İViva la Revolución!

As international news outlets have picked up the story of recent unrest and violent demonstrations here in Nicaragua, numerous friends stateside have contacted me out of concern. I have immediately reassured them that my home is out of the path of any local activity, and really, most of the violence has centered on large demonstrations in Managua, Leon and Tipitapa.

When word spread that the government was precipitately raising the mandatory contribution of employed persons to social security, while decreasing the level of pensions paid out to retirees, a number of demonstrations occurred last week. The "Ortegistas" or Sandinista supporters were apparently dispatched to quell these incidents, beating the demonstrators, killing two. Daniel Ortega quickly moved to shut down several local television channels, but too late. The news of the harsh response spread like wildfire, and much larger, more aggressive demonstrations ensued. More killings took place, including a journalist covering the violence and a policeman.

Photos lifted from La Prensa

Pension obligations are a huge problem everywhere. I was not sure that it was not, in fact, necessary to find additional funds to meet growing obligations to keep pensions solvent. It is a potent testament to the extreme distrust in the Ortega government held by the citizenry that this single incident should blow up so quickly. Nobody believes the extra money will not go to line Ortega's pockets. El Presidente cynically altered the constitution to remove restrictions on the number of terms he could serve, and then named his wife Rosario Murillo his vice-president. Between the two, the couple has eight children, three together. Murillo's daughter, Zoilamérica Narváez, now 50, accused her stepfather of rape and sexual abuse some time ago and is shunned by the family. But the other children appear to be doing very nicely. One son owns a large fleet of grocery markets-- Palí and La Unión--  which are franchises of Walmart; during the violence, these stores were looted to the bare walls throughout Managua and beyond. Another Ortega son owns a number of gasoline stations, though I did not hear about any vandalism involving those. Some years ago, Rosario Murillo decided to decorate the city with dozens of metallic "arboles de vida" (trees of life) -- grotesque, garish, utterly laughable multicolored fixtures that are lit up at night at enormous expense of public funds. Some of these were burned or pulled down by the angry demonstrators.

"I am the way, the truth and the tree of life...?"

When I first came to Nicaragua some 30 years ago, the country was suffering under the severe restrictions imposed by the U.S. embargo. Foreign investment was absent, and the population was demoralized after a decade of trying to rebuild after the 1979 revolution. Ortega had already lost the people's confidence, and soon thereafter, was voted out of office. It was a country of about three million people, a largish city, if you will. Now, the country has more than doubled its population, Managua is rife with new construction, major roads are good, foreign investment is everywhere. There are more good jobs, though far from enough to ameliorate the grinding poverty that affects so many. And the revolution brought much that is laudable: decent public education, better public health, a sense of national pride. But most of the students who demonstrated last week were not born until after the revolution. They have seen corruption on both sides of the political spectrum, and they clearly do not trust the intentions of Ortega's government.

"I am here for a free Nicaragua!"

When Daniel backed down and agreed to withdraw the proposed changes to social security, it brought out even more demonstrators, smiling this time to have achieved the desired outcome, despite some 13 deaths and more than a thousand injured. A day of triumph indeed.

I am uneasy, though. It is difficult to believe that Ortega will not manage to find the money he sought, for good or ill. I saw an unnamed Nica "social scientist" interviewed on the BBC World channel who posited the notion that Daniel's reign is in decline, his days are numbered. After all, he is a wealthy man. At 72, he could surely take the money and retire to a Cuban beach in comfort. I hope he will not subject this beautiful, tragic country to another revolution, though its citizens have surely shown themselves to be up to the task,