Nicaragua: Yesterday and Today
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Authors
Buckingham, Michelle
Issue Date
1988
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The things I saw in my six week stay in Nicaragua this summer did
not correspond with many of the articles, books and news reports I read
and saw before I left. I believed wholeheartedly that I would be going to a
communist-infested country where the people of the country would
denounce me as being an imperialist American. I was actually to1d or
perhaps warned by many friends and acquaintances that Americans were
hated "down there" and I was asked by numerous friends the reason why I
was going. I could not tell them for I did not know myself. After much
deliberation, I finally came to the conclusion that it was just simple
curiosity on my part. I wanted to hear from the mouths of the people what
their life was like because I did not want to rely on the sources I had
previously relied on for information.
By observing, talking with and listening to the people, just ordinary
human beings, I found the truth. I found that the information I had read and
depended on were far from that which I had believed to be true. Nicaragua
is not made up of faceless, subversive hordes about to invade our southern
borders. The country is simply made up of a society that has been torn
apart by a destructive dictatorship, a bloody revolution and an ongoing war
which day by day increases the fear but not the hopes and the dreams of a
distinctive people. Dedication to their belief of a liberated society in
which everyone has a voice, including the poorest of the poor, is beyond
admiration.
As in every society, there is contradiction within the voice of the
people and this was plainly observed in the daily lives as we11 as the
thoughts of some of the people with whom I spoke. However, this must be
understandable considering the past history of the Nicaraguan people and
their fight for freedom. It can be traced throughout history how the
impoverished persons of Nicaragua have been exploited and oppressed by
foreign intervention including Spain, Britain, and the United States, and by
tyrannical dictators who were supported economically and politically by
the U.S. In 1979, the people triumphed against their oppressor in the form
of a social revolution that was led by the political party Sandinista Front
of National Liberation (FSLN). The FSLN had the total support of the
impoverished majority and when they overtook the government, the FSLN
promised reforms that would improve the lives of the poor. It must be
understood that at the time the FSLN became the ruling government in
Nicaragua, the leaders had no previous experience in governmental duties.
They were not politicians nor economists but fighters of the cause for a
better life for their nation.
Description
vii, 61 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.