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A lesson on Nicaragua - the left never learned
Sometimes when I edit my blog, some words will end up together - I don't know why that is. So hope you don't mind seeing a few words squished together. :)
Dave sent me a link on Nicaragua Teaching Nicaragua a lesson by a far-left writer Noam Chomsky (and what is the swastika on the US flag in this article suppose to represent? - Is this article trying to equate the United States to Nazi Germany) in the belief it would somehow convince me that our support of the Sandinistas was the right thing to do for Nicaragua. like I need a lesson on Nicaragua - I lived it. I was married in Managua Nicaragua in 1977 two years before the Nicaraguan revolution to a Nicaraguan citizen and daughter of a Senator and Diplomat of the port of Corinth of Nicaragua. You can read my article I wrote on Kerry and Nicaragua here OpinionEditorials.com – Kerry and the Nicaraguan connection - Dias My brother-in-law also joined the Contra resistance.
Somoza was no saint - I will grant Dave's article that, but Latin-America needs to be looked at in context. During the Sandinista revolution, there were atrocities committed on both sides. There were as many atrocities committed by the Sandinistas if not more as there were by the Somocistas. On the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, there is an entire Indian population called the Misquito (sometimes spelled Miskito) Indians who are darked skin, and African in origin. They brought with them a culture unto themselves from the coasts of Africa. In fact, the popular dance "El Palo de Mayo" brought by the Misquito Indians is now danced throughout Nicaragua. The language miskito is a mixture of Spanish and English. The Sandinistas tried to eliminate this entire race of people (genocide) because they believed they were collaborating with Somoza.
Anyone familiar with third world countries understand there is a huge disparity between the rich and poor. This disparity has created huge inequities and has limited opportunities for the poor. It is true in any third world country in Latin America that there are two ways to make money - own your own business or have political connections. Corruption is a part of society from the highest official to the lowest peasant. It is not restricted to the rich. This was true with the Somoza regime, and this was true with the Sandinista regime. When you are stopped by police, you pay them "a mordida", a bribe so they will leave you alone. This is true in most of Latin America. Corruption is a way of life. The difference in Nicaragua is Somoza was an ally of the United States and the Sandinistas were an ally of Communist Russia and Castro's Cuba. In other words, after the coup in 1979, Nicaragua quickly became an enemy of the United States.
When the Sandinistas finally took over in 1979, children 13 and up were conscripted into the army. I visited twice after the war when the Sandinistas were in power (my wife arrived first on my first return visit, and she called me for the specific purpose to tell me not to wear a tie, because if I did, I would have been considered part of the bourgeoisie, the middle class which the Sandinistas came to loathe), When I debarked the plane the first time after the war, I saw children holding submachine guns. I was nervous during my entire stay after the Sandinistas had taken over. Seeing green army trucks loaded with armed military personnel was commonplace throughout the country. Before the war, I remember arriving and seeing all the children rushing with their hands out or wanting to help with your baggage for a little change. This time, however, was different, the number of kids wanting change had quadrupled.
When watching television, every few minutes in any program, the government would display children lifting their hands in defiance shouting "Poder Popular", "power to the people". The Sandinistas spent the major part of their economy on its military, many times larger than it needed to defend itself - this is what Communist countries do. The Sandinsta National Hymn has a stanza in it (which they have yet to remove) "Luchamos contra el yanqui, el enemigo de la humanidad". " We fight against the yankee, the enemy of humanity"
Nicaragua is 90% catholic, and as a result a perverted form of Catholicsm was introduced called Liberation Theology. Liberation Theology is a mixture of Marxsism-Leninsm and Catholicsm. It was an attempt to indoctrinate the impoverished and uneducated. Liberation Theology: a Cancer in our Clergy This philosophy also pervaded thought within the ranks of the papacy.
The aforementioned article of Dave states: After the 1972 earthquake, the US sent an enormous amount of aid to Nicaragua, most of which was stolen by our buddy Somoza. This is true - our government should never have sent money directly to Nicaragua, but should have monitored the rebuilding of Managua. To this day, Managua has never been rebuilt.
Daniel Ortega took power after the 1979 military coup. He was a disaster for Nicaragua, and he turned the country into a military puppet for Communist Russia. Immediately Castro sent advisors to Ortega's regime. The economy plummeted, and the Cordoba (Nicaragua's currency) became worthless, and remains worthless to this day. The Sandinistas destroyed the economy of Nicaragua.
There was also a brain drain after the revolution . The educated of Nicaragua left Nicaragua in droves. Laws were put into place which allowed the peasants or the workers to tell the employers what to do. Ortega immediately put into place literacy laws to educate the masses in Liberation Theology and other Marxism-Leninsm doctrine. Land was appropriated for government purposes. The Sandinistas absconded with the land of former wealthy landowners, regardless of their participation in the corruption of Somoza's government. The Sandinistas turned from impoverished peasants to wealthy landowners, all of which was stolen from the Somocistas. La Prensa, La Prensa - Edicion No. 23703 the major newspaper of Nicaragua and critical of the Sandinistas was closed by the Sandinistas. The Sandinists decried any vestige of Capitalism, but when the opportunity arrived, they, in turn, became the capitalists.
When democracy was finally returned to Nicaragua, Ortega attempted to run twice and lost both times. Placards dotted the landscape saying, "remember the past" referring to what Ortega had done to Nicaragua.
After, the war, many Sandinistas left the country disillusioned. Where 90% of the country claimed to be Sandinista during the revolution, that figure dropped to about 30% twenty years later. The United States always knew the motives and goals of the Sandinistas. The Sandinistas never hid their beliefs nor their Communist inclinations. The left in the United States embraced them just as they did Mao Tse Tung during China's cultural revolution.
In a recent breakfast I attended with the current president of Nicaragua, Enrique Bolanos, he showed a presentation of the poverty in Nicaragua and what the Sandinistas had done to Nicaragua and his plan to improve Nicaragua's standard of living.
Carter's policies destroyed many lives and livelihoods of Nicaragua including that of my wife's family. Most of my Sister and Brother-in-laws are now here as political refugees. Many of the political refugees from Nicaragua receive public assistance because they are unable to work or are over 65 (this includes my father-in-law). Carter was not blind to the goals and aims of the Sandinistas. But, because of pressure from the left, he switched from supporting the Somoza regime tosupporting the Sandinistas. If it were not for Carter, the Sandinistas would never have been able to topple the Nicaraguan government. The left are against the war in Iraq because they say they were not an immediate threat, but yet they are willing to topple allies of the United States and put in its place governments they know who will become enemies of the United States.
I remember attending seminars sponsored by the left, many of whom were associated with the Catholic church in the hopes I could express what was really going on in Nicaragua. I remember a particular talk by a priest; he showed a slide of a child holding a machine gun and told us stories on how even the young were involved in liberating Nicaragua. (After the Sandinistas took over, they changed the license plates to read "Nicaragua libre" - "Free Nicaragua") My thought was "what a crock!" Nicaragua was far from free.
It reminded me when I was in high school, and I visited college campuses, and the left was out handing out Mao Tse Tung's little red book during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. There was no difference The left never changes their aim. They continue supporting socialist and communist causes. The clothing may change, but the goals remain the same. They are the antithesis of everything American. They are against capitalism, and are strong supporters of a centralized government whereindependance is only an illusion. In their belief, the government should take care of us from cradel to grave.
Ortega and his cronies brought Nicaragua to its knees, and the country has never recovered. Only recently has Nicaragua begun a real estate boom. Ex-patriates are returning to their country, because they still love the country they fled and they are buying up the land. Nicaragua recently had elections for certain municipalities in the same month Kerry and Bush were running. The Sandinistas gained some seats because of a divisionwithin the current party in power. Ortega was hoping for a Kerry win (in fact, the Nicaraguan newspaper was rife with articles by the Sandinistas against Bush) because he continues to want to regain powerin Nicaragua, and he knew Kerry would be more sympathetic to his Commuist causes. If the Sandinistas regain power, Bush knows it would become more like the phillippines ripe for terrorists, and he would treat it as such - and they are close to our borders.
The following is an article I wrote (in Spanish) about breakfast with the current president of Nicaragua. The picture is my wife, the president of Nicaragua Enrique Bolanos Geyer and me. Enrique Bolanos
Mark
PS: On a side note, it is rumored my wife's cousin might be running for president of Nicaragua.
PSS: I speak fluent Spanish and French, and it is my opinion you can never fully understand a culture unless you speak its language. I understand Latin American culture, and I also understand what a disaster the Sandinstas have been for Nicaragua.
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1/30/05 12:35 PM
Great entry. There's too much here for me to respond to everything, but I do take issue with your statement that Carter dropped his support of Somoza. This simply isn't true. Carter backed Somoza right up until the end.
The 'brain drain' you mention is common, and it's a goal of US intervention. We did it in Vietnam. We did it in Iraq. Crush the popular movement of the people, scare the middle class into abandoning their country, and kill anyone who opposes you.
The Soviet connection is well understood. The Sandanistas were not initially clients of the Soviet regime. It was only after the US blocked any and all aid from the rest of the world that the Sandanistas were forced to seek aid from the Soviets. Then we retroactively call them communists. This was a popular movement through and through.
Dave,
http://journals.aol.com/ibspi