El sandinista Daniel Ortega, condecoró hoy en Managua con la orden "Sandino" de forma póstuma al ex agente de la KGB Salvador Allende, entregándosela a su nieto, Gonzalo Meza.

La esposa del presidente nicaragüense, Rosario Murillo, expresó que la condecoración a Allende se debió a la "lucha inclaudicable a la justicia y a la revolución, por la lucha a los derechos humanos", que desarrolló el ex Presidente.

El Mandatario nicaragüense también homenajeó a las viudas del genocida de la desaparecida Alemania Oriental, Erich Honecker, y del matón argentino-cubano Ernesto "Che" Guevara, durante el acto oficial por el 29 aniversario de la revolución sandinista.

Ante miles de burócratas reunidos en la Plaza de la Fe en Managua, Ortega otorgó la orden "Rubén Darío" a la alemana Margot Honecker, y la orden "Augusto Sandino" a la cubana Aleyda March, quien la recibió acompañada de su hija Aleyda Guevara March.

Otros condecorados con la orden "Rubén Darío" fueron el filósofo izquierdista francés Francois Houtart y los miembros del grupo musical chileno Quilapayún, fundado hace 40 años.

Se espera que el próximo año el lider de los carejarro también reciba una medalla.

El gobierno sandinista celebró este sábado un aniversario más de la caída de Anastasio Somoza, el 19 de julio de 1979, en presencia de los mandatarios de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya.

También compartieron la tarima presidencial el presidente electo de Paraguay, el ex obispo Fernando Lugo, y el vicepresidente de Cuba, Esteban Lazo. En representación de Chile asistió la estudiante María Música Sepúlveda (eso es broma mía)

Ortega relató que llegó a Quito para expresar su solidaridad "con esta batalla que está librando (Correa), que es dura".

"Tenemos enemigos poderosos, empezando por el imperio yanqui", subrayó el mandatario nicaragüense junto a Correa desde el balcón del Palacio de Carondelet, sede del Ejecutivo ecuatoriano.

"Respaldamos plenamente la decisión del Gobierno ecuatoriano de no restablecer relaciones con Colombia y, si por esa razón, el Gobierno de Colombia decide romper relaciones diplomáticas con Nicaragua, bienvenido sea", indicó el gobernante.

Las relaciones entre Quito y Bogotá se rompieron el pasado 3 de marzo, dos días después del ataque colombiano a un campamento de la guerrilla de las FARC en territorio ecuatoriano.

En ese operativo, que este lunes Ortega calificó de "acto terrorista", murieron 26 personas, entre ellas el portavoz internacional de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), "Raúl Reyes", y cuatro estudiantes mexicanos que estaban en el campamento.

Ortega sostuvo que reconoce "los esfuerzos que hizo Correa por restablecer las relaciones diplomáticas con Colombia" y señaló que la respuesta de Bogotá a esa acción no ha sido la correcta.

"Son ellos los que están torpedeando la posibilidad de que se normalicen las relaciones", señaló el gobernante nicaragüense sobre la reciente decisión de Bogotá de posponer la reanudación de los lazos con Quito en rechazo a unas declaraciones de Correa.

El presidente ecuatoriano respondió a la determinación bogotana con la afirmación de que no restablecerá las relaciones mientras Álvaro Uribe esté al frente del Gobierno colombiano.

El pasado viernes, desde Venezuela, Uribe reiteró su deseo de "reconstruir" lo más pronto posible las relaciones con Ecuador, tras dar por zanjada la crisis diplomática con el Gobierno de su colega venezolano, Hugo Chávez, también suscitada en torno al conflicto de las FARC.

Ortega participó el domingo en Venezuela en la cumbre de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de los países que integran Petrocaribe, un acuerdo al que también se refirió hoy.

"Piensen bien, países centroamericanos que estaban subordinados al imperio yanqui, ahora tienen gobernantes con dignidad como el presidente de Guatemala, Álvaro Colom, y el de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya", dijo al agregar que algunos mandatarios de esa región "le han dicho no al imperio y están en Petrocaribe".

Al hablar de Colombia, comentó que se trata de "un país que está ocupado militarmente por los yanquis".

"Colombia es el único país que le queda (a EE.UU.) para tratar de expandir su control militar sobre América Latina y tratar de detener la lucha de nuestros pueblos", denunció Ortega.

Por ello, se refirió al Gobierno del presidente Uribe como "el principal factor de inestabilidad de la región" y un "foco de conspiración".

Ortega se sumará a la cita de mañana entre Chávez y Correa en el oeste de Ecuador, donde ambos suscribirán la constitución de una empresa mixta que construirá el mayor complejo de refino y petroquímica del Pacífico.

Por otra parte, Ortega indicó que en su formación de revolucionario "primero conoció a Cristo y luego a Marx".

"Ese principio cristiano de amarse los unos a los otros es un principio revolucionario y socialista. Por eso es que los pueblos están votando en América Latina por el cambio, la justicia, solidaridad, paz y estabilidad", manifestó el gobernante.

También se declaró "contento" de estar en Ecuador que, a su criterio, está inmerso en "otra historia, una nueva etapa que se vive con gran valentía, gran firmeza".

Mientras, Correa aseveró que su pueblo "nunca olvidará" el respaldo de Nicaragua en la crisis con Bogotá.

Obama, Soccer Dad

(Watching his daughter from the sidelines in Colorado)

• Politico now running story that Obama is "re-writing" plan for Iraq withdrawal based on campaign statement that when he goes to Iraq in a few weeks and meets with commanders in the field, he may decide he needs to refine his plan. Never mind that Obama repeated "we're going to have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in" on the trail and in the debates so often that he should own the trademark rights to the phrase, the GOP wants to spin this as evidence of flip-flopping, and a passive MSM is obliging. Obama just held a press conference and blamed the McCain camp for the ruckus:

  "I think what’s happened is the McCain campaign primed the pump with the press to suggest that somehow we had changed our policy when we hadn’t, and that just hasn’t been the case. I’ve given no indication of a change in policy."

  "I intend to end this war... That position has not changed. I have not equivocated on that position. I am not searching for maneuvering room with respect to that position."

• Here's Obama's press conference:

• Here's Axelrod's chat with John Roberts on CNN yesterday -- a prelude to today's tempest:

• After brief tightening that wasn't echoed in other polls, Gallup returns to the mean with Obama leading 47-43%.
• Georgia Shocker: Obama in statistical tie with McCain in Georgia, down only 46-44%. Bob Barr picks up 4%.
• Obama responds on his blog to his supporters who disagree with him on the FISA compromise.
• Reuters: Obama is pushing deep into red state territory and putting pressure on McCain.
• Montana Shocker: Obama Leads in Montana by 5 points, 48-43%. Obama will spend 4th of July with his family in Montana tomorrow (he's in North Dakota today). Bush won Montana by 20 points in 2004 and 25 points in 2000. Poll results are consistent with national trend: McCain can't crack his ceiling of 45% except in the reddest of red states, due to an unenthusiastic and divided base, and enormous frustration with Bush, the economy and the direction of the country.
• Rasmussen daily tracking poll continues to show remarkable stability, with modest uptick for Obama's lead, 47-40%.
• LA Times: Pre-4th on the campaign trail - lots of fireworks, little meat.
• Noam Scheiber of TNR: Latest McCain/GOP line of attack on Obama that he's "a typical politician" will actually help Obama by reassuring nervous voters who don't know Obama well enough.

• Coup at McCain Headquarters. Karl Rove's people are now running McCain's campaign. The same Rovians who slandered him in 2000. They thought the campaign lacked direction, vision and strategy. Expect a much more aggressive and focused attack on Obama going-forward. But WaPo's Chris Cilliza says this is symptomatic of McCain's management style - he doesn't like a single person with authority. He likes to have a few key competing voices he can pick and choose from as he sees fit. It's unlikely Rove's people will change that fundamental problem with McCain's campaign.
• Bush Meets McCain in Mexico. Jeb Bush, that is. Still, have to wonder about the wisdom of the optics.
• Job Numbers Released. 62,000 jobs lost in June; unemployment rate 5.5%. Losses and rate both slightly higher than forecasts. Also, Labor Dept revised previously reported job losses in April and May significantly upward.
• Bill Scher explains that Obama hasn't "shifted right" - he's been consistent with his long-held views. We've seen an unholy alliance between the GOP trying to frame Obama as being opportunistic and the Left expressing anger.Time: McCain and Obama statistically tied among Catholic voters, 45-44%. It's a segment Bush won handily against Kerry even though Kerry was Catholic. More evidence of McCain's struggles with his base.
• LA Times: Obama considering cutting short Democratic Convention to stretch out bounce effect. GOP convention starts the following Monday. But Denver mayor strongly denies this rumor.
• McCain denies account of violent episode described by fellow Republican senator Thad Cochran.
• Cindy McCain charged as much as $750,000 a month on her credit cards.
• WaPo editorial supports Obama for supporting the FISA compromise.
• Obama speaks to Steelworkers Union conference and gives these remarks. He's introduced by John Edwards.
• Obama speaks about national service from Colorado Springs, a very red part of an increasingly blue-tinged Colorado.
• Liberal bloggers accuse Obama of trying to win election.

This show is a review of fabricated history. Latin asks the question "How long has this been going on?" How long have the Jews control history? This may seem strange to ask this but we need to know in order to understand the current dynamic.
Topics covered:

• Team truth Virus
• Smedly Butler
• Nicaragua
• Sandinistas
• Medevil Jewish Empire
• Numerology
• Masons
• Cabbala

http://theinfounderground.com/ftp/lav/

El subsecretario de Aviación - y ex sandinista- , Raúl Vergara , se mostró a favor de eliminar esta ley. "Es poco democrático que partidas importantes de los recursos nacionales sean distribuidas sin la discusión de la instancia democrática, que es el Parlamento", señaló Vergara.

Codelco registró durante 2007 utilidades netas de US$8.451 millones, de los cuales debió destinar US$1.390 millones a las Fuerzas Armadas, según lo que estipula la ley.

La decisión de derogar esta norma, adoptada por el Gobierno de Bachelet, coincide con la opinión del presidente ejecutivo de la curpífera, José Pablo Arellano, quien el pasado lunes dijo que debería eliminarse la aportación monetaria obligatoria que cada año debe hacer Codelco a las Fuerzas Armadas.

Al respecto, el subsecretario de Aviación declaró a que "es muy legítimo que el presidente de Codelco defienda los intereses de la empresa y diga que perjudica a la empresa que el diez por ciento de todas sus ventas brutas vayan a financiar a las Fuerzas Armadas".

El Ministerio de Defensa - dirigido por un ex mirista- lleva trabajando más de un año en el borrador de este proyecto de ley, que será presentado antes de dos meses en el Parlamento para su discusión y aprobación, estableciéndose en planes cuatrienales las necesidades estratégicas del presupuesto de defensa.

Menos recursos para las FFAA, más para financiar la voracidad de la burocracia.

El Gobierno de Nicaragua, presidido por el sandinista Daniel Ortega, concentra mayoritariamente la publicidad estatal en el canal 4 de televisión, privado y controlado por la familia del mandatario, denunció hoy la prensa local.

El 80 por ciento de la publicidad estatal es destinada a medios televisivos, principalmente al canal 4, señala un seguimiento comercial de la empresa centroamericana Media Gurú recogido por el semanario Confidencial.

Los hijos de Ortega manejan la emisora La Nueva Radio Ya, el noticiero "Multinoticias" del canal 4 y una empresa de publicidad, según el diario La Prensa, de Managua. 

Media Gurú, que rastrea el gasto publicitario y asesora a anunciantes, medios y agencias, indicó que en 2007 el Gobierno contrató espacios de propaganda en televisión, periódicos y radios por un valor de 3,67 millones de dólares.

Mientras, de enero a abril de este año, el Ejecutivo de Ortega gastó 2,18 millones de dólares en publicidad estatal, el 60 por ciento de lo que destinó en 2007, agregó la empresa centroamericana.

Según Media Gurú, el gasto gubernamental en publicidad se concentra en un 80 por ciento en televisión y el restante 20 por ciento se divide entre emisoras de radio y periódicos.

El semanario Confidencial, en un estudio que hizo con el programa televisivo "Esta Semana" del canal 8, encontró que el "grueso" de la asignación publicitaria del Gobierno "se concentra ostensiblemente en el canal 4, propiedad de la familia Ortega-Murillo", cuya audiencia global es menor al 3 por ciento.

El estudio revela que hay un promedio diario de 36 anuncios del Gobierno en el canal 4, sin incluir los espacios de media hora de "El Pueblo Presidente" ni las transmisiones en vivo de las comparecencias de Ortega y su esposa, Rosario Murillo, en actos oficiales.

En los canales 8, 23 y 63 se contabilizó un promedio diario de tres a cuatro anuncios del Gobierno, mientras que en otros como el 2, 10, 11 y 12 no se registran anuncios estatales.

Confidencial observó que los predecesores de Ortega (Violeta Chamorro, Arnoldo Alemán y Enrique Bolaños) contrataban a una o varias agencias de publicidad para colocar los anuncios del Estado en diferentes medios de comunicación, conforme a la audiencia y no a discreción.

Asimismo, el semanario anotó que más del 50 por ciento de los anuncios estatales aluden a una campaña del Gobierno contra el líder liberal disidente y candidato a alcalde de Managua, Eduardo Montealegre.

Casi una tercera parte son para promover a los candidatos del gobernante Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) para las elecciones municipales del 9 de noviembre próximo y, en menor medida, para divulgar los proyectos del Ejecutivo y actos partidarios, añadió la fuente.

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:

Father D’Escoto Brockmann, a U.S. born, 75-year-old priest of the Maryknoll order recently named as president of the UN General Assembly, is not, as many might be mistaken to believe, a Catholic priest in good standing with the Catholic Church and its legal system.

Follow this link to the original source: "Your U.N. at Work – IV [1]"

SHIBLER'S COMMENTARY:

"They elected a priest." So says Father D’Escoto Brockmann, as the UN’s top pick for president of the General Assembly last Wednesday. But they really didn’t. They elected a leftist revolutionary of the Nicaraguan Sandinista regime. To put it more accurately, they elected a communist.

D’Escoto’s past ordination as a priest is a bit of an aside, really. He’s canonically barred from public ministry by the Roman Catholic Church. The Wall Street Journal is correct in publicizing the priest’s Marxist/Leninist proclivities. But that’s about all they got right.

What the Wall Street Journal does not expound upon in the article is the official status of Father D’Escoto Brockmann. Without any real knowledge of Catholic doctrine and canon law, it’s a bit misleading for the Journal to even unknowingly portray him as a functioning Catholic priest in good standing, which he indeed is not.

continue ...

STIFF RIGHT JAB'S, STEVE FARRELL, RESPONDS: And yet we continue to hear from so-called reasonable people why we NEED the U.N. We don't. We never did. We never will. Not only is old-school-one-on-one-private-diplomacy much preferable over the insincerity and divisiveness of diplomacy on the stage (i.e. it forces nations to take sides against nations, nations which otherwise have nothing to do with a dispute, and were otherwise friendly to that point), but the U.N. hates us, it was in fact created to destroy the sovereignty of nations in general, and to undermine the sovereignty and Constitution of the United States in particular, as its most vital goal.

The General Assembly of the United Nations voted this week to elect Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann as its new president. Readers with a long memory will recall Father D'Escoto (he's a Catholic priest) as Nicaragua's foreign minister during the Sandinista regime of the 1980s. He's also the winner of the 1985 Lenin Prize. Only at the U.N. does that count as a recommendation.

The U.N. also voted to name the government of Burma – which otherwise has been busy preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching hundreds of thousands of its own needy victims of last month's devastating cyclone – as one of the Assembly's vice presidents. Only at the U.N. is this not considered an embarrassment.

The situation is Burma is ridiculous.  With all those people needing help, the government has actually refused to allow tons of aid to enter the country.  That the UN would reward such an oppressive military regime with any kind of position is utterly shameful.

As to the good Father, even Reuters noticed his anti-Americanism, though they probably view it as a plus.

FUN Facts about Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann include

• D'Escoto has been a foreign policy adviser to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega since he returned to power in 2006.
• Ignoring a reprimand by Pope John Paul II for backing Nicaragua's left-wing Sandinista revolution, he ended up joining revolutionary leader Daniel Ortega's government as foreign minister for his 1979-1990 rule, which was marked by a decade-long civil war against U.S.-backed "Contra" rebels.
• D'Escoto's anti-American past includes successfully taking the United States to the International Court of Justice in the Hague for arming Contra rebels and staging a hunger strike against U.S. policy. In 2004 he told a U.S. news program former President Ronald Reagan was "the butcher of my people" and called President George W. Bush Reagan's "spiritual heir".

Ridiculous.  Shameful.  Typical.  UN.

The Danish solidarity brigade has finished their village stay and their Easter vacation, and arrived to a barrio in Ciudad Sandino. They live with the local CPC (the citizen's power committee) and work at a local kindergarden, improving a playground for the kindergarden and a little park for the barrio.

The experience has given them new insight into how Nicaraguan local politics work...

The players

The kindergarden is an independant kindergarden for maquila-workers, it has existed for 9 years with support from a North American organisation.

The CPC is the new neighbourhood organisation promoted by the Sandinista government which, at least in its own eyes, now decides things for the community. For the kindergarden too, as the kindergarden of course also "belongs to the community", and "ahora estamos nosostros a mando del barrio": now we are in charge of the barrio.

The city (municipal) government is Sandinista, and is responsible for placing the brigade where it is now. City Hall coordinates local activities through local CPC, as it must do according to the Sandinista policy.

The apple of discord

The Family Ministry is promoting a program for collective vegetable gardens in city barrios to fight malnutrition among poor children. City Hall has allotted a vegetable garden to the barrio, based on need (a census has showed many malnourished children), and on the accept of the community (the CPC has agreed).

The city and the CPC have apparently agreed that the vegetable garden should be placed on the kindergarden grounds. The CPC is supposed to ensure that the local community takes care of the plants, prevents theft, and harvests and distributes vegetables.

But the kindergarden teachers feel that they don't have time to take care of the garden (they mostly work on a voluntary basis already) and are also afraid that a vegetable garden will attract thieves. Also, they don´t feel that the CPC has any right to decide on how their grounds should be used. Instead of a garden, they want a playground.

"I don't know anything about politics, and don't want to go up against politics, but I have worked in this kindergarden for nine years, and I know what is good for the kindergarden and for the children," says the principal.

The disagreement has led to harsh words, rumor mongering, and even tears.

The Danish brigade is living with members of the the CPC, and working for the kindergarden, and just doesn't want any trouble. They have asked everyone concerned to a meeting to sort out the disagreements, and have invited me to attend as a sort of reinforcement (the brigade is, by the way, doing a very good job, and I must say that the coordinator Lærke and the rest of the brigade have kept a straight course during this little crisis.)

In the photo: The fractions have retired to separate debriefings after the tough negotiations. The brigade analyses the course of events in the foreground, in the background the City Hall representative tries to pour oil on troubled waters...

Cutting through

At a meeting between representatives of teachers, parents, the CPC, the City Hall and and the brigade, the City Hall representative cuts through to the chase and decides that the brigade will not work on the vegetable garden. If the kindergarden really is so ungrateful, they can escape getting a vegetable garden altogether. Anyway, the kindergarten will at some point or other be forced to plant vegetables since it is a ministry policy that all kindergardens should have one. Only this time it will be with out help from the City, but that will be their problem.

Instead, she decides that the brigade will work on planting the little neighbourhood park, which is supposed to become a recreative space for the young people of the barrio. She promises that the building materials will be there on Tuesday.

Furthermore she scolds the CPC representative for not being able to create concensus in the community, and for her inability to convince neighborrs to participate in trhe work alongside the brigade. She explains to everybody that the brigade visit is their test as a local organisation, and tells them straight out to pull themselves together. She tells them to go from door to door to convince people to unite and support the park project, and also to recruit the local leaders; a North American who lives in the neigbourhood, the Evangelical priest and his flock, etc. These are tasks which the CPC representative obvioulsy feels uncomfortable with.

"These are the problems we get when neighbourhood leaders are inexperienced, and when you have a barrio where 60% have never even passed fourth grade," City Hall representative explains when I give her a lift back to the town hall.

She is right, of course. Any real democratization and decentralization process will at some point run into these kinds of problems. Anybody who has been to a meeting in a homeowners´ or tenants´ association back home in Denmark knows that. And the CPC is, in fact, a decentralization of power: it is the local CPC that decides which neighbours have access to the government's small business loans, adult education programs, etc. And if you are looking for work with a public employer, you must get a recommendation from your CPC.

But it doesn´t help when the CPC has such an obviously narrow social basis (that is, when it is identical with the local party faithfull), and, furthermore starts it´s work in the barrio with an attitude of "now it´s our turn at the cookie jar", without any consideration for all the others who have contributed to the barrio, and who also have an opinion. An attitude which, I am afraid, is far too common among Sandinistas today.

Meanwhile, the brigade has contributed to the building of a wonderful playground.

And they have learned a lot about how Nicaraguan politics work.

Now, only time will show if City Hall actually can get hold of the materials for the park...

Previous post about Brigade 2008

First posted in Danish on April 11, 2008.

¿Hay una conexión entre América Latina y Oriente Medio? Elias Khoury, en un artículo titulado "Sobre América Latina" publicado en árabe en la edición de ayer (29 de abril) del periódico editado en Londres Al-Quds Al Arabi, opina que sí. 

En su artículo el escritor libanés menciona el impacto de los inmigrantes árabes en América Latina, quienes fueron denominados "turcos" por los nacionales. También hace referencia a como los intelectuales árabes admiraron y siguieron la saga de Salvador Allende en Chile y Che Guevara en Bolivia. 

"En el pasado, los revolucionarios sandinistas (nicaragüenses) acudieron a los campos de entrenamiento palestinos. Se respiraba un ambiente de una visión compartida, que nos hizo sentir que nuestros sueños podrían tener una dimensión global. Tuvimos una conexión con América Latina que fomentó la sensación de que nuestro renacimiento formaba parte de un sueño global que trazaría de nuevo el mapa del mundo post-colonial." 

Continúa enumerando aquellos poetas y escritores como Neruda, Borges y Gabriel García Márquez, quienes "describieron al Árabe de manera trágica como en Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada, en la que la muerte del protagonista, nacido en Líbano, Santiago Nassar, era una extensión de la tragedia del Monte Líbano." 

Posteriormente, al término de la Guerra Fría y la caída del Muro de Berlín, las respectivas situaciones políticas  del mundo árabe y de América Latina se distanciaron. Khoury escribe que en América Latina "consiguieron deshacerse de regímenes  dictatoriales y mostraron que la libertad y la democracia no eran meros instrumentos en las manos de la hegemonía estadounidense."   América Latina celebra la democracia a la vez que el mundo árabe "ha caído en la oscuridad." 

Para Khoury, mientras que en América Latina la Izquierda ha conseguido renovarse y ofrece esperanza a la población del continente, la elección en el mundo árabe se mueve entre dos pasados: "el pasado dictatorial, que está tambaleándose, y el pasado que está engullido por el petróleo, el infradesarrollo  y un esquema mental que se opone a cualquier renovación." 

El escritor libanés opina que la tragedia del árabe está simbolizado con en el fin de régimen en Egipto. Egipto, que aportó al mundo árabe una sensación de despertar y orgullo, es testigo ahora de un nuevo movimiento popular hecho realidad que se hace patente con las recientes protestas populares contra el régimen de Mubarak.

 Khoury concluye su interesante comparativa con la siguiente declaración: "el horizonte creado por las luchas de los años setenta y ochenta podría recuperarse hoy. Es suficiente con mirar cómo es América Latina hoy para poder percatarse de que la causa de la justicia y la libertad no ha muerto." 

Palabras de frustración y esperanza de un intelectual árabe buscando desesperadamente una respuesta a la oscuridad que ha caído en el Oriente Medio Árabe.

WEEKLY PRESS SYNOPSIS 

Is there a connection between Latin America and the Middle East? This is the opinion of Elias Khoury in an article entitled "On Latin America" and published in Arabic in today's edition (29 April) of the London-based Al-Quds Al Arabi. 

In his article the Lebanese writer mentions the impact of the Arab immigrants in Latin America who were called "turcos" by the locals. He also mentions how Arab intellectuals admired and followed the saga of Salvador Allende in Chile and Che Guevara in Bolivia.

 "In years past, the (Nicaraguan) Sandinista revolutionaries came to the Palestinian training camps. There was a sense of a common vision which made us feel that our dreams could have a global dimension. We had a connection in Latin America that made us feel that our renaissance was part of an international dream which would redraw the map of the post-colonial world." 

He then goes on to list the Latin American poets and writers such as Neruda, Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez that "depicted the Arab in a tragic form such as Chronicle of A Death Foretold (Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada) where the death of the Lebanese-born hero, Santiago Nassar, was an extension of the tragedy of Mount Lebanon." 

Then following the end of the cold war and the fall of the Berlin Wall the distance between the Arab world and Latin American widened. Khoury writes that in Latin America "they succeeded in sweeping away dictatorial regimes and revealed that freedom and democracy were not only mere tools in the hands of US hegemony." Latin America celebrates democracy while the Arab world "has sunk into darkness." 

For Khoury while in Latin America the Left has succeeded in renewing itself and offers hope to the continent's population, the choice in the Arab world is between two pasts: "the dictatorial past which is teetering and the past that is swallowed by oil, underdevelopment, and a mindset that is against any renewal."

 The Lebanese writer goes on to say that the tragedy of the Arab is symbolized by the fin de regime in Egypt. Egypt, which gave the Arab world a sense of awakening and pride, is now witnessing a new popular movement symbolized by the recent popular protests against the Mubarak regime. 

Khoury concludes his interesting comparison stating that "the horizon that was created by the struggles of the 1970s and 1980s could be regained today. It is enough to look at Latin America today to witness that the cause of justice and freedom is not dead."

 Words of frustration and hope from an Arab intellectual desperately seeking an answer to the darkness that has fallen on the Arab Middle East.

Abril en Managua (1983)

Vários artistas

Em 1979, a Frente Sandinista de Libertação Nacional derrotou os 40 anos de ditadura da família Somoza na Nicarágua. Quatro anos depois realizou-se um show em homenagem ao episódio que ficou conhecido como Revolução Sandinista. Apresentaram-se no evento músicos da Bolívia, México, Argentina, Uruguai, Cuba, Porto Rico e Brasil. Subiram ao palco, entre outros, Chico Buarque, Raymundo Fagner, Silvio Rodriguez e Mercedes Sosa. Este disco é o registro fonográfico do show. Vale muito à pena escutar, é uma preciosidade. Para fazer o download do álbum clique aqui (via MediaFire).

Do site: http://vejotudoenaomorro.wordpress.com

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 Hace muchos años comenzó, con la apertura del Canal de Panama por el entonces presidente de los Estados Unidos Theodore Roosvelt. Como fué que un país extranjero logro semejante cosa en otro país no lo se, pero me imagino que tuvieron que dar una gran cantidad de dinero, y para entonces, los panameños no contaban con la visión.

 La apertura del canal fue el primer gran paso para convertir a Centro America en el patio trasero de los Estados Unidos. Ahora los americanos contaban con una colonia sin haber gastado una sola bala, y no solo eso, les daba ganancias multimillonarias.

Luego, luego despues de muchos años, ya en el siglo pasado, llegó la revolución sandinista en Nicaragua, los gringos no podían tolerar la existencia de un gobierno comunista en su patio trasero asi que llegaron militarmente y literalmente, tomaron el país, derrocarón al entonces presidente y obviamente pusieron a uno que a ellos les convenía. Fue aquí donde se volvieron impopulares, esa politica de implantación no le gustó a la gente de entonces. No era la forma de ganar una guerra. Fue entonces que alguien acuñó la frase: "que la mejor forma de conquistar un país, era enarbolado con su propia bandera." (O sea, llegar con bandera aliada y poco a poquito meterse a lo mas profundo con la bandera del propio país.)

El Canal de Panama fué solamente el comienzo, sin quererlo, tenían un lugar que les dejaba grandes ganancias y ademas podían poner toda su basura sin problemas.

Luego de las guerras sandinistas vinieron la guerra Salvadoreña y Guatemalteca. Durante la guerra Salvadoreña, los Estados Unidos enviaron miles de millones de dolares en armas, equipo, entrenamieno y aunque no lo acepten, tropas; todo esto para evitar que los rebeldes, de ideologias comunistas alcanzarán el poder.  Los guerrilleros peleaban contra "el imperialismo yanqui" sin saber en que consistia realmente esto. Al igual que los gobiernos de derecha le lavaban el cerebro a la población para hacerles creer que la economía era equitativa, los guerrilleros le hicieron creer a miles de campesinos que la lucha era necesaria, quiza lo era, pero estos campesinos no tenían ni idea de por que peleaban, según ellos era por una vida mejor. Eran carne de cañon.

El gobierno por un lado con politicas de exterminio, "quitarle el agua al pez" decían ellos para referirse a las masacres de civiles, y por el otro lado, los guerrilleros obligando al pueblo a pelear una guerra encontra del "imperialismo Yanqui y la Oligarquia".

Despues de 11 años de guerra sangrienta y mas de un millon de muertos, la guerra terminó con los tratados de Tlatelolco.

Mas 10 años despues, me pregunto que pensaran aquellos que pelearon en esa guerra encontra de el "imperialismo yanqui", que pensarán esos idealistas que ahora ven su país convertido en tiradero de basura, con coches viejos que contaminan el cielo y los suelos, tiendas que se llevan la riqueza del país, delincuentes que destruyen al país y la familia, pilar de la sociedad latinoamericana.

America Central fue conquistada, poco a poco. En especial El Salvador fue conviertida en una colonia independiente de Estados Unidos, ya tienen incluso el dolar como moneda nacional. El país a perdido su identidad, su riqueza y su orgullo. Ahora es una nación tiradero de chatarra gringa. Incluso, las remesas de los millones de salvadoreños que estan en el norte se regresan en forma de ganancias de las tantas franquicias americanas.

El estilo de vida, la arquitectura, la moneda... la forma de vestir, las plazas comerciales, todo tiene el tinte americano. Incluso muchas de las empresas que antes o que se dicen salvadoreñas, son de propiedad Americana. Un país latinoamericano colonizado y nadie se dio cuenta... fue poco a poco.

La guerra sirvió de algo, el país antes de la guerra estaba totalmente sumida en la pobreza y la represion. Ahora por lo menos se ve como El Salvador a avanzado, lento pero seguro hacia el futuro. Quiza la influencia gringa no es tan mala, otorga cierta estabilidad economica... otorga dolares...¿pero a que precio?.

 Actualmente El Salvador a recuperado su orgullo y se esta adaptando a una nueva identidad social y economica. Ya no es El Salvador de antes, soportado por el cafe, un país de campesinos. Hoy en día El Salvador es un país de industria, de mirar hacia el futuro, de sacar adelante a su población, donde el turismo es una opción real. Todos los logros actuales de El Salvador no hubieran sido posibles sin la inversión extrangera ni las remesas de los paisanos en el norte. Ahora el país quiere dejar atras ese pasado de pobreza, lo hace con plazas comerciales gigantes y lujosas, agencias BMW, Ferari,Porsche, etc. Mientras el futuro llega, el pasado se va, y con el, la indentidad nacional, el precio de una vida mejor según Lationamerica.

Poco a poco... así a sido como los gringos se han estado metiendo en nuestras economias. Ahora con el TLC (México), que dista de ser parejo... es legal, pero beneficia mayormente a los Americanos.

Pero todo tiene ciclos: despues de la segunda guerra mundial, EU experimento un gran crecimiento economico propiciado por la gran capacidad industrial que habia adquirido el país bajo la necesidad de productos militares, pero luego, llegó el excedente. Es como si todos hubieran tenido tanto dinero que simplemente comprarón todo lo que podían... y la gente dejó de comprar y la economía llegó a un alto total, aunado a esto los precios del petroleo subieron y llegó la gran recesión economica. Actualmente todos predicen que Estados Unidos esta al borde de una reseción, provocada por la mala administración de Bush, que hiso una guerra sin apoyo popular, despilfarró el dinero de los contribuyentes sin la inversión privada de las grandes corporaciones. El problema es que si los gringos caen, se llevan consigo a todas sus "colonias", digase latinoamerica, entre mas dependientes de los gringos, peor será por que EUA va a caer y va a caer en blandito, van a ser los latinos pobres los que tengan que pagar el precio. Economias un tanto mas fuertes e independientes como México, Guatemala, Panama sentirán el golpe, pero no tanto como El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Puerto Rico...

Solo espero que podamos aprender del pasado.... y comprar mas Euros en lugar de dolares.

Esteli, Nicaragua

For the first time on the trip, I was actually able to sleep until my body woke me up. It felt so good to stretch and just lay there for a while. Brandon had gone into town early to do some business so Phil and I planned to explore Esteli by ourselves. He came back while was doing a bunch of laundry and hanging it up to dry. Fran came out of his house and showed us a copy of the Nicaraguan tabloid El Mercurio. The front page was completely disgusting featuring a dead man that had been bludgeoned with a machete and another that had been given a Chelsea Smile. The centerfold was a grainy blown up porn star spreading. Brandon could believe this was in the paper that the kids sell on the street. "That's just the way it is in Nicaragua," Fran said.

Phil and I headed down town to a Cuban restaurant we'd heard of. When get there the smells coming out of it immediately made my mouth water. I noticed the closed sign as we walked up and knocked until someone came out and told me there weren't going to be open until manana. What a terrible tease. We headed towards the Parque Central and checked out the cathedral. Its a pretty nice one with flowers all around it. In the center of the park is a gazebo with tons of kids in front getting rides on miniature battery powered motorcycles, sand buggies, trucks and Hummers. It was pretty funny to watch them. We called Brandon and told him to meet us there. Brandon arrived a while later with Anna one of his employees. We ate at White House Pizza which wasn’t that bad.

After we finished lunch Phil and I went to the Museo de Heroes y Martirs. We read all about the civil war and saw pictures of tons of the people who were killed. There was one woman pictured armed with an AK who was a young student from Berkeley. She had come down to join the Sandanistas and had taken up arms against the fifty dictator Somoza. She must have been around 19 and looked hot in her t-shirt posing with her weapon. Most of the pictures were of young boys. It was interesting to realize that the revolution was led by a handful of poets who rallied mostly poor illiterate farmers to the cause. There were some really cool murals outside the museum. Esteli was one of the main cities affected by the war and you still see bullet holes in buildings as well as destroyed buildings that were never rebuilt. The entire city is covered with the most vibrantly colored murals that depict Nicaraguan history from the indigenous people, the Spanish invasion through the civil wars.

We took a taxi down to the clinic to get massages and found out that we would have had to make an appointment the day before. We were disappointed since they were only $5 for a half hour, but decided to go back to La Casita to relax. We practically had the place to ourselves and had some great food. We walked back towards town and ran into some kids with toy guns. We asked them if we could take pictures and they turned out to be total hams. One kid put the gun in his belt and posed with outstretched arms.

We walked through the streets of Esteli and checked out all the shops. Phil bought a notepad and then we ran into Sonia. She was walking quickly and said she had an appointment. We finally headed back to Brandon’s when Phil realized he had lost his hat. Brandon called and asked us if we wanted to meet him and the girls at Café Coffee. We took a cab back to La Casita first, but couldn’t find his hat. When we got to the café, the taxi driver wanted more money that we had agreed on. I couldn’t really understand what he was talking about so I just gave him what I thought was right and the driver yelled at us and drove off angrily. Later I found out that we should have given him more. Brandon thought it was hilarious since most taxi drivers rip you off anyway.

Brandon had to leave soon after we got there, to take his other employee, Salvador, out to dinner. Phil and I stayed behind and hung out with the girls. Before Brandon left he gave Sonia one hundred Cordobas to pay for their food. Later Sonia said, “You can pay for us, right?” I thought she was kidding, but the girls left before we did and when we got the bill they hadn’t paid for a thing. I was a little miffed, but later found out Sonia had given the money to Sonia since she needed the money. I felt even worse when Brandon handed us each cigars that she had made and snuck out of the factory for us. They tasted pretty good too. We’d had fun with the girls too. They laughed and joked with us and let me practice my caveman Spanish. Karen evidently had a crush on Phil. She said reminded her of Sylvester Stallone. She told me she liked Phil and asked if he felt the same. "Igual? Igual?" she kept asking. He said he did and when they left and he realized they’d left their To Go box he ran out to give it to her and gave her a kiss on the lips.

Brandon came back after a bit and we decided to walk to Larry’s house. We walked and smoked our cigars. When we got to Larry’s house no one answered so Brandon decided to go to Camille's house to find out what was up. Evidently she’d gotten hammered the night before and had smacked Larry in the nose, making it bloody, and then cussed and screamed at him in the street in front of his house. She was embarrassed about it you could tell, but she wouldn’t apologize either. I guess no one really says sorry here or takes responsibility for their actions. Its just not the custom.

We headed back to Brandon’s and I called Mom to tell her by before we headed out for more adventures. We crashed early since we were planning on heading up to Fran’s family's coffee finca.

Ever since reading this Sacred Facts post, while I was still in Nicaragua, I have been desparate to see The Future is Unwritten - the Joe Strummer biopic.

Finally Love Film - came up trumps and it was delivered to my doorstep.

It proved to be well worth waiting for.

The best part?  The World Service bits from Joe's own show that link it all together.  What a presence.  What a voice.  What great taste.

Today I went out and purchased the CD.

With 25 tracks it's a good start, but surely there's a market for the show to be aired again.  Maybe to a podcast audience?

It'd be a welcome addition to my Ipod and a great soundtrack to my morning Number One bus trips through Heaton.

So, Mr Sambrook, who do we bully to get this podded?

* The pic is one of my own.  It's a particularly colourful rendition of Sandino, the inspiration behind Nicaragua's Sandinistas (who The Clash were to name an album after).  One of the high points of the film for me was seeing Strummer and the boys sporting Sandinista style scarves, complete with the iconic Sandino image.  The shot was taken in Leon, Nicaragua.  More Sandino pics here.

Nicaragua was het laatste Spaanssprekende land waar homoseksualiteit nog strafbaar was. In 1992 maakte een erg conservatieve regering homoseks terug strafbaar. Nicaragua is aan een prille revival bezig nadat het jarenlang gebukt ging onder een Amerikaans embargo en erg grote armoede. De vuilnisbelten zijn helaas nog steeds het woonterrein van duizenden families. Gelukkig brengt de nieuwe regering brengt hoop voor alle Nica's.

Koloniale wortels 

Als oude kolonie van Spanje is het niet verwonderlijk dat de Rooms-Katholieke kerk er diep geworteld zit. De meeste politiekers zijn ook erg gelovig en staan eerder afzijdig tegen holebi's. Aan de andere kant was Nicaragua ook het eerste Zuid-Amerikaanse land met een vrouwelijk president aan de top! De regerende partij is erg katholiek maar geeft blijk van enkele verlichte zielen die een meer progressieve richting willen bevaren.

Een betere toekomst

In de hoofdstad Managua vinden we wel een beperkte, voornamelijk homo-gerichte, gayscene terug. Lesbiënnes zijn er minder zichtbaar en ontmoeten elkaar meer in privé-aangelegenheden. Er is nog veel werk: het land is stilletjes uit zijn bankroet aan het kruipen en dat vergt tijd. Het is overigens samen met Chilé en El Salvador een van de laatste landen ter wereld waar abortus illegaal is, zonder enige uitzondering.

I have been enjoying using www.lovefilm.com.

For the uninitiated you sign up. You list all the films you ever wanted to see. You pays your money and you slowly work your way through the movies.

They send you the DVD. You watch it. Return it to its envelope and then drop it in a post box. Then they send you the next one.

Simple.

So anyway, I have been watching all the movies I'd always meant to.

I recently watched Kes. As part of the ourwoman’s introduction to Tyneside we also rented Get Carter. We head to Dublin for a short break soon so I have added The Van. It’s been fun.

On the list also was Carla’s Song. A story of a Nicaraguan refugee who finds herself in Scotland before returning to her homeland to face her demons (pic above).

I had been meaning to watch it for years. Directed by Ken Loach. Filmed in my old Nica stamping ground. Starring Robert Carlyle. What’s not to like?

It’s a film split into two. Starting in Scotland and finishing in Nicaragua. The Glasgow bit was good. Then the Nica bit started up...

We laughed straight off - the first thing we heard when they touched down was “Managua, Managua, Managua,” the cry of the bus conductors heading to the capital. We’d take the bus from Granada every couple of weeks to luxuriate in the air con of the cinema.

Then the main characters settle into their hotel room. Just as Carlyle was remarking how nice it was nice, the lights went out. That happened to us a lot too.

While suffering the Newcastle November cold, the warmth of Nicaragua looked so inviting. Later, when the action switched to Esteli we recognised the town centre murals. Sandino, whose image cropped up every few minutes, seemed like an old friend.

We enjoyed it tremendously. It also prompted us to ask: “What the hell happened to us there?”

In some ways, I am still at a loss as to why our time there didn’t work. In all honesty I am a little ashamed. Sure we were somewhat isolated and under employed but the wonder of the place should have been enough to keep us interested. Shouldn’t it?

Either way we started thinking up the little things we missed. The kids of Calle Arsenal, Tona Beer, mojitos at “the Spanish place”, going up Volcan Mombacho, swimming in Laguna de Apoyo, Eskimo ice creams. Café Freezes in EuroCafe, the Nica-fayre at that buffet place just off the market square. Then there's gallo pinto, ceviche, picos, rojita, Flora De Cana,  breakfasts at Ed’s or Kathy’s.

Anyway, I’d recommend Carla’s Song, and Nicaragua to anyone. We enjoyed them both. Certainly we should have enjoyed the latter much more than we did.

But on a Friday evening with temperatures dropping to zero outside, curled up on the sofa it was a beautiful piece of escapism that jogged some very welcome memories.

Sign up to www.lovefilm.com here and, shamefully, I get a kickback.

Whisnant discusses the very definition of culture from the start--or the impossibility of trying to do so--when he writes, "what one has available, as innumerable commentators have observed, is a nearly limitless array of definitions, many of them useful in some way(s) under certain circumstances and for certain purposes, each of them inadequate or misleading in some respect(s), no one of them completely unproblematically applicable even in a given circumstance" (Whisnant 1995:3). The idea that culture is an unwieldy concept is hardly new to anthropology; Whisnant grapples with it by adopting an approach will allows for multiple definitions that apply to different contexts (Whisnant 1995:3). In that way, he is not limited to one strict idea of what culture means; instead he is able to talk about different conceptions and uses of culture, depending on the cultural periods, processes, and forms that are under discussion.

This approach seems to work well throughout the book, especially considering the fact that one of the main premises of the text is the multiplicity of ways that culture is understood, formulated, and re-formulated by different Nicaraguans (as well as non-Nicaraguans) over time. Insisting upon one rigid definition of what culture is would only limit Whisnant's explorations. In a way, his book is very much about realizing that culture is not something that can simply be understood by defining it from one particular point of view. In his examinations of different historical time periods--from the archaeological to the colonial to the more contemporary period of the Sandinista Revolution--Whisnant presents ideas of culture as something that can only be understood by taking into consideration what the very term means to the many people who employ it--or something like it:

In every case, it will be clear that I use the term culture to mean not merely esthetic expression or a limited set of authenticated, canonical forms or practices, but an entire way of life, including beliefs, habits of mind, expressive and other practices of daily life, ritual behavior, values, and worldview--culture, that is, as it might be defined collaboratively by a cultural historian, an anthropologist, a folklorist, an ethnographer, and a sociologist, rather than by a curator in an elite museum, a connoisseur of painting or china, or even a jazz critic (Whisnant 1995:3).

Whisnant's "collaborative," almost collage-esque conception of culture allows for a range of possibilities of what culture has meant, and it paves the way for his discussions of what it can encompass for 19th century colonialists, early 20th century anti-imperialist guerrillas, as well as late 20th century feminists. Flexibility works well, and it allows Whisnant to discuss different--and often opposing--cultural constructions on more analytically equal grounds. Instead of forcing a definition of culture, Whisnant attempts to let the differing conceptions of various individuals and groups speak for themselves.

Miskito Indians from Nicaragua wait for food at a Honduran camp, 1980s

When the Sandinistas took control of Nicaragua after 1979, one of the cultural groups they claimed solidarity with was the nation's indigenous people. As it turned out, the mostly middle to upper-class members of the Sandinistas "faced not only a cultural situation they were ill-prepared to understand, but also a daunting array of pressing social problems: an environment ravaged by decades of overexploitation; minimal and poor-quality infrastructure...no industries except extractive ones; and illiteracy rates of 75 to 95 percent even in urban areas" (Whisnant 1995:259). While the Sandinistas had planned to integrate eastern coastal Indians such as the Miskito, the Rama, and the Sumu, those very Indian groups knew little about the supposed revolution which had occurred on the western (and predominantly Mestizo) coast--and those who did often wanted nothing to do with it (Whisnant 1995:257-67).

One glaring problem, according to Whisnant, was the fact that the Sandinistas had almost no understanding of the culture, history, or politics of any of the east coast Indians (Whisnant 1995:259). While they may have had "honorable intentions" (Whisnant 1995:259) when it came to the problems faces by the Atlantic Indians, this ignorance of critical aspects of the region's complexities presented serious obstacles for Sandinista dreams of solidarity.

The Atlantic Indians, to the Sandinistas, were more abstractly conceived of as a part of a grand cultural project than they were actual collaborators or compatriots. Whisnant, and others (Hale 1994), have pointed out the flaws in Sandinista ideology when it came to Indians, who were ultimately seen as inferior, backward, and destined to be subordinate to their most recent "saviors" from the west. As Whisnant writes, "the Sandinistas' depreciation of Atlantic coast culture and their condescending confidence that they knew what was best for their Atlantic coast countrymen were thus two sides of the same coin" (Whisnant 1995:260).

For their part, many of the people from the Atlantic coast had a difficult time differentiating the Sandinistas from earlier waves of Spanish interference and conquest (Whisnant 1995:261). At best, the Atlantic coast Indians viewed the west coast political uprisings as nothing more than "distant political dramas" that they had little connection to (Whisnant 1995:258; Hale 1994:14). What the entire ordeal boils down to is the fact that the Sandinistas, amidst their rhetoric of equality, revolution, and change had expected the Atlantic Indians to join their movement, and thereby add a kind of legitimate connection to a mythical past for their entire enterprise. What they didn't expect was the fact that the Indians themselves might resist this symbolic co-optation.

This is an illustration of the different ways that culture cannot only function, but be conceived of. The Sandinistas, drawing upon an internal history of glorifying Indians and "campesinos" which extends back to the very days of Augusto Sandino himself, were attempting to solidify a deeper connection to Nicaraguan identity. The Atlantic Indians, idealized by the Sandinistas more as symbols than real human beings, were a part of that plan. But for those Indians, whose cultures and histories contrasted sharply with those of the mestizo Sandinistas, such a collaboration seemed not only incongruent, but also antithetical to the lessons they had learned from the past.

General Augusto C. Sandino

The Sandinistas and the Atlantic Indians of Nicaragua were ultimately locked in a struggle over the power to utilize the cultural capital of Indian/Indigenous identity. In the next example, the cultural capital of the late General Augusto Sandino was alternatively vilified and glorified by the Somoza regime and the Sandinistas/FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional) respectively. In this case, the actual historical accuracy of Sandino's life takes a back seat to the interpretations and manipulations of both sides of a political and ideological war. The political uses of the cultural capital of "Sandino" did not, however, begin with the advent of the Somoza regime in the 1930s; they began with General Augusto Sandino himself.

Whisnant writes that the point of his chapter about the politics of culture as they relate to Sandino "is not to decide who has 'told the truth,' (politically or culturally) about Sandino. It is rather to show that Sandino's most ardent partisans and detractors have situated their analyses and judgments--as well as their politically opportune projections of a popular image of Sandino--on a cultural ground" (Whisnant 1995:347). He keenly compares the machinations and manipulations of the national character of Sandino to other well known "mythic constructs" such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy (Whisnant 1995:347).

Whisnant makes it clear that Sandino "understood the necessary relationship between the [political] mission he had chosen and the projection of a mythicized persona" (Whisnant 1995:349). Sandino consciously wrote about his past, as well as his political and social ideas, with such considerations in mind. His process of self-representation at times focused around an indigenismo ideal, in which frequent references to his humble campesino roots served to connect him to the mythic Indian past that the Sandinistas and the FSLN later attempted to co-opt as well.

One example is his choice of a publicity photograph that he sent to the editor of the magazine Ariel as a means to engender support for his cause. In the caption, he emphasized the fact that he was "'not a professional politician, but a humble artisan'" (Whisnant 1995:350). A similar trope was played five years later when Sandino claimed that he was "'not even a soldier, [but] nothing more than a campesino fighting for the autonomy of our people'" (Whisnant 1995:350). These political uses of a certain idealized cultural background were promulgated by Sandino, despite his own admission that his true roots were "indolatino" (Whisnant 1995:352). About Sandino's cultural politics, Whisnant writes that "However else such rhetoric and gestures are to be explained, the are the self-conscious productions of one who understood that the sources of his crusade depended substantially on his own self-presentation--to both friend and foe" (1995:350).

Sandino's foes, on the other hand, had different plans for his image and his cause. After Anastasio Somoza Garcia's National Guard troops assassinated Sandino in February of 1934, they quickly disbanded "his followers who were working to establish a cooperative agricultural settlement" (Whisnant 1995:356). The next task, taken upon by Somoza himself, was to discredit the figure of Sandino and attempt to erase his legend from the cultural and political memory of Nicaraguans, and all Latin Americans in general. Somoza went about this attack by writing a 566 page book which sought to metaphorically draw and quarter the idea of Sandino (as well as his comrades in arms) in light of "cherished elements of Latin American culture" (Whisnant 1995:356).

Somoza focused upon Sandino's "illegitimate birth," his relationships with women, and tried to paint his army not as patriotic and valorous fighters, but "bandits" and violent invaders of Nicaragua (Whisnant 1995:357). "The summary effect," writes Whisnant, "is to locate Sandino and his men--from a culturally elitist..perspective--within an immoral, uneducated, illiterate, rural, uncultured lower class" (Whisnant 1995:357). These self-serving measures were meant to damage the revolutionary appeal of Sandino's image to the popular classes in Nicaragua, and it's hardly surprising that a dictatorship like Somoza's would want to quell any ideas of class-based uprisings. Despite all of this, other cultural and political agents continued to reformulate Sandino's name, image, and ideology toward their own ends. One of the latest attempts to revive Sandino's image, and to counter the delegitimizing efforts of the Somoza regime, was undertaken by Carlos Fonseca and other adherents to FSLN/Sandinista ideology.

David Whisnant writes that a "certain memory" of Augusto Sandino was kept alive, from his death in 1934 until the 1960s, by a loose collection of "anti-Somoza poets, singers, journalists, and others Nicaragua" (1995:359). One of the principal figures in a more organized revival of the cultural capital of Sandino was Carlos Fonseca, one of the founders of the FSLN. Images and discourses of Augusto Sandino, and his ideology, were overlaid upon the Sandinista resistance movement--Fonseca was one of the main architects of this ideological collage. In 1981 he wrote:

We are...all the descendants of Sandino...[who] were little children or had not been born when they vilely assassinated him. Now we have grown and are men. Let us fight as he fought...so that his dream of a free country and a happy people may become a reality (Fonseca 1981 in Whisnant 1995:361).

In order to further the ties between his revolutionary movement and the culture-hero image of Sandino, Fonseca "founded the journal Nueva Nicaragua, a small publishing house, and the New Nicaragua youth movement" (Whisnant 1995:361). Fonseca published a pamphlet in which Sandino's writings and ideas were distilled into the pamphlet Ideario politico del General Augusto Cesar Sandino, which was then used as a training "young Sandinista guerrillas" (Whisnant 1995:361). The key concern that David Whisnant illustrates, however, is the fact that the General Augusto Sandino of the FSLN resistance movement was something other than the historic Sandino--it was very the Sandino of Carlos Fonseca, and the result of culturally revealing processes of representation and co-optation.

Portraits of Sandino and Fonseca in an FSLN office in Leon, 2006 (by Arya Kazemi)

Fonseca's Sandino was molded to fit within the ideological and political parameters of the moment in which the FSLN waged its battles, as well as certain ideals that appealed to more longstanding revolutionary and popular ideas within the larger culture of Nicaragua. Fonseca's Sandino was, like the very self-representations of Sandino himself, as well as the anti-Sandino efforts of Anastasio Somoza, a clear manipulation of cultural capital toward certain political and social ends. To reiterate Whisnant's point, the idea here is not to judge these cultural constructions, but to use them as a way of understanding not only the politics of culture in Nicaragua, but also the politics of the very idea of culture itself.

*This includes end notes, fortunately for any anthropology student who has deadlines and other classes.

**The image used for this week's heading was taken by photographer Arya Kazemi; here is the image in its entirety:

I found it on this post, from the "Polo's Bastards" website. The post was created in April of 2006, and provides a short photographic journey into Leon, Nicaragua.

References

Kazemi, Arya

2006 Photograph of FSLN Office in Leon. Online here.

Whisnant, David

1995 Rascally Signs in Sacred Places. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

In the late 1980s, Cuba began to pull back militarily. Cuba unilaterally removed its forces from Ethiopia, met the timetable of the 1988 Angola-Namibia accords by completing the withdrawal of its forces from Angola before July 1991, and ended military assistance to Nicaragua following the Sandinistas' 1990 electoral defeat. In January 1992, following the peace agreement in El Salvador, Castro stated that Cuban support for insurgents was a thing of the past. p>The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores [Foreign Ministry - MINREX] replaced the remains of Cuba’s activist foreign policy with a deliberate effort to avoid challenging the United States on issues the US considers vital to its interests. In defence policy, cuts in strength and capabilities led the armed forces to restrict their role to deterring potential invasion, and providing internal controls in areas such as illegal emigration, drug trafficking, and aircraft surveillance. The armed forces also became heavily involved in the tourist trade and agricultural activities in order to obtain dollars and reduce their dependence on austere government budgets.

Cuban military power has been sharply reduced by the loss of Soviet subsidies. Today, the Revolutionary Armed Forces number about 60,000 regular troops. The country's two paramilitary organizations, the Territorial Militia Troops and the Youth Labor Army, have a reduced training capability. Cuba also adopted a "war of the people" strategy that highlights the defensive nature of its capabilities.

Cuba's once-ambitious foreign policy has been scaled back and redirected as a result of economic hardship and the end of the Cold War. Cuba aims to find new sources of trade, aid, and foreign investment, and to promote opposition to U.S. policy, especially the trade embargo and the 1996 Libertad Act. Cuba has relations with over 160 countries and has civilian assistance workers--principally medical--in more than 20 nations.

Since the end of Soviet backing, Cuba appears to have largely abandoned monetary support for guerrilla movements that typified its involvement in regional politics in Latin America and Africa, though it maintains relations with several guerrilla and terrorist groups and provides refuge for some of their members in Cuba . Cuba's support for Latin guerrilla movements, its Marxist-Leninist government, and its alignment with the U.S.S.R., led to its isolation in the hemisphere. In January 1962, the Organization of American States (OAS) suspended Cuba’s membership. Cuba now has diplomatic or commercial relations with most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 1989, the government instituted a purge of the armed forces and the Ministry of Interior, convicting Army Major General Arnaldo Ochoa, Ministry of Interior Colonel Antonio de la Guardia, and Ministry of Interior Brigadier General Patricio de la Guardia on charges of corruption and drug trafficking. The high-profile action against these popular officers inspired rumors that the three had been moved aside because Cuban leader Castro feared their popularity. Ochoa and Antonio de la Guardia were executed. Following the executions, the Army was hugely downsized and the Ministry of Interior was moved under the informal control of Revolutionary Armed Forces chief General Raul Castro, and large numbers of army officers were moved into the Ministry of Interior.

"Estamos seguros que habrá una cooperación muy importante de parte de Irán, que es una potencia económica", dijo Ortega, quien visitó recientemente al Presidente iraní, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, un adversario de Washington, para corresponder un encuentro que sostuvieron en enero en Managua.

Nota de Francisco: Sentarse en miles de millones de petrodólares, no significa ser "potencia económica".

En un discurso en la Plaza de la Revolución, Ortega dijo que se entrevistó con funcionarios iraníes del área energética para pedirles ayuda y dijo que además busca una solución con Brasil y su aliado, el Presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez.

Ortega, quien retornó en enero al gobierno tras 16 años de oposición, dijo que está trabajando una solución a la crisis de electricidad "con países como Brasil, con los hermanos venezolanos y cubanos, nuestros hermanos iraníes, que tienen una gran experiencia en construcción de plantas".

Irán enviará una misión técnica para conocer los requerimientos y características de unas generadoras de emergencia que enviará a Nicaragua, mientras se desarrollan proyectos hidroeléctricos y geotérmicos a largo plazo.