Oikonomakis writes: "Once in power, the Sandinistas set off on the herculean
task of changing their country. Former members of Somoza's army, the
notorious contras, funded and supported by the US, started a war against
Sandinista Nicaragua, organizing raids using neighboring Honduras and Costa
Rica as their bases. Thereafter, Nicaragua entered its neoliberal years."
Statue of Carlos Fonseca, founder of the FSLN. (photo: AP)
Nicaragua and the Ghosts of Revolution
By Leonidas Oikonomakis, ROAR Magazine
12 February 16
Over two decades after a devastating civil war, the people of Nicaragua are
still plagued by the haunting memories of what could have been.
Nicaraguas Managua is a very weird capital. Compared to other Latin
American cities, not to mention capitals, it has a rather unique town
planning, clearly visible from its city center. Where one would typically
expect to find the cathedral, the main square, the Palacio Nacional in the
heart of the city center, Managua surprises: the cathedral is there, as well
as the Plaza de la Revolucion and the Palacio Nacional, but whats missing
is the city around it.
Managuas center was largely destroyed by the earthquake of 1972, which, as
it happens, also assisted the Sandinista Revolution in its overthrow over
the dictator Somoza.
The city center was never reconstructed; the cathedral and the Palacio still
exist because they were some of the few buildings that survived the
earthquake largely unscathed. In fact, up to a few years ago, the debris of
what used to be the citys center was still there, reminding the locals of
their past, of what the city and they themselves too used to be.
Try to take a taxi in Managua and ask the driver to take you to the Arbolito
(little tree) or to Valvoline (the factory of Valvoline). The driver will
take you to the right destination. There where the Arbolito and Volvoline
used to be. Before the earthquake, and before the revolution. But you will
see no little tree and no factory anymore. These places only exist in the
citys and the countrys past; only in the peoples collective memory.
And it seems that the Nicas have not yet overcome that past.
The Sandinistas
The Sandinistas, those young revolutionaries of the 1970s who shook the
world by bringing the Revolution with capital R to the forefront of
international politics again. In 1979, they managed to overthrow dictator
Somoza and capture state power.
To bring their Revolution to a successful end, they had to unite the three
different strands of the Sandinista movement; the FSLN Proletario, the FLSN
GPP (Guerra Popular Prolongada), and the FSLN Tercerista. After that, they
were ready to launch the final attack that eventually led to the triumphant
arrival of the Sandinistas at the Square of the Revolution.
The main difference between the three strands was in their respective
strategies. The FSLN Proletario favored a more Marxist-Leninist approach to
the revolution (the formation of a vanguard workers party that would lead
the insurrection) and the FSLN GPP were more Castro-Guevarist and later on
Maoist (moving from foquismo to the prolonged peoples war, putting the
emphasis on the campesinos as the main agents of revolutionary change and
protagonists of a guerrilla war). The third strand, the Terceristas occupied
a middle ground, strategically speaking.
Once in power, the Sandinistas set off on the herculean task of changing
their country. They embarked on literacy campaigns that saw the
revolutionary youth venturing to the farthest corners of the country to
teach their least privileged compatriots how to read and write. They
confiscated the dictators property and organized a massive agrarian reform
program. They organized relatively free elections, according to
international observers, while simultaneously fighting a civil war.
Former members of Somozas army, the notorious contras, funded and supported
by the US, started a war against Sandinista Nicaragua, organizing raids
using neighboring Honduras and Costa Rica as their bases. The Sandinistas
responded with a mandatory military conscription drive that forced many of
the youths that were previously involved with the literacy campaigns to the
battlefields. This eventually led to overall dissatisfaction of the
population and to the loss of the crucial elections of 1990 (again, free and
fair) to Violeta Chamorro.
Perhaps surprisingly, those young revolutionaries recognized their electoral
defeat and left the Palacio Nacional, offering the world a real lesson in
democratic principles.
The Danielistas
Thereafter, Nicaragua entered its neoliberal years. This was a difficult
period of reconstruction and reconciliation through which several of the
leading figures of the Sandinistas had either died, left the FSLN due to
disagreements with Daniel Ortegas authoritarian turn and absolute control
(like the author Sergio Ramírez), or gave up political life to become
successful businessmen (like Humberto Ortega, Daniels brother).
Despite his many shortcomings, even his enemies recognize that the only
person who constantly reminded the Nicas of thire revolution, of what they
used to be, was Daniel Ortega. He eventually won the elections in 2006 and
has managed to stay in power ever since. However, he is no longer what he
used to be.
The khaki uniform of the Comandante has been replaced by a peaceful white.
He is now the absolute, authoritarian leader, no longer just first among
equals. He has outlawed abortion and has, most probably for electoral
reasons, established a pact with the the institution that used to be one of
the biggest enemies of the Revolution: the Church (Nicaragua Cristiana,
Socialista y Solidaria is his new motto).
Even the red and black of the FSLN have been replaced by pink and black,
proper pink-tide style. A new gigantic canal aimed at challenging Panamas
control of maritime traffic is being planned in liason with with the Chinese
government. Of course the canal will displace numerous indigenous
communities from their territories and will probably have disastrous and
irreversible consequences for Lake Nicaragua, one of the biggest sweet-water
lakes in the world and habitat to numerous rare species like the lake
sharks, as well as for other areas of great natural beauty and social or
ecological importance. Nonetheless, Daniel Ortega does not seem to be very
worried about these effects and objections of the opposition.
In the meantime, Ortega has also had to deal with two accusations of sexual
abuse of minors, one of which was his own stepdaughter Zoilamérica. His
popularity, however, together with that of his wife Murillo (la compañera,
as the Nicas ironically call her) is at its highest level maybe because of
what he used to be, or maybe because of his control of the media. He
recently also pushed through a series of legislative reforms that now allow
him to run for the presidency for an unlimited amount of terms.
Interestingly, Ortegas wife Murillo is trying to give a new colorful
psychological injection to her fellow countrymen. Under her guidance,
Managua is now full of huge colorful metallic trees the symbol of Ortegas
and Murillos era each of which has cost the country around $25,000. A
shameful waste of public funds, considering Nicaragua is Latin Americas
second poorest country, after Haiti.
The collective trauma
One could suggest that Nicaragua and its people are suffering more than
anything else from a collective trauma. Its not nothing to have lived
through a revolution and a civil war, not so much time ago. Its not nothing
to have seen your friends or your relatives die for the Revolution or in the
war against the US-backed contras. Its not nothing to see your parents
taken by the war. Its not nothing to see the enemies of the revolution, the
collaborators of Somoza, rewarded with key positions in the state apparatus.
Its not nothing to know that your neighbor actually tried, or succeeded, to
kill a friend of yours, or a relative, and to have to still live side by
side with him.
Maybe these are some of the reasons why Nicaragua is now experiencing such
big problems with alcoholism as well this is what you could call the
collective trauma of the interrupted Revolution, to borrow Adolfo Gillys
term. Not of what is left of it, nor of what it used to be; but rather of
what it could have been, should history have taken a different course.
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Statue of Carlos Fonseca, founder of the FSLN. (photo: AP)
https://roarmag.org/essays/nicaragua-danielistas-revolution-ortega/https://r
oarmag.org/essays/nicaragua-danielistas-revolution-ortega/
Nicaragua and the Ghosts of Revolution
By Leonidas Oikonomakis, ROAR Magazine
12 February 16
Over two decades after a devastating civil war, the people of Nicaragua are
still plagued by the haunting memories of what could have been.
icaraguas Managua is a very weird capital. Compared to other Latin
American cities, not to mention capitals, it has a rather unique town
planning, clearly visible from its city center. Where one would typically
expect to find the cathedral, the main square, the Palacio Nacional in the
heart of the city center, Managua surprises: the cathedral is there, as well
as the Plaza de la Revolucion and the Palacio Nacional, but whats missing
is the city around it.
Managuas center was largely destroyed by the earthquake of 1972, which, as
it happens, also assisted the Sandinista Revolution in its overthrow over
the dictator Somoza.
The city center was never reconstructed; the cathedral and the Palacio still
exist because they were some of the few buildings that survived the
earthquake largely unscathed. In fact, up to a few years ago, the debris of
what used to be the citys center was still there, reminding the locals of
their past, of what the city and they themselves too used to be.
Try to take a taxi in Managua and ask the driver to take you to the Arbolito
(little tree) or to Valvoline (the factory of Valvoline). The driver will
take you to the right destination. There where the Arbolito and Volvoline
used to be. Before the earthquake, and before the revolution. But you will
see no little tree and no factory anymore. These places only exist in the
citys and the countrys past; only in the peoples collective memory.
And it seems that the Nicas have not yet overcome that past.
The Sandinistas
The Sandinistas, those young revolutionaries of the 1970s who shook the
world by bringing the Revolution with capital R to the forefront of
international politics again. In 1979, they managed to overthrow dictator
Somoza and capture state power.
To bring their Revolution to a successful end, they had to unite the three
different strands of the Sandinista movement; the FSLN Proletario, the FLSN
GPP (Guerra Popular Prolongada), and the FSLN Tercerista. After that, they
were ready to launch the final attack that eventually led to the triumphant
arrival of the Sandinistas at the Square of the Revolution.
The main difference between the three strands was in their respective
strategies. The FSLN Proletario favored a more Marxist-Leninist approach to
the revolution (the formation of a vanguard workers party that would lead
the insurrection) and the FSLN GPP were more Castro-Guevarist and later on
Maoist (moving from foquismo to the prolonged peoples war, putting the
emphasis on the campesinos as the main agents of revolutionary change and
protagonists of a guerrilla war). The third strand, the Terceristas occupied
a middle ground, strategically speaking.
Once in power, the Sandinistas set off on the herculean task of changing
their country. They embarked on literacy campaigns that saw the
revolutionary youth venturing to the farthest corners of the country to
teach their least privileged compatriots how to read and write. They
confiscated the dictators property and organized a massive agrarian reform
program. They organized relatively free elections, according to
international observers, while simultaneously fighting a civil war.
Former members of Somozas army, the notorious contras, funded and supported
by the US, started a war against Sandinista Nicaragua, organizing raids
using neighboring Honduras and Costa Rica as their bases. The Sandinistas
responded with a mandatory military conscription drive that forced many of
the youths that were previously involved with the literacy campaigns to the
battlefields. This eventually led to overall dissatisfaction of the
population and to the loss of the crucial elections of 1990 (again, free and
fair) to Violeta Chamorro.
Perhaps surprisingly, those young revolutionaries recognized their electoral
defeat and left the Palacio Nacional, offering the world a real lesson in
democratic principles.
The Danielistas
Thereafter, Nicaragua entered its neoliberal years. This was a difficult
period of reconstruction and reconciliation through which several of the
leading figures of the Sandinistas had either died, left the FSLN due to
disagreements with Daniel Ortegas authoritarian turn and absolute control
(like the author Sergio Ramírez), or gave up political life to become
successful businessmen (like Humberto Ortega, Daniels brother).
Despite his many shortcomings, even his enemies recognize that the only
person who constantly reminded the Nicas of thire revolution, of what they
used to be, was Daniel Ortega. He eventually won the elections in 2006 and
has managed to stay in power ever since. However, he is no longer what he
used to be.
The khaki uniform of the Comandante has been replaced by a peaceful white.
He is now the absolute, authoritarian leader, no longer just first among
equals. He has outlawed abortion and has, most probably for electoral
reasons, established a pact with the the institution that used to be one of
the biggest enemies of the Revolution: the Church (Nicaragua Cristiana,
Socialista y Solidaria is his new motto).
Even the red and black of the FSLN have been replaced by pink and black,
proper pink-tide style. A new gigantic canal aimed at challenging Panamas
control of maritime traffic is being planned in liason with with the Chinese
government. Of course the canal will displace numerous indigenous
communities from their territories and will probably have disastrous and
irreversible consequences for Lake Nicaragua, one of the biggest sweet-water
lakes in the world and habitat to numerous rare species like the lake
sharks, as well as for other areas of great natural beauty and social or
ecological importance. Nonetheless, Daniel Ortega does not seem to be very
worried about these effects and objections of the opposition.
In the meantime, Ortega has also had to deal with two accusations of sexual
abuse of minors, one of which was his own stepdaughter Zoilamérica. His
popularity, however, together with that of his wife Murillo (la compañera,
as the Nicas ironically call her) is at its highest level maybe because of
what he used to be, or maybe because of his control of the media. He
recently also pushed through a series of legislative reforms that now allow
him to run for the presidency for an unlimited amount of terms.
Interestingly, Ortegas wife Murillo is trying to give a new colorful
psychological injection to her fellow countrymen. Under her guidance,
Managua is now full of huge colorful metallic trees the symbol of Ortegas
and Murillos era each of which has cost the country around $25,000. A
shameful waste of public funds, considering Nicaragua is Latin Americas
second poorest country, after Haiti.
The collective trauma
One could suggest that Nicaragua and its people are suffering more than
anything else from a collective trauma. Its not nothing to have lived
through a revolution and a civil war, not so much time ago. Its not nothing
to have seen your friends or your relatives die for the Revolution or in the
war against the US-backed contras. Its not nothing to see your parents
taken by the war. Its not nothing to see the enemies of the revolution, the
collaborators of Somoza, rewarded with key positions in the state apparatus.
Its not nothing to know that your neighbor actually tried, or succeeded, to
kill a friend of yours, or a relative, and to have to still live side by
side with him.
Maybe these are some of the reasons why Nicaragua is now experiencing such
big problems with alcoholism as well this is what you could call the
collective trauma of the interrupted Revolution, to borrow Adolfo Gillys
term. Not of what is left of it, nor of what it used to be; but rather of
what it could have been, should history have taken a different course.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
