Central American Politics (At their best! Or worst...)

The past week or so here has been amazingly interesting from a political standpoint.

Last Sunday, I was in León with some friends when there was a golpe de estado or coup d'état in neighboring Honduras. The military there, (along with the support of the Congress and Supreme Court,) ousted the President, Manuel Zelaya and he was sent to Costa Rica. This all happened at about 1 or 2 in the morning and the next day, Zelaya held press conferences while he was still in his pajama shirt, which everyone made a big deal of.

Latin American leaders (along with most of the rest of the world,) denounced the coup, and last week, the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, called an emergency meeting with other Latin American leaders to discuss the situation. It was really interesting to see and hear the reactions here. A lot of people here do not support Daniel Ortega and view some other Latin American leaders as dictators or communists. They are dissatisfied with the economic and social situation in the country, where it's difficult for people to find work, (good) healthcare is expensive, (there is socialized medicine here but it's a pretty inefficient system,) and it's hard to pay for food. For a lot of people, they're fed up with hearing the same revolutionary rhetoric without any results. Especially here, where Ortega is back in power 30 years after the revolution, it's fascinating to see the ways that the Sandinistas, (his party, the famous revolutionary party in Nicaragua,) are different now from when they triumphed over the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and how Ortega is different from the rest of the party.
To add to the political drama of the week, this past Wednesday, the Mayor of Managua, Alexis Arguello, died. He was a former 3-time world champion boxer, and there were a lot of rumors about drug use and suicide and it's still not entirely clear how he died. The government declared three official days of mourning and there was a lot of press coverage.

On Saturday, there was a huge repliegue in Managua, which was a Sandinista rally. Ortega was there, and he addressed the weeks events, restating his support for Zelaya, and honoring Arguello. After the rally, the crowd marched out of Managua to Masaya (which is 27 kilometers away.) It was absolutely incredible to see all of the people, cars, and red and black Sandinista flags. Even if Ortega only has about 40% support (which is what most people put it at,) that 40% is dedicated.

Ortega:

On July 19th, it is the 30th Anniversary of the revolution, and people are already talking about what an event it will be. I can't wait to be here to see it and learn more about the way people interact with and react to the government. Politics here are definitely a form of entertainment, and that was certainly reflected this week. People love to see the scandals, and the charismatic leaders, and no matter what, they still have an intense sense of pride when it comes to their homeland.

Miles of propaganda:

Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures from the last few weeks soon!

Ortega and a very famous portrait of Augusto Sandino:

An interesting contrast between Sandinista then and now.