Young FSLN supporters arrive in Managua, Nicaragua, 19 July
Photograph: Eva Carroll
Tuesday marked the 32nd anniversary of Nicaragua's FSLN Revolution. Does the Sandinista dream live on, and what is the state of the country's politics today? Eva Carroll reports from Managua
By Eva Carroll
Managua's Plaza de la Fe overflowed yesterday with hundreds of thousands of revelers celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) Revolution, which ousted the Somoza dictatorship on 19 July 1979 and brought democracy to Nicaragua for the first time. Armed with homemade black and red Sandinista flags, fireworks, and cans of Tona, the national beer, people from all over the country crowded the streets of Managua to take part in the national celebration.
Mario Delgado, a Managuan in his early 20s, was at the anniversary celebration with his friends. He said, "Although I wasn't around during the Revolution, the Nicaraguan people fought a difficult battle against the Somoza dictatorship."
"After 32 years of revolution we are living through a process in which, democratically, the FSLN continue to fight for the Nicaraguan people. Despite a lot of destructive opposition, the FSLN have achieved a great deal of success in health and education. They fight for the dignity of the people. These advances allow us, as youth, to identify completely with this government."
With presidential elections this November, now is a good time for Sandinista and incumbent president, Daniel Ortega, to remind Nicaraguans of their liberation from three generations of Somocista repression.
Ortega's election campaign is in full swing under banners of Love, Peace and Life, and Socialism, Christianity and Solidarity. FSLN billboards declare the aim of 'unity for the common good', while TV ads show infrastructure projects underway and happy Nica teenagers in hot pink t-shirts singing and pumping the air in support of 'Daniel'. The rhetoric is still more or less in line with the Revolution, but how does it fit with reality today?
Far from its socialist roots, the FSLN's top brass have made millions of dollars in the second poorest country in western hemisphere after Haiti. Ortega's candidacy for a third term is also in direct contravention of the Nicaraguan constitution on two counts. Not only does it ban more than two terms, which he has already served, but consecutive terms are not permitted either. The Supreme Court, which is filled with government loyalists, most of whose terms are long expired, decreed in October 2009 that Ortega could run again.
Critics point to Ortega's counterintuitive alliances with the rival liberal party (PLC) and the Catholic Church, and allegations of widespread corruption in the 2008 municipal elections as evidence of his increasingly undemocratic leadership. More recently, his banning of election observers ('invited accompaniers' a term borrowed from Hugo Chavez, may yet be permitted), and his sharing out of government level responsibilities to his unelected wife, Rosario Murillo, are seen as moves towards the unaccountable style of government that his revolution succeeded in overthrowing 32 years ago.
Local election observation organization, Ethics and Transparency, recently stated in Envio magazine that Ortega's candidacy, "increases the possibility that the electoral process will fail to obtain the legitimacy needed to contribute to peace and democracy in the country, as well as to ensure national and international acceptance of the authorities elected."
A local taxi driver put forth his view more bluntly. "Everyone knows that what the government is doing is illegal. People in the country, foreigners, they all know."
Managua's Plaza de la Fe overflowed yesterday with hundreds of thousands of revelers celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) Revolution, which ousted the Somoza dictatorship on 19 July 1979 and brought democracy to Nicaragua for the first time. Armed with homemade black and red Sandinista flags, fireworks, and cans of Tona, the national beer, people from all over the country crowded the streets of Managua to take part in the national celebration.
Mario Delgado, a Managuan in his early 20s, was at the anniversary celebration with his friends. He said, "Although I wasn't around during the Revolution, the Nicaraguan people fought a difficult battle against the Somoza dictatorship."
"After 32 years of revolution we are living through a process in which, democratically, the FSLN continue to fight for the Nicaraguan people. Despite a lot of destructive opposition, the FSLN have achieved a great deal of success in health and education. They fight for the dignity of the people. These advances allow us, as youth, to identify completely with this government."
With presidential elections this November, now is a good time for Sandinista and incumbent president, Daniel Ortega, to remind Nicaraguans of their liberation from three generations of Somocista repression.
Ortega's election campaign is in full swing under banners of Love, Peace and Life, and Socialism, Christianity and Solidarity. FSLN billboards declare the aim of 'unity for the common good', while TV ads show infrastructure projects underway and happy Nica teenagers in hot pink t-shirts singing and pumping the air in support of 'Daniel'. The rhetoric is still more or less in line with the Revolution, but how does it fit with reality today?
Far from its socialist roots, the FSLN's top brass have made millions of dollars in the second poorest country in western hemisphere after Haiti. Ortega's candidacy for a third term is also in direct contravention of the Nicaraguan constitution on two counts. Not only does it ban more than two terms, which he has already served, but consecutive terms are not permitted either. The Supreme Court, which is filled with government loyalists, most of whose terms are long expired, decreed in October 2009 that Ortega could run again.
Critics point to Ortega's counterintuitive alliances with the rival liberal party (PLC) and the Catholic Church, and allegations of widespread corruption in the 2008 municipal elections as evidence of his increasingly undemocratic leadership. More recently, his banning of election observers ('invited accompaniers' a term borrowed from Hugo Chavez, may yet be permitted), and his sharing out of government level responsibilities to his unelected wife, Rosario Murillo, are seen as moves towards the unaccountable style of government that his revolution succeeded in overthrowing 32 years ago.
Local election observation organization, Ethics and Transparency, recently stated in Envio magazine that Ortega's candidacy, "increases the possibility that the electoral process will fail to obtain the legitimacy needed to contribute to peace and democracy in the country, as well as to ensure national and international acceptance of the authorities elected."
A local taxi driver put forth his view more bluntly. "Everyone knows that what the government is doing is illegal. People in the country, foreigners, they all know."
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