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Central Minnesotans Learn Many Lessons in Nicaragua Nicaragua’s past 50 years have been a time of great change and upheaval. The Sandinista Revolution in 1979 ousted the Somoza family from their 40-year crushing dictatorship. With great spirit and vision for a brighter future, the Sandinistas activated social reforms in many areas including health care, literacy training and access to university-level studies.
Unfortunately, the progress in these areas was short-lived. The Reagan Administration, fearing the socialist countries that stepped forth to offer help to Nicaragua, trained the “Contra”, or counter-revolutionaries, who were largely ex-militia from the Somoza regime, to wreak havoc throughout Nicaragua. Harbors were mined with U.S. involvement in direct violation of International Law. Bridges and roads were destroyed, ships sunk, buildings burned and many people were murdered. Benjamin Linder, a U.S. engineer killed by the Contra while working on a water project in Nicaragua had said earlier, I guess our government [the U.S.] knows quite well how to drain an economy through military spending. That was exactly what happened because of the Contra war. After nearly 15 years of fighting and the loss of over 70,000 lives, Nicaragua was devastated. War-weary, the people voted the Sandinistas out of office in 1990. The current administration is plagued by corruption at every level, and many of the social and economic reforms that had been put in place by the Sandinistas are now non-existent. In spite of such setbacks, there is an incredible beauty of the Nicaraguan people. Their quiet determination and community spirit were characteristics exhibited daily. In San Pedro few houses have electricity. There is no running water. Many houses have dirt floors, and the roofs are either thatched or corrugated zinc. Some are covered with large plastic tarps. The people have experienced so much pain. Many live in stark poverty. Yet what they lack in material possessions they truly possess in spiritual strength. The Central Minnesotans who were and are privileged to live among them for a short time will remember the community consciousness and powerful spirit that characterizes their new-found friends in San Pedro del Norte, Nicaragua. For more information about connections with Nicaragua...
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