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Hello from Managua
Nicaragua,
The day I arrived in
Managua went from one
disaster to another all
day long. First, I had
bad information about
the availability of a
deluxe air conditioned
bus north from Granada
and had to take an old
rattle-trap school bus
up to Managua. Then,
looking for the major
international bus
terminals in the "other"
city center on a public
bus I got robbed! I knew
the guy was up to no
good and kept a close
watch on all my
valuables. Even with all
that heightened
awareness he managed to
get the folded money out
of my right front
pocket, about $110 in US
and Cordobas bills. To
be honest, I may have
made it easy for him by
exposing the wad when I
fumbled with the coins
in the same pocket to
pay the bus fare.
Next, all the deluxe bus
terminals in Managua had
only Spanish speaking
staff and getting
schedule information
proved to be almost
impossible. Fighting my
way in and out of the
offices meant running
the gauntlet of
obnoxious hotel and taxi
touts, some quite
persistent, even
threatening. As I
hoisted my backpack and
headed back toward a
barely acceptable hotel
I'd seen earlier, it
began to rain. I hopped
from the leaky shelter
of one tree to another
until it really started
to come down. Stranded
under a leaking tree
that became increasingly
porous I quickly got
soaked. Eventually, a
special forces soldier
poked his head out of a
white tent nearby and
motioned me to join him
under his shelter.
Inside were three of the
most heavily armed and
armored combatants I
have ever seen. Clad in
black they seemed to be
a riot squad or anti-terrorist
force waiting for
something to call them
into action. When the
rain finally paused I
dashed the five blocks
to my $40 hotel, both my
clothes and backpack
completely soaked. So
much for Monday. The
next day things
brightened up
considerably and my
third day was great. I
walked five hours from
the hotel down to a spot
near Lake Managua where archaeologists
have excavated a layer
of rock containing
footprints of twelve
individuals who walked
on wet volcanic ash six
thousand years ago. The
record of ancient
footprints at
Huellas de Acahualinca
is impressive, clearly
the highlight of my
visit to Managua
Nicaragua.
My present hotel is not
bad, not an excellent
value at $68, but not
bad. The breakfast is
mediocre at best, but I
am only about a five
minute walk to a modern
shopping mall with an
extensive food court.
Give me a Big Mac or
some KFC chicken and I
will tolerate most other
irritations without
exaggerated complaint.
While having lunch there
one day I noticed all
the fast food counters
serving chicken had
signs featuring pictures
of happy fouls. It
struck me as ironic that
pictures of smiling
chickens would be used
to encourage people to
eat them. I´ll bet the
chickens weren't
consulted in this matter.
Managua has no
conventional city
center any more; the
earthquake of 1972
destroyed most of the
central business
district and killed
thousands. Today,
commercial activity and
shopping are
clustered around a
series of small to large malls scattered
around what used to be
the city center. The new
capital complex has been
built on the previously
devastated area; only
the ruins of the
cathedral remain of the
original buildings.
Everyone seems to use
taxicabs if they can
afford them. The buses
are old dilapidated
decommissioned American
school buses. The same
old yellow buses are
used all over the
country for public
transport, so someone
must have made a killing
on old American school
bus trade-ins a many
decades ago. Some still
sport the fading names
of the original school
district painted on
their sides.
An important purpose of
ceiling fans down here
seems to be mosquito
control. One local told
me the moving air makes
it difficult for the
little flitters to
navigate with the
precision needed to
target tasty human hot
spots. I can't confirm
that, but it sounds
reasonable.
One sees seriously armed
private security agents
everywhere there is
anything of portable
value. Some of these
guys carry military type
automatic weapons. Local
attitudes toward the
reality of danger from
common criminals or
gangs of criminals vary
considerably. The US
State Department leaves
no doubt they consider
the dangers real and
caution every American
traveler to take
extraordinary
precautions. Except for
my encounter with the
pick pocket on the
crowded bus, I have seen
nothing that would alert
me to anything more
dangers than one might
face in some parts of
Los Angeles.
Printed time schedules
and fares at bus
stations, even the
deluxe services are
closely guarded secrets.
Rarely do staff in these
terminals speak English
and potential passengers
who fail the language
test are pretty much
ignored. Ask for
information from one
staff member on Monday
in mangled Spanish
and get a different
answer than provided a
day before by a
different employee the
next day.
The previous president,
Arnoldo Aleman who "served"
from 1997 to 2002 was
convicted of diverting a
hundred million dollars
to a bank in Panama,
received a twenty year
sentence, which the
government later
commuted to confinement
under house arrest last
year. His party has
forgiven him and is
working for a pardon so
he can run again in the
2006 presidential
elections. The old Sandinista
Marxist Ortega is being
challenged by another
Sandinista turned
capitalist, Herty
Lewites .
No one with who I spoke
had anything bad to say
about the
American involvement in
the revolution back
in the 1980's. The
current generation
hardly seems to remember
there was a war at all.
It reminds me of the
conversations I had with
people in Vietnam during
my travels there a
couple years ago.
Painful memories fade
fast for the majority.
Short stay in Managua;
short postcard. For a
well done collection of
professional photos take
a look
here.
Peace,
Fred L Bellomy
PS: I see Britain is
debating the
advisability of
restricting the freedom
of fire-brand Islamic
clerics to preach
violent Jihad. Western
governments would do
well to reconsider the
strategy adopted by the
People's Republic of
China, examples of which
I observed during
my visits to
predominantly Muslim
cities in western China.
Instead of knee jerk
reactions to anything
associated with "godless
Communist" regimes, the
successes of China's
clergy licensing policy
might well serve as an
example for the West as
it struggles to
understand and control
the religious extremist
elements in other parts
of the world. We widely
use government licenses
to confirm an individual
has the training,
experience and ethical
attitudes to serve
clients in the public
interest. Physicians,
attorneys, engineers,
psychological councilors,
even fortune-tellers are
subject to government
regulation and/or
professional association
board certification.
Religion alone has
avoided public oversight. Clergy,
guilty of sexual
exploitation of the
vulnerable, historically
have been subject to
different controls than
other members of society.
American laws prohibit
inciting to riot, but
any crazy zealot can
preach hate under the
guise of religious
freedom. Freedom of
speech does not give you
the right to yell "fire!"
in a crowded theater as
Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes astutely observed...
even if your religion
demands it! FB
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 Reference photo:
authorAugust 2002 |
