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A Symptom Called Managua

Nicaragua’s capital as microcosm for the country’s transformation since the 1970s: shattered by earthquake and the depredations of the Somoza dictatorship, briefly lifted by Sandinista urban reconstruction, remade in the 1990s by narco-traffickers and the returning Miami emigration.

Reflections on the Nicaraguan Election

“Following the defeat of the fsln in the Nicaraguan elections of February 1990, the state of that country’s politics remains unclear and unpredictable. Although there can be no doubt that Violeta Chamorro’s victory represents a major setback not only for the Sandinistas but also for the Latin . . .” read more

Introduction to Borge

“The interview was conducted at the Comandante’s residence, over breakfast, with the help of an old friend, Ileana Rodriguez, and a new friend, Daniel Alegría, whose stories—instructively different from the life trajectories of North American intellectuals—I hope to tell in another place. It was not a particularly propitious . . .” read more

Tomas Borge on the Nicaraguan Revolution

“The questions I want to ask basically concern the originality of the Nicaraguan revolution, which is very different from the Cuban revolution but in ways that are not altogether clear. We know that you don’t use the word socialism but the word Sandinism, but we don’t know . . .” read more

The Fall of Somoza

“The first decades of the 20th century saw the transformation of Nicaragua into one of the so-called banana republics of Central America; though it was not so much banana companies who took charge of the country’s political and economic destiny, as United States wood and mining interests. As . . .” read more

Sandinistas Seize the National Palace!

“The plan seemed too simple to be sane: take the National Palace in Managua in broad daylight with a force of only twenty-six, and hold the members of the House of Deputies hostage in exchange for the release of all political prisoners. The National Palace, a tasteless old . . .” read more