The House that Reagan Built

Those of you who know me know that I am rather critical of our government. My experiences here have done nothing to relieve my criticality.

Over half of the population of Nicaragua is under the age of 25. Why?—you may ask. Not three decades ago a terrible civil war broke out in Nicaragua. Why?—again you may ask.

The Sandinistas assumed power in 1979 after years of an oppressive dictatorship and fighting to oust the dictatorship. The Sandinistas inherited widespread poverty and a country in shambles. Over 50,000 people had been killed in the revolutionary struggle and 150,000 people were left homeless. The Sandinistas had revolutionary ideals, including equal rights between men and women and a complete economic revolution.

Despite the shortcomings of the previous years the Sandinista government reduced illiteracy from 50% to just 13%, eliminated polio through a enormous immunization campaign, and reduced child mortality rates by a third.

Jimmy Carter immediately shipped $75 million USD to Nicaragua, but the government became “concerned” with the increasing number of Soviet and Cuban advisors.
Ronald Reagan took office in 1980 and cut aid to Nicaragua. The “communist threat” was too significant. He then diverted US funds to a counter revolutionary group—the Contras—in Honduras and later Costa Rica. Plans were revealed 1984 about US plans to mine Nicaraguan harbors (alternative motivations anyone?), leading to an International Court of Justice Case (which the US lost, then boycotted the ruling). Reagan initiated a trade embargo in 1985, further throwing Nicaragua into poverty. Civil War broke out in Nicaragua, claiming the lives of thousands of Nicaraguans. The US initiated the first ever bombing campaign in Central America.

In 1990 the US promised a lift of the embargo and financial aid if Nicaraguans voted against the Sandinistas. Despite Sandinista early success, the competitor, Violeta Barrios, took the election. Ortega, the then president, avoided further conflict by leaving office peacefully. For the next 20 years the United States supported an oppressive and dictatorial regime.

Everyone I talk to has lost someone as a result of the conflict in the 80’s and 90’s. One of the men who help with the project, Tearsten, was shot 16 times, and survived. A man that I built the fence with fought in the war and had killed people. Most of those people over 40 who I have talked to are killers. We have our government, specifically, Reagan to thank for that. He pitted countrymen against countrymen for political gain. Then he implemented neo-liberal policies across the developing world that would ensure that the rich would become richer, while the poor would continue to spiral deeper and deeper into poverty.

Then, last election I heard Republicans talking about returning to the “house that Reagan built.” What house? A house of imperialism, intolerance, and individualism? No thank you. The very suggestion of doing so makes me sick. The only way is forward. I hope that my countrymen can realize that we cannot cling to the conservative policies of old—they don’t work and they ensure inequality, the very thing which America claims to fight against, and are contradictory to democracy, what America claims to support.

America has proven to be one large contradiction.