In 1972, the capital, Managua was devastated by an earthquake, and the city centre has never been rebuilt. The Somoza family, dictators since their installation by the United States in the 1930's, confiscated much of the international relief aid before being overthrown in 1979 by a widely popular revolution lead by the Sandinista Front for National Liberation, which opened Samoza's dungeons. . The country was not only further impoverished by the insurrection, but ground down economically throughout the 1980's by US led embargoes, denial of loans, and active although often illegal aid to the "contrarevolutionary" remnants of Somoza's defeated army.

Nonetheless, a rich cultural tradition pursists , combining both native amerindian traditions of Mayan origins, black caribbean customs (on the east coast especially), and Spanish-derived ones.

A strong extended family system predominates, with Sundays especially given over to visiting parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, nephews and grand-nieces, even among divorced couples. Largely because of the transient nature of harvesting for much the country's predominantly agricultural economy, many households have been female-headed, and family traditions maintained there, across formal political lines, and various civil disputes.

While there is some commercial fishing along the coasts, coffee, cotton, banana, and beef production are central--even in "middle class suburbs" of Managua!

To enhance production of edible foodstuffs (rather than the export crops which dominate the large plantations), international aid agencies have encouraged innovative techniques involving multiple crops (e.g., beans and squash), and crop rotation. Some Canadian sponsored outreach projects operate on women-run co-operatives, and also have involved parallel literacy and midwifery prorgrams.

Half the population is under age 16, half born out of formal wedlock, and half the households in Managua are female headed. Children assume adult responisibilities early, and child labour is common, with streetkids often resorting to stealing or begging. But some work out quite innovative relationships: for instance, one resourceful Managuan boy teamed up with a blind veteran to attract spare change, in exchange becoming the old man's "eyes". Luckier kids help run the large "marginal" or "informal" economy of small marketers, or service shops (such as a corner tire-repair place), not infrequently getting a bed in return for being a "night watchman".

Although there are small upper and middle classes, the vast majority of the population is crammed into tiny shacks, or fashion dwellings out of ruins. Even my "middle class" adoptive family's functional kitchen is quite unimpressive by "Good Housekeepng" standards! But all the essentials were there: running water, an old oil drum for water storage, a gas-powered hot-plate, a small refrigerator, a sink for dishes and laundry (as well as the baby's bath!), and a cutting/prep table. During water shortages, bathtime at the Salvadoran refugee day-care was a more perfunctory pail of water!

While the American-sponsored contras kept blowing up schools and mining roads throughout the 80's, Canadian and other non-governmental aid agencies tried to re-build. New shipments of machinery for carpentry and automotive repair projects kept busses running. An East German built library (with optional Toronto Blue Jays participation) helped kids daily with their homework--even if there weren't enough seats inside!

In spite of President Reagan's claim that the Sandinistas were indoctrinatingNicaraguans into accepting a communist dictatorship, many multinationals such as Coca Cola enjoyed working co-operatively in the country. Only a few North Americans understood that the Sandinistas retained power by occupying a middle ground between various marxists and conservative parties. They were as much nationalists and liberation-theology Christians as socialists.

While greatly reducing petty street crime, they did not eliminate it....Even with some progressive reforms, prisons were still basically prisons....

And neither dramatic land reforms, investments in housing, education and health, nor building a few heroic monuments could compensate for the grinding human toll of a decade of US-sponsored guerrilla warfare and international state terrorism.... While screaming about claimed acts of international terrorism against itself and its allies, succeeding U.S. administrations (with allied complicity) simply ignored the billions of dollars in damages it was found liable for before the International Court at the Hague, mocking international law.

In spite of vast popular support in general, demands for peace at any cost lead to the increasing ascendency of the old right, especially since the US orchestrated defeat of the FSLN in 1990; Daniel Ortega graciously and heroically ceded electoral defeat.

Dramatically increasing impoverishment has lead to vastly increased rates of street crime, prostitution, drug abuse--and hopelessness. Nicaragua has returned to a pre-revolutionary situation.....and the US has found itself with an endless "war on crime" fuelled by CIA importation of the drugs used to finance its own international terrorism...

Thanks to Richard Sennott for the photos of the Nicaraguan glue-sniffing streetkids and the disabled sextrade worker.