Tomorrow, July 19 is the 33 aniversary of the sandinista revolution here in Nicaragua, so i figured i would give a little political history lesson.
The Somoza Regime lasted 40 years finally ending in 1978 when the Sandinistas, led by a man named Sandino, rose up and over threw the government. Somoza was a very strict dictator, so much that if you spoke out against him, you were killed. When the sandinistas were gaining force, if you were even thought to support the Sandinistas, your were killed. Education was non existent outside of the few large cities such as Managua, Leon and Granada. Not even elementary school was offered in places out in the country. This is the reason why the older generation here (from my last post) cant read or write. Even those who live here in town.
The Sandinstas overthrew the government on July 19, 1978. The first president was Daniel Ortega, who again is the president. When the Sandinistas first came to power, they started a national literacy campaign. The first school classes were given over the radio as they did not have the funds to build schools fast enough. Many of my parents generation attended school over the radio. Another thing the sandinistas did when they came into power was to nationalize the land that Somoza and his family owned. Somoza had stolen or owned much of the land in the country, and the sandinistas took it back to give to farmers so the could make a living.
Now I dont want to sound like I am in support of the Sandinistas, I think they did a lot of good things for the country and continue to do so, but I still perfer the government in the good US of A.
Politics now... Elections are this year.. i think november 6th. There are 2 major parties vying for the presidency. The Sandinistas (FSLN) and the Liberals (PLC). FSLN stands for Frente Sandinsita de Liberacion Ncacional. PLC stands for Partido Liberal Constitucionalista. There are over 4 million people eligible to vote ( you need to be 16 years old) , but because of distance, time and money only about 3 million show up. i would like to tell you what each party stands for and what they want to do, but my information is limited. The Sandinistas have very extravagant commerials... atleast 2 commercials every commercial break are for the Sandinistas. Including a song to the tune of Stand by Me with the lyrics re written.. It lasts over 5 minutes. They want to have more comemrce, trade, make more jobs, have peace, community, solidarity, remain free, they show the beautiful landscape and traditions of nicaragua. They show videos of 33 years ago when the statue of Somoza fell and the first time people walked in the streets free. They are very big on helping the farmers... although i really havent seen much of that going on.
The Liberals... I have no idea what they stand for.... o, i saw 1 commercial where they said they wanted to make 1,000,000 jobs, but like all good politics, have no plan on how to do that. All the other cmmercials bash the Sandinistas, so i cant tell you what they want
If I were to align the sandinistas with one of our political groups, I would probably say democrats... They want Huge government and low taxes. other they those things, they are very different then our system. Well folks, I hope that wasnt too boring! If you have questions, please ask and I will try to find the answer while im down here.
