Humberto Ortega dies, the former general declared a "traitor" to Nicaragua by his brother Daniel.

Humberto Ortega, retired general of the Sandinista forces and brother of Nicaraguan ruler Daniel Ortega, passed away this Monday at the age of 77.

Humberto, who was under police surveillance after questioning his brother's "dictatorial" succession, died of a heart attack, according to the Nicaraguan Army Medical Corps.

A note issued by the Directorate of the Dr. Alejandro Dávila Bolaños Military School Hospital of the Military Medical Corps of the Nicaraguan Army announced that the patient Humberto Ortega Saavedra passed away at 1:55 p.m., after being treated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers.

The former head of the Army and younger brother of President Ortega was hospitalized on July 11 due to a "complex health condition" and, recently, suffered a "sudden deterioration of his condition, experiencing cardiogenic shock and altered state of consciousness, which required treatment in intensive care to stabilize his blood pressure," according to the Military Medical Corps.

Key strategist of the armed insurrection against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in 1979 and founder of the Sandinista Popular Army, which he commanded from 1979 to 1995, Humberto remained under surveillance at his residence in Managua after criticizing the "dictatorial" succession of the current head of state.

It was during an interview with the Argentine media Infobae, published on May 19, that he referred to this situation as lacking successors. His brother Daniel, who is about to turn 79 years old and has governed Nicaragua since 2007, has neither in his wife, Rosario Murillo, nor in any of his children someone capable of taking over, and in the event of his absence or death, a significant power void would be created, making it necessary to call for elections, he pointed out.

This provoked a reaction from the regime, starting with the dictator Daniel Ortega and his wife, who days later declared him a "traitor to the homeland."

Additionally, the authorities confiscated the cell phones and computers of the former military chief, as well as installing a medical care unit at his residence to address the ailments that were affecting him.