Don’t Paint Ortega, FSLN in Bad Light

Dear Nica Times:

I’ve been reading about the riots in Nicaragua in support of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and President Daniel Ortega. While I don’t endorse what these people are doing in terms of style, I have to say that the 16 years of non-Sandinista, center-right governments have little to show in areas of health, nutrition and education.

On the other hand, the FSLN does, and the contras in the 80s did a lot to sabotage democracy. The FSLN and President Ortega were barely voted out of office in 1990, in part due to a U.S. embargo and an illegal war.

So you are reporting on Ortega and his supporters in a bad light. If Nicaragua goes back to hyper-privatization, pro-corporate policies, that means some child will get brain damage due to malnutrition, which Ortega has slashed by 30 percent.

So as in all of Latin American, if I thought I would have to go back to those policies from 1990-2006, perhaps I would throw rocks as well. Of course, throwing rocks is nowhere near as bad as raping and killing government paid midwives as the contras did in the ‘80s, or literally ripping the skin off people alive.

Let’s get with it. Ortega has been in three years and is succeeding in the most important areas. Screw the oligarchs.