» Daniel Ortega & William Walker
  November 5th, 2006

The time has been flying, and so will I on November 30th, when I board a plane bound for Nicaragua! Just 25 more days! I have had all of the necessities for my trip now for a couple weeks. I will be fully incorporating the powers of the Digital Age on this trip. Along with my trusted Canon PowerShot G5, I'm packing a top-of-the-line GPS unit, and possibly a point-and-shoot video camcorder. If you don't already have Google Earth, I suggest that you download it. My blog entries from within Nicaragua will include my latitude and longitude coordinates, allowing you to see exactly where I am on my trip! I'll post more on this in a blog next week.

Tomorrow is a big day for the Central American country when they vote for their new presidente. Leading the pack for quite a while has been Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega. Things have changed quite a bit since his government was America's most wanted in the 1980s, when we funded the Contras with Iranian weapons to topple the left-wing regime. (About 30,000 Nicaraguans were killed in the Civil war.) Last week, former U.S.-backed Contra rebel leaders are now supporting their old enemy's election bid. U.S. officials have said that if Ortega regained power, it could effect US aid and investment, but it is a slippery slope for any U.S. official to say anything about the election without being seen as meddling. I doubt that the election will effect my trip.

Nicaragua doesn't want the US to meddle in their affairs. Many Nicaraguans know the infamous story of William Walker, an American who took control of the old capital city of Grenada in 1856, declared himself president, instituted slavery, and made English the national language. It took a year for the Nicaraguans to unite against Walker, forcing him to flee for his life. On his way out, he burned the beautiful city to the ground, erasing 300 years of architectural history. So you can see how many get a bit nervous when the US involves itself in Nicaragua's affairs. (The US State Department has denied any meddling in the election.)

For more on the election, I suggest you listen to NPR's The World election report. Today's program had a story about the effect American expatriates are having on the economy when settling in the colonial-era city of Grenada. It also gives a short history of the William Walker debacle.

As always, thanks for reading.
~K