Impressions of Nicaragua after the revolution

I visited Nicaragua four times between 1995 and 2000, as part of my work for Oxfam GB's Latin America and Caribbean desk. In 1995 I found that many of the Sandinista institutions had evolved into NGOs, continuing to do good work on the social issues prioritised by the revolution. Most of the people I met working in NGOs had been active in the revolution. On more than one occasion I was given a warmer welcome when people found that I had been a brigadista as opposed to a first time visitor. I visited projects in the Siuna area of the Atlantic coast, and in Puerto Cabezas as well as in Managua and Estel�. I never made it back to Matagalpa though. I am sure I would have remembered how to get to La Gloria.

On a later visit I met Zoilam�rica Ortega, who was running an NGO dedicated to promoting reconciliation between ex-combatants on both sides. She is the niece/stepdaughter of Daniel Ortega and made headlines when she accused him of sexual abuse. Most people I spoke to were disillusioned with Daniel and most of the Sandinista leadership, in any case. They felt they had become corrupted and power hungry. Daniel was described to me as 'messianic' and out of touch. Naturally many are bitter about the way the revolution came to an end, by bribing the electorate and then failing to fulfil the promises, but I also found optimism and energy about looking forward and not dwelling on the past. It was interesting to see that the revolution was still being exploited by some: Sandino T shirts on sale in souvenir shops, pandering to nostalgia. The benefits of the revolution are best illustrated by the relative political sophistication and awareness one comes across in ordinary people.

It was discouraging but not surprising to see more obvious poverty and contrasts. Beggars at traffic lights just like other Latin American countries. There was better infrastructure in general, but it was clear that roads, petrol stations and roundabouts were seen as more important than social programmes. On my last visit, in 2000, I was taken to a shopping mall, which looked as if had been parachuted in from the United States, complete with trendy young kids. The Miami returnees. The airport is unrecognisable: gleamingly modern with air-con throughout.

The Dominican Republic, where I now live, is home to several fugitives from the disgraced Aleman government wanted to stand trial on fraud charges in Nicaragua. They are in the process of being extradited.

One of my Oxfam colleagues in Managua was Daniel Alegr�a, an incredible character who had been Tom�s Borge's bodyguard during the Sandinista years. Larry Boyd, a north American who worked with me on the Latin America desk in Oxford had lived in Nicaragua throughout the years of the revolution working as a photojournalist. Other Oxfam colleagues also had strong Nicaragua/Central America connections, including Dianna Melrose who wrote 'Threat of a Good Example'. My husband Pedro Guzman is a Dominican photojournalist who lived and worked as a war correspondent/maker of solidarity videos in Nicaragua and El Salvador between 1986 and 1990.

Ilana