so in 1990 to the amazement of pretty much everybody the sandinistas lost power to a new neoliberal government. the only thing these 14 political parties had in common was that they wanted the sandinistas out of power and they believed violeta chomorro was the best candidate to do so. what violeta stood for in most people´s eyes was peace, with 55% of the vote she defeated the fsln (45%). this new government lessened state holdings and state power that the sandinistas had won with arms and increased the private sector with the privitization of things like health, water, electricity... even with the back¡ng of the imf and wb the economy still was looking grim with 33,000% inflation if you can imagine. Aleman was the next president who is infamous for his corruption and paricularly of pocketing much of the aide that came after hurrican mitch. his party, the PLC, were liberals and were anti violeta and anti sandinista by definition. this era revovled around making accomodations in order to segure the forgiveness of foreign debt from HIPC and in order to do so the government decreased social services and invested in things like tourism and casinos. the coffee crisis of 01 had deep impact on the poorest campesinos as they lived under bridges literally starving to death without a strong reponse from the government. the food for work program did little to alleviate the problem. aleman and ortega made a political pact in 1999 to eliminate party pleuralism and in doing so tried to secure both their places in government, in power and in corruption. in 98 allegations that ortega had abused a family member came out in the media and evoked a reformation and new image for ortega spear headed by his wife, now his billboards are in soft, happy colors like pink, yellow and blue instead of the black and red that people associated with war and death. from 01-06 Bolanos, the vp of aleman whose claimt to fame was his strong stance against corruption succeded in having aleman put on trial and did absolutely nothing else. his 'war on corruption' however meant sacrificing his political party, the plc, for only a 20 year sentence for aleman which has ranged from house arrest to country arrest. with no party he had zero executive power and simply vetoed every legistlative agenda and vice versa. while aleman had stolen millions of dollars he had put up signs in the campo claiming to be investing in that sector of society, the man literally showed up and only put up a sign but the people felt like they were being helped, not being forgotten. bolanos however dropped all pretext and invested soley in the urban sector, with the belief that cheap labor is all nicaragua has to compete in the ever increasing globalized market. here are just some of the results: as of 06 nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere with 85% of the population living on less that $2 a day, 45% on less than $1. 44% have no access to water although luis has been quoted saying the rich have supernatural powers because where previously there has been no water, someway they can make it appear. today the right and left are more polarized than ever and due to the pact one needs only 35% of the vote to win with a 5 spread margin. it´s funny to see western unions in communities that lack electricity...nicaraguans leave to el salvador and costa rica and the us in search of better opportunity. 700 salvadorans leave for the states per day. nicaragua is different from other central american countries according to aynn because people are aware of their rights as a direct result of the revolution of the legacy of sandino and fronseca. they know how to creatively organize. for her, the us is a numbing society, like walking around with anesthesia becasue of the complacency of individuals in the states. what gives her hope is seeing measurable change in a small country like nicaragua when the us is just so big. she recounted a nicaraguan saying in english for us, 'there´s never been so much country in such a little heart'. i´m not sure that i can judge for myself if this is true or not, nor if it will be possible after just two months here. i can say that the theologians we have met are full of truth and some to me have been prophetic. but other people will tell you the revolution is dead, that people here are just going about living their daily lives and struggling to survive. it´s easy to romantize revolution, la lucha, the collective dreams of a people. was it ever as good as people remember? the point that sticks out to me is that they succeeded, yeah we crushed them with low intensity warfare and now i get to see kids´ ribs sticking out on the street and hear about the ally in mercado oriental were ten year olds sell their bodies for 5 cordobas (a quarter) because they have no food. but if we are to learn from history, the ideals that the sandinistas had were revolutionary, in the beginnning they wanted to help the poor of their country realize the dream for a dignified life. i can´t say i believe that is what my government´s dream is, either domestically or certainly not abroad. i have hope that change is possible, that social movements can revolutionize a country. so do i think obama will win the election? do i think that even if he does he can really change the course the us is on? i don´t have an answer, but i have hope that we´ll wake up from our complacency, our numbness before we start some more wars. there are still some beautiful things that i get to see here, it´s not all misery and politics. we went to laguna de apoyo this past weekend which is a volcanic lake that is incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful. we met and talked with a social activist from israel over our dinner of spagetti, potatoes, and tona and some more of the world´s realities intruded on our paradise. but like i said there is still beauty, some of the best poetry ever written comes from this country. i don´t know where else i´d fit this in so it might as well be now. this poem speaks for itself:
Cancion de Otono en Primavera
Juventud, divino tesoro,
!ya te vas para no volver!
cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer.

plural ha sido la celeste
historia de mi corazon.
Era una dulce nina, en este
mundo de duelo afliccion.

miraba como el alba pura;
sonreia como una flor.
Era su cabellera obscura
hecha de noche y de dolor.

Yo era timido como un nino.
Ella, naturalmente, fue,
para mi amor hecho de armino,
Herodias y Salome...

Juventud, divinio tesoro,
!ya te vas para no volver!
cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer...

Y mas conoladora y mas
halagandora y expresiva
la otra fue mas sensitiva
cual no pense encontrar jamas.

pues a su continua ternura
una pasion violenta unia.
En un peplo de gasa pura
una bacante se envolvia...

en sus brazos tomo mi ensueno
y lo arrullo como a un bebe...
y le mato, triste y pequeno,
falto de luz, falto de fe...

Juventud, divino tesoro,
!te fuiste para no volver!
cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer

Otra juzgo que era mi boca
el estuche de su pasion;
y que me roeria, loca,
con sus dientes el corazon.

Poniendo en su amor de exceso
la mira de su voluntad,
mientras eran abrazo y beso
sintesis de la eternidad;

y de nuestra carne ligera
imaginar siempre un Eden,
sin pensar que la Primavera
y la carne acaban tambien...

Juventud, divino tesoro
!ya te vas para no volver!
cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer...

!y las demas! En tantos climas,
en tantas tierras siempre son,
si no pretextos de mis rimas
fantasmas de mi corazon.

En vano busque a la princesa
que estaba triste de esperar.
La vida es dura. Amarga y pesa.
!ya no hay princesa que cantar!

Mas a pesar del tiempo terco,
mi sed de amor no tiene fin;
con el cabello gris, me acerco
a los rosales del jardin...

Juventud, divino tesoro,
!ya te vas para no volver!
cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer...

!mas es mia el Alba de oro!

so that´s it, i wish i were a poet. i´ll translate the part i like best: when i want to cry, i don´t cry and at times i cry without wanting to. it´s much better in spanish. me voy.