GUATEMALA

1. GUATEMALA

2. MAYAN PEOPLE • HALF OF GUATEMALA'S POPULATION CONSISTS OF INDIGENOUS MAYAN PEOPLES WITH STRONG ETHNIC IDENTITIES • CONDITIONS IN MAYAN COMMUNITIES: • 9 OUT OF 10 FARM FAMILIES LIVE ON PLOTS TOO SMALL TO PROVIDE THEIR BASIC NEEDS • THE POOREST 50% CONSUME ONLY HALF OF THE DAILY CALORY REQUIREMENT • LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR LADINOS IS 64 YEARS • LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IS 44 YEARS

3. COFFEE & BANANAS IN GUATEMALA • IN GUATEMALA, SINCE THE SPANISH CONQUEST, LADINOS HAVE DOMINATED MAYANS THROUGH CONTROL OF THEIR LAND & LABOR • COFFEE EXPORT BEGAN IN THE MID 1800s • IT WAS FINANCED, PROCESSED, & MARKETED BY GERMANS WHO ACQUIRED SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF COFFEE-GROWING LAND • 1870-1920 MUCH LAND WAS SEIZED FROM MAYAN INDIANS FOR COFFEE PRODUCTION FOR EXPORT • LABOR WAS PROVIDED PRIMARILY BY MAYAN & MESTIZOS PEASANTS • IN WWII THE GOVERNMENT WAS FORCED BY THE U.S. TO CONFISCATE GERMAN COFFEE INTERESTS & ALLOW U.S. INVESTORS TO CONTROL THE COFFEE MARKET • U.S. INVESTORS FIRST CAME TO GUATEMALA FOR BANANAS, NOT COFFEE • UNITED FRUIT COMPANY FORMED IN 1899, & CHANGED THE HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA

4. UNITED FRUIT ESTABLISHED A MONOPOLY OF PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION OF BANANAS & ACQUIRED VAST TRACTS OF LAND IN THE TROPICAL LOWLANDS • IN 1904 DICTATOR MANUEL ESTRADA CABRERA (1898-1920) GAVE UNITED FRUIT THE RIGHT TO BUILD A RAILROAD • IN RETURN FOR THE RAILROAD, UNITED FRUIT WAS GIVEN 170,000 ACRES OF THE BEST LAND IN GUATEMALA • BY THE 1930s UNITED FRUIT WAS THE LARGEST LANDOWNER IN GUATEMALA • UNITED FRUIT OWNED INTERNATIONAL RAILWAYS, DOCKS, PORTS, & SHIPS • IT FORMED A POWERFUL ENCLAVE ECONOMY • C. AMERICA WAS DEPENDENT ON THE EXPORT OF COFFEE & BANANAS (70% OF ITS EXPORTS)

5. POLITICAL BACKGROUND • GENERAL JORGE UBICO (DICTATOR IN 1931) GAVE UNITED FRUIT A 99 YEAR PERMIT TO OPERATE ITS BANANA PLANTATION • UNITED FRUIT DID LITTLE FOR CENTRAL AMERICA'S ECONOMIES, BUT EXERTED STRONG CONTROL OVER C. AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS • CLASS CONFLICT IN C. AMERICA TOOK PLACE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, BETWEEN MAYAN PEASANTS AND LANDLORDS • IN 1945 JUAN JOSE ARÉVALO WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT, ENDING OVER 100 YEARS OF DICTATORSHIP • HE WAS A POPULIST: • LABOR RIGHTS LEGISLATION • HELP TO SMALL LANDOWNERS • ENCOURAGED WORKERS & PEASANTS TO ORGANIZE

6. IN 1950 JACOBO ARBENZ WAS ELECTED & PROMISED: • ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE • IMPROVED LIVING STANDARDS FOR THE POOR • LAND REFORM • THE CHIEF TARGET WAS UNITED FRUIT WHICH LEFT 85% OF ITS LANDS IDLE • HE DISTRIBUTED 1.5 ML. ACRES OF LAND TO 100,000 FAMILIES • THIS MEANT DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH UNITED FRUIT • THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT & UNITED FRUIT DEMANDED $16 MILLION IN COMPENSATION • WASHINGTON DEVELOPED AN ANTI-COMMUNIST DOCTRINE • IT ACCUSED GUATEMALA OF BEING "IN THE GRIP OF A RUSSIAN-CONTROLLED DICTATORSHIP"

7. UNITED FRUIT LOBBIED FOR A COUP • SEC. OF STATE JOHN DULLES WAS A SR. PARTNER IN UNITED FRUIT'S NY LAW FIRM • CIA DIRECTOR ALLEN DULLES - FORMER MEMBER OF THE LAW FIRM • ASST. SEC. OF STATE ON INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS - BROTHER OF THE FORMER UNITED FRUIT PRESIDENT • THEY ACCUSED ARBENZ OF BEING SOFT ON COMMUNISM & BRANDED HIS REGIME A THREAT TO U.S. SECURITY • EISENHOWER APPROVED A PLAN "OPERATION SUCCESS" WHICH WAS COVERTLY ORGANIZED & FINANCED BY THE CIA

8. IN 1954 THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED ARBENZ WAS OVERTHROWN BY COL. CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS WHO HAD BEEN TRAINED AT FORT LEAVENWORTH • ARMAS HAD TRAINED HIS ARMY ON A UNITED FRUIT PLANTATION WITH ARMS CLANDESTINELY FLOWN IN FROM FLORIDA • OVER 400 U.S. BUSINESSES OPERATE IN GUATEMALA IN COOPERATION WITH THE MILITARY: • DEL MONTE (ANNUAL EXPORT SALES OF $75 ML) • GOODYEAR (63,000 ACRES OF RUBBER PLANTATIONS) • RALSTON PURINA • BANKAMERICA (FINANCED A MEATPACKING PLANT WHOSE OWNER WAS INVOLVED IN DEATH SQUADS) • COCA COLA (WHOSE OWNER HAD DEATH SQUADS KILL UNION LEADERS) • PHILIP MORRIS • 10 CHEMICAL COMPANIES WHICH MANUFACTURE PESTICIDES • HOTELS: SHERATON, RAMADA, WESTIN • MCDONALDS, PIZZA HUT (PEPSICO) • TEXACO

9. AFTER THE COUP, 9000 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED & TORTURED • 1.5 ML. ACRES OF LAND WERE RETURNED TO LARGE LANDOWNERS, INCLUDING UNITED FRUIT • AGRARIAN REFORM WAS REPEALED • TRADE UNIONS & PEASANT MOVEMENTS WERE DESTROYED • WASHINGTON PROMOTED GUATEMALA AS A "SHOWCASE OF DEMOCRACY" • A NEW SERIES OF MILITARY DICTATORS RULED, EACH MORE REPRESSIVE THAN THE FORMER • THE U.S. GAVE $80-$90 ML. TO GUATEMALA, IN ADDITION TO MILITARY AID • IT RECEIVED FUNDS FROM WORLD BANK, ON THE CONDITION THAT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS WERE TO BE GIVEN TO U.S. COMPANIES

10. GUERRILLAS • IN THE 1970s SEVERAL GUERRILLA GROUP FORMED TO CHALLENGE THE MILITARY • MR-13, PGT, FAR; EGP • IN 1982 THEY UNITED INTO THE URNG (GUATEMALAN NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY ARMY) FIGHTING TO/FOR: 1. ELIMINATE REPRESSION 2. DISTRIBUTE LAND 3. EQUALITY BETWEEN INDIANS & LADINOS 4. EQUAL RIGHTS 5. SELF-DETERMINATION

11. COUNTER-INSURGENCY • THE PENTAGON ESTABLISHED A COUNTER-INSURGENCY BASE IN GUATEMALA • GEN. ROMERO LUCAS GARCIA (1978-82) BEGAN A SCORCHED EARTH CAMPAIGN • THE GUATEMALAN ARMY CARRIED OUT A BLOODY COUNTERINSURGENCY CAMPAIGN IN THE ALTIPLANO (1980-83) • COUNTER-INSURGENTS USED AERIAL BOMBING & SCORCHED-EARTH ASSAULTS ON COMMUNITIES SUSPECTED OF AIDING THE GUERRILLAS • DEATH SQUADS APPEARED • PEASANTS IN INDIAN COMMUNITIES WERE REGULARLY MASSACRED • BETWEEN 1966-1976 20,000 PEOPLE HAD BEEN KILLED BY DEATH SQUADS

12. IN 1978 CUC (CAMPESINO UNITY COMMITTEE) FORMED • ITS LEADERS WERE DRAWN FROM THE CHRISTIAN-BASED COMMUNITIES BEING ORGANIZED IN THE HIGHLANDS • ON JAN. 31, 1980 CUC OCCUPIED THE SPANISH EMBASSY TO PROTEST MILITARY OCCUPATION OF EL QUICHÉ • 39 PROTESTORS WERE BURNED ALIVE IN THE EMBASSY, INCLUDING RIGOBERTA MENCHU'S FATHER • IN 1981 CUC JOINED WORKERS, SLUM DWELLERS, & STUDENTS TO FORM THE FP-31 • GOVERNMENT REPRESSION INCREASED, FORCING THEM UNDERGROUND

13. RIOS MONTT • GEN. EFRAIN RIOS MONTT OVERTHREW LUCAS GARCIA IN A COUP IN 1982 • CARTER HAD CUT MILITARY AID TO GUATEMALA • REAGAN RESUMED ECONOMIC & MILITARY AID & TOLD RIOS MONTT THE U.S. WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A "FRIENDLY & FRUITFUL" RELATIONSHIP WITH GUATEMALA • IN 1985 U.S. MILITARY AID WAS $300,000; IN 1986 $4.8 ML. WAS APPROVED • TERRORISM ESCALATED, ESPECIALLY AGAINST MAYAN COMMUNITIES • RIOS MONT WAS A FANATICAL EVANGELIST & BELIEVED COUNTER-INSURGENCY WAS A HOLY CRUSADE AGAINST COMMUNISM • THE ARMY DESTROYED 440 VILLAGES & DISAPPEARED 50-75,000 PEOPLE • RIOS MONTT HAD A "BEANS & RIFLES" PLAN • HE ORGANIZED INDIAN BOYS & MEN INTO PATROLS TO SERVE AS EYES & EARS FOR THE ARMY (900,000 SERVED) • GAVE FOOD TO THOSE WHO SUPPORTED THE ARMY • "IF YOU ARE WITH US, WE'LL FEED YOU; IF NOT, WE'LL KILL YOU" • IN ALL, 100,000 HAVE BEEN KILLED SINCE 1960

14. IN 1983 DEFENSE MINISTER GEN. OSCAR MEJÍA VíCTORES OVERTHREW RIOS MONTT • HE HAD COUNTERINSURGENCY TRAINING IN THE U.S. • HE CREATED MODEL VILLAGES TO: • EXERT CONTROL OVER MAYAN PEOPLE • GIVE FOOD FOR WORK (& GAIN ACCESS TO CHEAP LABOR) • EDUCATE TO BUILD ANTI-COMMUNISM & INTEGRATE INDIANS INTO THE NATION • TEACH SPANISH LANGUAGE & CUSTOMS • SUBSTITUTE CORN FOR AGRI-EXPORTS • BUILD NEW ROADS TO ALLOW MILITARY ACCESS TO ISOLATED AREAS • MANY MAYANS OPTED FOR SURVIVAL OVER REPRESSION • MOST OF THE GUERRILLA ORGANIZATIONS WERE DESTROYED THROUGH COUNTER-INSURGENCY

15. Re: Perceptions on Guerrillas

16. END OF MILITARY REGIMES • IN 1985 GUATEMALANS ELECTED VINICIO CEREZO • HE PROMISED NOT TO CHALLENGE MILITARY POWER OR PUSH FOR SOCIAL & ECONOMIC REFORMS • CEREZO CALLED FOR PEACE NEGOTIATIONS • THE CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT HAS NOT ELIMINATED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS • THE MILITARY HAS BEEN UNWILLING TO RETIRE FROM GOVERNMENT • THERE HAS BEEN A RESURGENCE OF ACTIVITY AMONG WORKER, URBAN SQUATTER, AND CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS • THE MILITARY HAS BEEN UNABLE TO CRUSH GUERRILLA ACTIVITY • IN 1989 GUERRILLAS REGROUPED • HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES INTENSIFIED FROM 1990 TO THE PRESENT • IN 1993 PRES. JORGE CERRANO WAS OUSTED • PRES. RAMIRO DE LEON CARPIO WAS CRITICAL OF THE MILITARY ACTION AGAINST GUERRILLAS • PEACE TALKS BROUGHT AN END TO THE WAR IN 1996

17. A woman cries over an open coffin at the reburial of 20 victims of Guatemala's civil war. For 16 years, the victims' relatives were too scared to say anything about it, and too frightened to remove the bodies

18. REMHI • PEACE ACCORDS 1996 • The Recovery of Historical Memory Project • Interviewed 6000 VICTIMS • Documented systematic campaign of genocide & ethnocide • 1998 Bishop Juan Gerardi assassinated

19. Forensic expert Dr. Clyde Snow • Body of a young boy exhumed from a mass grave. His hands were tied behind his back with a rope that reached around his neck. He, like a dozen others, were shot in the back of the head

20. Guatemala Today • 2008-present Alvaro Colom Caballeros • Guatemala's first left-leaning president in 53 years • A year into Alvaro Colom's term as Guatemala's President, more action needs to be taken to build on his promising commitments; human rights situation in Guatemala remains very grave • There have been credible threats that the 'Zetas' (drug cartel) are planning an attempt on the life of President Colom

21. NICARAGUA

22. THE PANAMA CONNECTION • U.S. SENT A FLEET TO NICARAGUA IN 1909 TO OVERTHROW PRES. SANTOS ZELAYA (OVERTHROWN IN 1912) • U.S. HAD SOUGHT TO BUILD A CANAL IN CENTRAL AMERICA • GOLD RUSH, COMMERCIAL INTERESTS, PROTECTION OF COASTS • BUT ZELAYA HAD SOUGHT JAPANESE, BRITISH, & GERMAN HELP TO BUILD A CANAL ACROSS NICARAGUA • ZELAYA ALSO THREATENED THE AMERICAN BANANA PLANTATIONS • U.S. OCCUPATION LASTED FROM 1909-1933

23. WASHINGTON PROCEEDED TO NEGOTIATE WITH COLOMBIA FOR RIGHTS TO BUILD A CANAL, BUT COLOMBIANS BALKED • U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT & U.S. NAVY TRIGGERED A REVOLT IN PANAMA & IT SECEDED FROM COLOMBIA (1903) • A TREATY WITH PANAMA GRANTED U.S. RIGHTS TO THE CANAL • U.S. GAINED JURISDICTION “AS IF IT WERE A SOVEREIGN TERRITORY”

24. SANDINO • AUGUSTO CESAR SANDINO LAUNCHED A REBELLION IN 1927 AND CARRIED OUT GUERRILLA WARFARE AGAINST U.S. OCCUPATION & ISSUED A MANIFESTO: • NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY • LAND REFORM • ORGANIZE AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES • THE U.S. ESTABLISHED A NATIONAL GUARD, HEADED BY GEN. ANASTASIO SOMOZA & WITHDREW FROM NICARAGUA • SOMOZA ASSASSINATED SANDINO IN 1934 (SANDINISTAS TAKE NAME FROM HIM)

25. SOMOZA DYNASTY • SOMOZA BECAME A RUTHLESS TYRANT • THE SOMOZAS RULED NICARAGUA IN A CORRUPT DICTATORSHIP FROM 1937-1979 • SOMOZA AMASSED A HUGE PERSONAL FORTUNE • SOMOZAS OWNED 20% OF LAND, AIRLINE, MARITIME FLEET, MOST BUSINESSESS & INDUSTRIES • (TV STATION, NEWSPAPER, SUGAR MILLS, MERCEDES-BENZ AGENCY) • HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1956 & FOLLOWED BY HIS SON LUIS SOMOZA & IN 1937 BY ANASTASIO SOMOZA - ALSO RUTHLESS & CORRUPT

26. THE REVOLUTION • A GUERRILLA MOVEMENT EMERGED IN 1961 • THREE GROUPS FORMED THE SANDINISTA NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (FSLN) • THE SOMOZA REGIME COLLAPSED IN 1979 • BY THE END OF THE REVOLUTION, THE ECONOMY WAS IN SHABLES • SOMOZAS HAD PLUNDERED NATIONAL BANKS, ABSCONDED WITH $22 ML. OF IMF LOAN, & LEFT ONLY $3.6 ML. IN NATIONAL TREASURY • AFTER THE REVOLUTION, IMF DEMANDED PAYMENT FROM THE SANDINISTAS

27. THE SANDINISTAS • HELD ELECTIONS IN 1984 • ALL PARTIES, INCLUDING RIGHT-WING, PARTICIPATED • RECEIVED $300,000 IN STATE FUNDS FOR CAMPAIGNS & TV TIME • 80% VOTED FOR CANDIDATES OF 7 PARTIES • 60% VOTED FOR DANIEL ORTEGA • FSLN WON 61 OF 96 ASSEMBLY SEATS • 2 CENTRIST & CENTER-LEFT PARTIES RECEIVED 29% VOTE • 3 LEFT-WING PARTIES RECEIVED 3.5% VOTE • THUS "COMMUNIST" PARTIES WERE THE LOSERS

28. SANDINISTA POLICIES • 2 POLICY GOALS: • INDEPENDENT & NONALIGNED FOREIGN POLICY • CREATION OF A MIXED ECONOMY • MIXED ECONOMY: PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, COOPERATIVES, & THE STATE PRODUCE & MARKET GOODS • ENCOURAGED THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO PARTICIPATE • 40% OF GDP IS PRODUCED BY THE STATE (HARDLY A "COMMUNIST" STATE) • AGRARIAN REFORM: WITHOUT THREAT TO LANDED ARISTOCRACY • REDISTRIBUTED SOMOZA LANDHOLDINGS • PROVIDED LAND FOR ANYONE WHO WANTED TO WORK IT • GUARANTEED PRIVATE PROPERTY; MAJORITY OF LAND = PRIVATE • PREFERENCE TO COOPERATIVES • 1/5 LAND IN COOPERATIVES • 1/5 LAND IN STATE FARMS • OVER HALF WAS PRIVATE

29. SOCIAL PROGRAMS • TO SATISFY BASIC NEEDS • ILLITERACY: 52% 12% • HEALTH CARE; BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN GLOBAL SOUTH • CLINICS & HOSPITALS IN RURAL AREAS 26 99 • LIFE EXPECTANCY 53 • INFANT MORTALITY 123/1000 61 • MALNOURISHMENT 75% • EDUCATION - FREE (THROUGH GRAD STUDIES) • SCHOOLS 2 X IN 4 YRS. • 1983 - HIGHEST ECONOMIC GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA

30. U.S. CAMPAIGN OF ECONOMIC & POLITICAL DESTABILIZATION • REAGAN PROMOTED THE CONCEPT THAT THE WORLD WAS DIVIDED BETWEEN EAST & WEST • EVERY STRUGGLE REFLECTED THE BROADER CONFLICT BETWEEN COMMUNISM & CAPITALISM • CONSIDERING NICARAGUA COMMUNIST, HE BUILT UP THE MILITARY IN HONDURAS TO CONTAIN "COMMUNISM" IN NICARAGUA & EL SALVADOR • U.S. FEARED NICARAGUA WOULD LEAD TO DESTABILIZATION OF ALL CENTRAL AMERICA • COUNTER-GUERRILLA STRATEGIES - "LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT"

31. THE FOOD FOR PEACE PROGRAM WAS CANCELLED IN 1981 • 1985 REAGAN PLACED A TRADE EMBARGO AGAINST NICARAGUA, FORCING THE SANDINISTAS INTO GREATER DEPENDENCE ON CUBA & THE SOVIET UNION • 25 L.A. NATIONS OPPOSED THE EMBARGO • U.S. RESTRICTED TRADE, CUT OFF BILATERAL AID, BLOCKED MULTILATERAL AID (AID, WB, IMF, IDB), DISCOURAGED FOREIGN INVESTMENT & LENDING • THESE MEASURES HALTED ECONOMIC PROGESS • ORTEGA WENT TO MOSCOW IN 1985 TO SEEK AID; • IT FILLED THE GAP IN AID CAUSE BY U.S. EMBARGO & POLICIES

32. CONTRAS • EXILE ARMY FUNDED BY THE U.S. & COMMANDED BY FORMER SOMOZA OFFICERS • 1000s OF SAMOZA NATIONAL GUARDS FLED • FORMED TERRORIST "15TH OF SEPTEMBER LEGION" • 1981, CIA TOOK OVER COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FORCE • THE CIA FINANCED, TRAINED & ARMED 12,000 OF THEM • REAGAN: COVERT AID TO CONTRAS WAS NEEDED TO PREVENT ARMS FLOW FROM NICARAGUA TO EL SALVADOR • "FREEDOM FIGHTERS" INVADED FROM HONDURAS & COSTA RICA • 1984 THE CONTRAS WERE CONDEMNED AS THE WORST HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS IN LATIN AMERICA

33. THIS FORCED THE GOVERNMENT TO SPEND HALF ITS BUDGET ON DEFENSE • WAR COST $500 ML. PHYSICAL DAMAGE • CONTRAS DESTROYED 41 HEALTH CARE CENTERS, 15 SCHOOLS, MURDERED 158 TEACHERS • $200 ML. LOST COTTON EXPORTS • $700 ML. CAPITAL FLIGHT • 25% REDUCTION CATTLE HERD • UNEMPLOYMENT 40%, INFLATION 80% • AS ECONOMY DETERIORATED IN 1985, ORTEGA ANNOUNCED AUSTERITY MEASURES • "SOCIALISM IS AT THIS MOMENT IMPOSSIBLE"

34. IRAN-CONTRA SCANDAL • 1985 SECRET ARMS SALES TO IRAN IN EXCHANGE FOR U.S. HOSTAGES • PROFITS WERE USED TO FUND THE CONTRAS (& DRUG TRAFFICKING) • 1984 BOLAND AMENDMENT PROHIBITED THE CIA & DEFENSE DEPARTMENT FROM SUPPLYING ARMS, TRAINING, ADVICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF OVERTHROWING THE SANDINISTAS • 1985 OLIVER NORTH MEMO: $17 ML. HAD BEEN SPENT IN DEFIANCE OF CONGRESSIONAL BAN ON MILITARY AID • 1987 THE CONTRA WAR COLLAPSED • 1986 HASENFUS WAS SHOT DOWN OVER NICARAGUA DELIVERING SUPPLIES TO CONTRAS • CIA DIRECTOR CASEY DENIED INVOLVEMENT • A BEIRUT MAGAZINE REPORTED ARMS SALES • ATTY. GEN. MEESE ANNOUNCED NORTH HAD DIVERTED $30 ML. PROFITS TO ARM THE CONTRAS

35. AFTERMATH • AT THE END OF THE WAR 1000s OF NICARAGUANS MIGRATED TO THE U.S. • THE SANDINISTAS WERE STILL IN POWER SO WE COULD NOT DEPORT THEM TO A MARXIST COUNTRY; THEY WERE GIVE ASYLUM • SALVADORANS FLEEING CIVIL WAR WERE FLEEING A U.S. BACKED MILITARY REGIME; ONLY 2% GOT ASYLUM & THE REST (“SUBVERSIVES”) WERE DEPORTED • 1989 36 NICARAGUANS & 4500 SALVADORANS DEPORTED

36. 1990 ELECTIONS • DANIEL ORTEGA VS. VIOLETA CHAMORRO (WIDOW OF ANTI-SOMOZA LEADER) • SANDINISTAS WON ONLY 40.8% OF VOTES • THE UNO (NATION OPPOSITION UNION) WAS A COALITION FINANCED BY WASHINGTON • SINCE: QOL PLUMMETED • LAND IN CULTIVATION DECREASED • 70% OF POPULATION IN POVERTY; CALORIC INTAKE FELL BELOW MDR • EDUCATION & HEALTH CARE CONSTRICTED • UNEMPLOYMENT SKYROCKETED

37. Nicaragua Today • 2007-present Daniel Ortega Saavedra • Ortega adopted more moderate policies and reduced his former Marxist rhetoric in favor of a moderate democratic socialism • He more intensely embraced Catholicism • In 2006 the FSLN endorsed a strict law banning all abortions in Nicaragua • With the 2008 economic downturn Ortega said that capitalism is in its death throes and the Bolivarian Alternative (ALBA) is the most advanced, Christian and fairest project • He said God was punishing the United States with the financial crisis for trying to impose its economic principles on poor countries. "It's incredible that in the most powerful country in the world, which spends billions of dollars on brutal wars ... people do not have enough money to stay in their homes”