With pain, but no surprises, I started receiving news from Nicaragua starting last April. They came from two friends who had invited me to visit their country., which I arrived at 18 December 2009.
Although Nicaragua presents unique nuances, It is an essentially Central American country with a very marked imprint of Hispanic colonization..
Until the revolution (1979), It was the farmhouse of the United States and a few Creole families. Its last dictators – expelled by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)– were members of the influential and very wealthy Somoza family. Of Anastasio Somoza the same Roosevelt said: “Somoza may be a son of a bitch, “But he is our son of a bitch.”. The FSLN was the first democratic party in power until it lost the elections in 1990 at the hands of conservatives and neoliberals Violeta Chamorro, Arnoldo Alemán and Enrique Bolaños. However, the leader of the FSLN Daniel Ortega he recovered it in 2006, but it favored corruption and repression, a fact ignored by many Western countries and that the Nicaraguans themselves did not dare to denounce for fear of reprisals and not being believed..
For the tourist, the elegant buildings of its old towns remain., its majestic beaches and impressive volcanoes and some still virgin places
My first stop was Leon, hometown of one of my friends, who currently resides in Italy due to the persecution to which he is subjected by the government of Ortega and Murillo. Leon, the second city in the country, It reminded me of the old Castilian cities. In addition to its agricultural and commercial importance, It is the intellectual headquarters of Nicaragua, and your university, one of the most prestigious in the country, has been the nest of outstanding leaders. For the tourist, the elegant buildings of its old towns remain., its majestic beaches and impressive volcanoes and some still virgin places.
On Christmas Eve morning my friend wanted me to see the camp where Somoza caged and tortured political dissidents.. Arriving, We found ourselves surrounded by dozens of creatures looking for food among the smoking garbage dumps on the outskirts. Suddenly, A truck emerged from a ravine, in the back of which five men with their faces covered up to their noses were protecting, armed with machine guns and rifles, the loot snatched from the landfills. Those images erased from my memory other images of great beauty during a visit to some vaporous plains of volcanic origin.. Fortunately, That afternoon I was able to enjoy a popular parade in León. Its two protagonists are characters of colonization: the Gigantona – which represents a Spanish lady – and her companion, the big-headed dwarf, who recites satirical couplets.
On Christmas Eve morning my friend wanted me to see the camp where Somoza tortured dissidents.. Arriving, We found ourselves surrounded by dozens of creatures looking for food among the smoking garbage dumps.
My friend told me that Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo They hid their turn to the right by giving gifts to Nicaraguan children every Christmas Eve at the Government Headquarters.. Today, The ruling couple has turned the FSLN into an electoral and repressive machine that manipulates young cadres and annihilates old ones., in addition to controlling the public media through their children. In addition, They appoint and dismiss positions at a whim and feed paramilitary squads that subjugate and terrorize the population..
Being there, I knew that Zoilamérica, Murillo's daughter, was systematically raped during 20 years by Ortega, his stepfather, and that the couple had approached the most reactionary Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy and some evangelical churches. Both had supported the Somozas and North American companies, and had favored the counterrevolution, armed and financed by the USA. Yet, The popular Church was always together with the people and the revolution.
Granada was the next stop. This happy and baroque city, “port” of Lake Cocibolca and its Islets, It is considered the “pearl” of the country. Also the most touristy. Its mild temperatures allowed me to enjoy long boat rides and on foot., and find out what people told me about the country in whispers.
Granada, happy and baroque, “port” of Lake Cocibolca and its Islets, It is considered the “pearl” of the country
My second friend took me in Matagalpa, outstanding coffee center. Although it does not have the cosmopolitan character of Granada and León, the street bustle fills it with life, especially in its neuralgic points. Weigh your wealth, There were neighborhoods in which the misery was extreme to the Western eye.
It was not the only area visited where living conditions were tragic for its inhabitants., although the Ortega-Murillo tandem boasted of having achieved a socialist and egalitarian Nicaragua. Dubious claim, since Ortega allied himself with big capital and the World Bank, He placed himself under the orders of the IMF and sold the country's wealth to transnationals and multinationals.. As for his fellow citizens, raised taxes on the working class, Agrarian reform aborted, strengthened the business and military leadership, It facilitated the opaque enrichment of the new Sandinista bourgeoisie and expelled the indigenous people from their lands to build luxury developments and the interoceanic canal.. Today, social policy and health financing, education and housing continue to be insufficient. In the legislative field, there is no separation of powers, Gender policies are non-existent and control is in the hands of the Ortega and Murillista cliques..
In the legislative sphere there is no separation of powers, Gender policies are non-existent and control is in the hands of the Ortega and Murillista cliques.
Masaya, city near Managua and Granada, It was my next stop. Located next to the Masaya lagoon and at the foot of the volcano of the same name, It has a strong pre-Columbian component and is known for being a very important communications hub.. In addition to having an active agricultural industry and a beautiful natural park, It is the center of Nicaraguan crafts and the cradle of national folklore.. In fact, It is Cultural Heritage of the Nation and Capital of Folklore.
Managua I was disappointed, Well, it seemed provincial to me.. A tension was already palpable in the atmosphere that today has become a shouting protest.. The sociologist, political analyst and author of fifty books Óscar René Vargas, who co-founded the FSLN and saved Ortega's life from the Somoza National Guard, who experienced the insurrection and revolution firsthand and campaigned intensely for Ortega in 2006, considers that the Nicaraguan crisis is internal, that the protest has local leaders and that Ortega has lost the street.
I said goodbye to the country in San Juan del Sur, evoked with nostalgia by Mark Twain after one of his trips. It soothed the wounds of so much revolutionary sacrifice for nothing...
The capital, chosen to neutralize the confrontation between Granada and León, It is a populous city that was born next to Lake Managua. Little remains of the old city due to the earthquakes that devastated it in 1931 and 1972 and the state it was in after the war. However, It is one of the cities where the most urban investment is made. The Paseo Xolotlán stands out, a boardwalk with magnificent views of the lake.
I said goodbye to the country in San Juan del Sur, evoked with nostalgia by Mark Twain after one of his trips. It soothed the wounds of so much revolutionary sacrifice for nothing...
Life has changed for Nicaraguans. Many have had to seek refuge in democratic countries, because they fear for their lives. These are peasant leaders like Francisca Ramírez, who oppose the expulsion of the ancient inhabitants of their lands, of feminists so hated by Murillo, or professionals who have demonstrated against the regime. All of them urge the international community to pressure and have early elections. Similarly, various international organizations have denounced mass kidnappings, illegal arrests, thousands flee the country, torture, judicial processes without guarantees, government terror, cleanup operations and criminalization of the protest. Yet, There are still sectors of the left that claim that these are neoliberal attacks on the “revolutionary” leader.. They do not want to see that the majority of historical Sandinismo has distanced itself from Ortega, and that the people – who are Sandinistas, anti-imperialist and progressive- he wants to overthrow a corrupt and repressive government.
