We spent the first few days in Managua, learning more about the political and historical background of this country. Probably my favorite part of Managua were all the graffiti for Daniel Ortega and the FSLN. Daniel Ortega is the current president of the country, and is part of the Sandinista (FSLN) party. The FSLN overthrew the Somoza dynasty in 1979, fought against a US backed army during the 1980s, and after fifteen years of right wing presidents, Daniel Ortega became president again. He does not enjoy support from the US, but rather enjoys support from Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Recently Ortega has changed the Constituional law that presidents can only serve two nonconsecutive terms and plans to run again in 2011.
Anyway... I read an article that talked about how Ortega sent the Sandinista Youth out into Managua to graffiti pro-Ortega/FSLN messages. They are EVERYWHERE. This was my favorite.
We also got to visit this village of people who have serious health defects because of a chemical called Nemagon. It is very controversial, because in the 1980s ish, US fruit companies like Dole and Chichita, had workers in Nicaragua and other countries use this pesticide on bananas and other crops. The chemical, which was known to cause serious health problems, was banned in the United States, but not abroad. So even though these fruit companies knew that the chemical was hazardous, they still had these foreign workers use them. The workers were oblivious and unaware of the effects, until years later when they started noticing many health problems. They put it together and realized that they were tricked by US companies. As many of 7000 Nicaraguans have been affected, and over 2500 people have died. Many of the survivors are sterile or have serious diseases, like skin cancer. It is so devastating.
For the last 17 years this group of workers has been trying to lobby to the fruit companies to give them some type of health support or housing. They have heard nothing back from these companies. They were also working with a US lawyer, who ended up taking their money but not helping them at all. They have all moved from the north of Nicaragua to Managua, and have a camp set up across the street from the corporate buildings to protest.
Much more happened in Managua... it was a pretty intense introduction to Nicaraguan reality and issues. More later on my home stay and Granada.
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