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Many Nicaragua revolutionaries feel betrayed by the revolution Thirty =
years
after the Sandinistas came to power, many are still loyal to the cause =
but
feel disillusioned by the policies of President Daniel Ortega, the =
former
guerrilla commander.
By Tracy Wilkinson

July 19, 2009

Reporting from Managua, Nicaragua - He is as old as the Sandinista
revolution, 30 years. His father was such a true believer that he named =
him
after a communist hero. Twice.

"My father still believes," said Marx Lenin Martinez, an aspiring =
computer
technician. "I admired the original goals of the revolution, but today =
the
Sandinistas are just like all politicians."

On July 19, 1979, a young Nicaraguan guerrilla commander with an =
idealistic
swagger and a droopy black mustache helped overthrow a brutish dictator =
and
captivate the world's imagination. Three decades later, older and not
necessarily wiser, President Daniel Ortega has repulsed many followers =
and
baffled others.

Although Sandinista loyalists like Martinez's father, Mario, still =
abound,
far more common are the disillusioned, like Martinez himself -- those =
who
believe today's version of Sandinista rule is a mockery of the original
leftist revolution. "A farce," in the words of renowned Nicaraguan poet =
and
novelist Gioconda Belli.

Most of the top Sandinista comandantes who led the revolution, along =
with
other prominent militants, have long parted company with Ortega.=20
They accuse him of reversing many of the revolution's gains and of using =
the
presidency primarily to expand his own financial and political power =
base.

Critics charge that Ortega and his forces have systematically persecuted
opposition politicians, dissidents and independent journalists, while
striking deals with erstwhile enemies, including right-wing businessmen, =
in
the interest of political expediency.

Ortega has created a kind of "co-government" with his wife, Rosario =
Murillo,
who has never held an elected post. He benefits from millions of dollars
from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, most of which evades central
accounting procedures. Some is used to finance populist, vote-grabbing
social programs, but it is a mystery where it all ends up.=20
Mayoral elections last fall, in which Ortega's supporters won the lion's
share, were widely seen as fraudulent, and Ortega has begun to explore =
ways
he can change laws to succeed himself at the end of his term in 2011.

"The revolution is dead and buried," veteran Sandinista activist Sofia
Montenegro said. "So much effort, so many lives sacrificed to create a
process of democratization, a political constitution, elections . . . a
legacy that they are destroying."

The revolution will forever have its place in history. It made Nicaragua =
the
region's most tenacious Cold War foil for Washington during the Reagan
administration. And it led to fundamental changes in a country where, =
more
than in most of long-repressed Central America, citizens are not shy =
about
demanding their rights. Today, an army and police force that were once
purely partisan are considered models of professionalism.

But many of the revolution's brightest lights now worry that Ortega will
plunge the country deeper into poverty and push a divisive agenda that =
will
lead to more violence.

Dora Maria Tellez, a onetime guerrilla commander and member of the =
dissident
Sandinista Renewal Movement, assailed what she calls Orteguismo, a =
faction
used to sustain Ortega and his family in power. He spouts =
anti-imperialistic
rhetoric to give a leftist patina to his government, she and others say,
while making deals with the most conservative sectors of society and
building up his own business interests.

The Times' requests for interviews with Ortega and Murillo for this =
article
went unanswered. He has routinely dismissed his critics as disaffected
oligarchs or reactionaries.

In July 1979, Ortega and other Sandinista militants rode a popular
insurrection against dictator Anastasio Somoza into the seat of power.=20
Those were heady, passionate days, the first time in the Americas, since =
the
Cuban revolution 20 years earlier, that a nation rose up to overthrow =
its
entrenched rulers (and the last time).

The Sandinistas ruled over a revolutionary experiment for the next =
decade,
and fought U.S.-backed rebels for the last decade of the Cold War. =
Ortega
called elections in 1990, and then unexpectedly lost them.=20
He failed in successive attempts to return to the presidency until 2006,
when he won election with just 38% of the vote.

His climb back to power involved an unsavory deal with former President
Arnoldo Aleman, who was convicted of fraud and money laundering after =
his
term ended in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a nutshell,
Ortega purportedly promised to pardon Aleman if Aleman threw his support
behind the Sandinistas; the deal would shelve allegations from Ortega's
stepdaughter that he had molested her for years, a never-resolved case.

Even die-hard Sandinistas such as Marx Lenin's father, Mario, are
uncomfortable with the deal, known as El Pacto. In the end, though, he =
says
it was necessary.

"The alternative, of the right wing continuing [in office], would have =
been
worse," said Mario Martinez, 50, in the three-room home he has lived in =
for
25 years. The son of a market vendor, Martinez says his children got
educations and careers as engineers and teachers thanks to the =
revolution.

"Sandinismo taught me to be a fighter and a good citizen," he said as a =
hot
breeze fluttered the floral curtains that serve as doors and a green =
parrot
chattered from its cage.

Martinez's mother, Juana Aminta Mendez, 78, is also an unflinching
Sandinista. Mother and son were wearing Che Guevara T-shirts during a =
recent
visit; Marx Lenin was having none of it. His memories of the revolution =
have
more to do with the clothes he couldn't buy and the obligatory military
service that kept his father away when he was a boy.

Through the 1980s, Managua was a tired shell of a city. The
earthquake-ruined center had never been repaired. Shortages, thanks to =
U.S.
embargoes and Sandinista mismanagement, meant empty store shelves and =
long
lines for fuel to cook and run cars.

Today, Managua's center has shifted a couple of miles north, along a =
major
road now lined with restaurants, U.S.-style gas stations and a handful =
of
sprawling malls. Intersections where beggars languish are anchored,
remarkably, by casinos.

Nicaragua remains one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, though =
it
does not suffer the same sky-high crime rates of some of its neighbors.

Somewhere along the way, the Sandinista party under Ortega abandoned its
trademark and ubiquitous red-and-black colors for what can only be =
described
as a garish fuchsia. Hot-pink signs with Ortega's picture equate El
Presidente with El Pueblo -- the people and the president are one.

To grasp power, Ortega formed an unlikely alliance with the conservative
Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, notably with Cardinal Miguel Obando y
Bravo, who had been one of the Sandinistas' fiercest critics in the =
'80s.

To win Obando's support, Ortega came out in favor of tightening =
Nicaragua's
already tough abortion law: It is now illegal in Nicaragua even if the
woman's health is threatened. In the '80s, Ortega had been a champion of
women's rights and abortion rights.


"We have gone backward," said Ana Quiros, a public health advocate and
longtime Sandinista.

"They are taking away rights and liberties, and we have gone full =
circle,
back to dictatorship," Montenegro agreed. "We are fighting for the same
things we were fighting for 30 years ago."

wilkinson at latimes.com






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