruited by the Sandinista National Liberation ...

, who is famous for her role in a 1978 raid that freed 60 Sandinista political prisoners.Díaz López, Karen
"Policía Captura a Los Opositores Dora María Téllez, Ana Margarita Vijil, Suyén Barahona, Hugo Torres y Víctor Hugo Tinoco."
''La Prensa'', June 13, 2021, via ProQuest Like most of those arrested, Tinoco is accused of violations of controversial

Law 1055 Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, passed by the FSLN-controlled legislature in December 2020, which gives the government unilateral power to arrest anyone it designates as a “traitor to the homeland”. Before his arrest he recorded a video calling for continued resistance in the event he was detained: "This is a struggle that has to go forward, that is not going to stop...the bright future that the people deserve is victory and freeing themselves from the dictatorship and the dynasty that they want to impose on us.” Initially Tinoco was believed to be held in Evaristo Vásquez Police Complex, but as of 27 June 2021 neither his family nor his attorney have seen him since his arrest. His family has expressed concern about his health, given his preexisting

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

, and Ménière’s disease. Tinoco was convicted and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment on 21 February 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tinoco, Victor Hugo People from León, Nicaragua 1952 births Sandinista National Liberation Front Sandinista Renovation Movement politicians National Autonomous University of Nicaragua alumni Living people People with Ménière's disease