Nicaraguan Politics

In the past few weeks there's been some political stuff going on here in Nicaragua, mainly centering upon President Daniel Ortega's efforts to pursue re-election at the end of his current term in 2011.  This is prohibited by the Nicaraguan Constitution, but (*some* of the) Supreme Court justices (all Ortega supporters, aka Sandinistas) recently decided that that constitutional article does not apply to Ortega.  A lot of people are very worried about what this will mean for Nicaraguan "democracy" and fear that this is a move by the president to try to consolidate and preserve his own power, much like Hugo Chavez has done in Venezuela.  The US Ambassador here made a comment displaying disapproval for the Court's decision, and subsequently there were anti-American protests at the US Embassy, with Sandinistas graffiti-ing the walls of the Embassy and throwing rocks at the building.  One of my professors knows the Ambassador and told me this week that the Ambassador told him that that was the single worst day he's had, ever.


For anyone at home who's reading this and is worried about my personal safety here, I want to assure you that it was a pretty isolated incident, I live in a safe part of Managua, and actual popular support for the Sandinistas is quite low (Ortega only won the election in 2006 with 38% of the votes...it's a multi-party system, so an actual majority is not neccesary here).  I have not felt any of the backlash of what's been going on, and feel quite safe and secure here.  So don't worry!  Plus, some of my school friends here have told me that I'm "not the kind of American that foreigners hate."  So that's a good thing :)

Overall, it's really interesting being here, hearing peoples' opinions, concerns, etc. about politics, as well as currently taking two political science classes and one history of Nicaragua course.  One of my profs joked that she met a Nicaraguan in the States a while back, and she knew he was Nicaraguan because the first thing he started talking about was politics.  Having an outsider's perspective has pros and cons to understanding the political situation here.  In order to really understand it, you have to go in depth and learn the history of the country to recognize WHY things are the way the are.  As Americans, we get pretty lopsided views of foreign political situations, mainly based on what direction our government is taking with a given situation.  This can and does severely limit our understanding of the situation and our ability to objectively make good decisions about what we believe is right in those policy issues.  I would encourage all of you reading this to take the time to read up on a country's historical and political background when forming your opinions about foreign policy.  There are always at least two sides to an issue...don't form blind opinions or be closed-minded!!