¡Viva Nicaragua!

Chaos, what is the first thing you might think of when you hear or read that word? Think internationally. Maybe the Middle East or even Africa? For Latinos, many might think of the horrible situation in Nicaragua. I’ve decided to begin an analysis/opinion based page for Latin America because #1: I speak Spanish and lastly I have many wonderful friends from latino countries so I feel that its important for me as an International Studies major to dig deep into the roots of this great continent. 

Let's start from the beginning; the Nicaraguan Civil War or Revolución Nicaragüenes, it goes by several names. The Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s began to see some major opposition by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which the current president of Nicaragua was a participant in, who was a more leftist group. In the mid-1970s, the Somoza dictatorship was beginning to crumble as Somoza’s reign began to loosen through protests, sanctions, and lack of aid from the United States. Eventually, the Sandinistas took control after their successful revolution but the country was a complete mess. The war and the 1972 Nicaraguan Earthquake devastated Nicaragua and many countries sent millions of dollars in aid to help with the disaster. But the wars don’t end here.

In the 1980s when U.S. President Reagan was voted into office more tensions were brewing between the communist Sandinistas and the “Contras”, an anti-communist militia group seeking to overthrow the government. Then the country fell into another civil war, but much longer than the last. A woman from my hometown church went to Nicaragua for a mission trip and in some of the villages, there were no men left because the civil war had taken them all. That’s when the current president Daniel Ortega came into Nicaragua’s politics. 

Present day, Nicaragua is once again going down a very dark path with all of the protests against Ortega. Why are they protesting? On April 18, 2018, he declared that social security in Nicaragua would be no more and that would’ve affected thousands of Nicaraguans. Two days before, thousands of protests took to the streets because the government didn’t handle the forest fires in the Indio Maiz Biological Reserve very well. Now they demand he step down immediately, which Ortega has refused. In response to the protests the Sandinista Youth, a pro-Ortega group, began counter protests in support of the reforms. Eventually, Ortega scratched the reforms but protests increased because, even though the reforms are no more, Ortega is still in office and is the last revolutionary leader in all of Latin America. 

I worry for the people of Nicaragua. Over 200 people have been killed including babies and thousands arrested. The people want change, and they want the freedoms that any human being desires. I recently watched a clip on univision.com of Catholic clergy claiming they stand with the people and are quote,” praying for their safety”. I personally have some friends at the college I attend that are from Nicaragua and many have expressed their concerns for the Nicaraguan people. Many other Latinos at the college also expressed their support for their Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, as shown by the picture. Even the church I attend had to cancel a mission trip to Nicaragua because of how dangerous it is. So many people are affected by this dark time in Nicaragua; no one knows how its all going to go down, so keeping praying for Nicaragua and the end of all the chaos. To my fellow Nicaraguans: ¡Yo te apoyo! Many others also support you so don’t back down. You aren’t alone.