Rebecca Gordon begins by explaining why Nicaragua has a special place and is particularly important for many Americans at a time when there is so much worse violence and killing in the world; it is what the Sandinista movement and its victory in 1979 presented to the world. She describes what they had done for the people of Nicaragua in terms of health, education, and dignity, but is quick to point that neither Pres. Danny Ortega or todayâs Sandinista movement bears any political resemblance to the Sandinistas of the 80s who captured the worldâs imagination and ire of the United States which has a long and ugly history of intervening in Nicaragua. She points out how Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo had become part of reactionary Catholic sect which led to the imposition of overly strict laws against abortion but suggests that might have had something to do with an absence of a drug problem which makes Nicaragua almost unique in the region, but suspects it might also have something to do with Ortega allowing the drug cartels boats to pass by its west coast without any problems. She described the background of the current street battles and repression in Managua and praised the protesters as another generation of Nicaraguans fighting injustice and for their liberty and chides those former supporters of the Sandinista movement who are backing the Ortega government, claiming the US government is behind the rebellion, for not allowing the Nicaraguans to have their own agency, to act without being guided or manipulated by outside forces. She does acknowledge that has split former supporters of the Sandinistas in the Mission District of San Francisco where she has lived for years as well as people in Nicaragua. Gordon spent six months in Nicaragua in 1984, has written a book about the country and has insights that are fresh and remind one how the passing of the years does not have to slow down oneâs engagement with the world.
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