Daniel Ortega Wants Tanks

A retired Navy Commander writes about Nicaragua buying tanks from Russia.

Thus far, these Back to the Future Russian deals have not generated the kind of buzz here in the United States that they did in the heady days of the post-Sandinista revolution. If Putin was hoping to produce a mid-1980esque U.S. overreaction to Russian meddling in America’s sphere of influence, then he has failed. Rather, those who seem most upset by Nicaragua’s expenditure of millions of dollars on tanks, and the building of a Russian satellite tracking base, are the poor peasant farmers and fishermen who have for so long dreamed of a better future for Nicaragua.

I agree, and that lack of overreaction has been a hallmark of the Obama administration, despite calls for seeing Russia, Iran, etc., etc. as immediate threats in Latin America.

But I wonder: why in the world would Nicaragua want tanks? It has no one to fight and has pressing needs elsewhere. I would think, then, that it involves appeasing the military in some fashion. Daniel Ortega's response was, "Hey be quiet, because I know national security."