Pegs 2 Portland Obaarvar, February 8.198*
The other Nicararagua
by G loria Fiaber
It could be A lbina. The terioui-faced mini«ter, dressed in black, shakes
each hand as his nock leaves the small white church. Little girls, in ruffled
dresses, clutch their Sunday School papers in their hands as they make their
way home over cobblestone suects.
Young men in the park— running shorts, knee-high socks, hats riding jaun­
tily on A fro s , giant stereos close to the e a r— rock to the latest M ich ael
Jackson sounds. The basketball court resounds with shouts as tne tall fo r­
w ard lays in his best s tu ff shot. The o ld er, more serious minds discuss
politics— their curlers carefully hidden under stocking caps, their eyes hidden
behind shades
Here the similarity ends. Scrawled on the wall-in English and in Spanish
¡«•'Th e children want P ea ce ". A soldier, age 15. stands nearby, rifle in
hand
. . .
This is not Albina. It it Bluefields, a city o f 20.000 on Nicaragua s A tlan ­
tic coast. Bluefields is a fis h in g /fa rm in g co m m un ity; its residents are
English speaking Blacks with a m inority o f M oskito Indians and Spanish
speaking Nicaraguans.
The main atraat of B lu a fla ld a -w ith Ita outdoor m arkat»-c o u ld
The Revolution com as to Bluefield«
ba In any U S city.
The Revolution has come to Bluefields and the people have responded.
Over 600 young men and women voluntarily serve in the nation’ s military;
others are members o f the m ilitia, guarding the city and the nearby fields
from attack. The women and older men join "vigilance"brigades— walking
the streets at night to guard against "c o n tra " activity.
The village seems peaceful enough, steaming in the tropical heat. But this
belies the fact that it is considered to be a prime target for a U .S. backed in­
vasion. The missionfas planned for the Bay o f Pigs attack on C ubajw ould
be to gain some te rrito ry , set up a provisional governm ent, and let that
g overnm ent ask fo r massive U .S . aid to o v e rth ro w the le g itim a te
A common »homo In Nicaragua la »ha daalra for paaca.
raldara kili paaaant familia» and burn hornaa and eropa.
Contra'
Nicaraguan government.
I f that invasion does come, the minister in his black suit, the little girls in
th eir ru ffle d dresses, the basketball players in the park and the young
soldier w ill be its victims.
People pfenning for e brighter future
Isolated from the Spanish-speaking Pacific Coast by miles o f mountains
and jungles, Bluefields is reachable only by bus and boat-a 10-hour trip-and
yBluefields missed much o f the terror o f the Samoza regime but the people
suffered from years o f neglect and mistreatment by government o f f ic ia ls
who owned most o f the business and took the profits while giving nothing in
W illie H am m o n d, manager o f the Bluefields H o te l, explained,
The
Somoza officials treated people in an insulting way and they took but never
did an yth in g fo r the people. T h e new g overnm ent is try in g to m ake
Bluefields a part o f Nicaragua— they consider the peoples' wants and needs.
Life is much better n o w ."
Do the people support the Sandanista government?
Jaaua la Black: Mangar acana In tha City Park.
W hen people
receive the gift o f reading, do they support those who gave it to
The 1980 lite ra cy cam p aig n tau g ht m any residents o f B lu efields
previously illiterate— to read and write. A dult education programs assure
their continued progress. Bluefields has free public schools, for its children,
where they are taught in English and in Spanish.
Prior to tne R cvuiuiioii, waiy iirta t who could pay «rest t-o government
schools or to schools operated by the M oravian and Catholic churches.
Thirty-five young people recently graduated from Bluefield's new nursing
school and other vocational courses are available. Young people can attend
the university in Managua, studying in English, or can even study in C uba
A mothar and har chlldran ara off to vlalt »hair neighbor»
or the Soviet Union.
, »
»
A new h ospital is under co n stru ctio n and m edical care is fre e fo r
everyone, with an emphasis on prevention. Before, the poor had no medical
care and the life expectancy was 50 years.
"P roduction and Dsfenss"
Bluefield's link with the rest o f Nicaragua and the outside world will be
improved with the opening o f the international airport under construction
Landings on B luefield's old a irp o rt, which slopes d ow n hill and has no
lights, are hazardous and infreq uent. The new port facilities w ill allow
direct trade with the Caribbean and Europe, avoiding the long trip through
the Panam a C a n a l to C o rin to , N ica ra g u a's only seaport. T h e firs t 15
kilom eters o f new highway lin kin g Bluefields and M anagua have been
b u ilt;th e distant fu tu re holds a ra ilro a d and perhaps a canal through
southern Nicaragua.
Bluefields is dotted with new houses and some streets, now a sea or mud.
are geing paved with Nicaragua's tradition al paving stones. " T h e people
asked th at the streets be re p a ire d , so the g overnm ent is w o rk in g on.
it." Hammond explained. A new water system-Bluefields ta n o * dependent
on rain water and w e lb -is in the planning stage. The d ty has telephones for
the first time and a tower on a nearby hill brings television from Managua.
Newspapers arrive every day by boat and a local quarterly is published in
English. A new library serves the new reading public but books in English
Horna from Sunday School at tha neighborhood Moravian Church.
A naw bicycle for Chrlatmaa.
are still in short supply.
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