Word: nicaragua
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...ghosts of the past have an enduring power in Nicaragua, which is why the legendary nationalist guerrilla general Augusto Sandino has become the object of a political tug-of-war between the government and its naysayers. Sandino died in 1934, but his mantle - and iconic sombrero - has long been claimed by the Sandinista Front, which overthrew the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in 1979. The Sandinistas, of course, are back in power under President Daniel Ortega, but a group of old-school Sandinista revolutionaries charge that Ortega has betrayed the movement's leftist principles - and they want Sandino...
...Waving orange-and-yellow flags adorned with the famous outline of Sandino's iconic headgear - the most recognizable silhouette in Nicaragua - a group of left-wing protesters has taken to the streets, chanting old Sandinista slogans from the 1970s to rally others against what they claim is a return to dictatorship under Ortega. While the protest movement has grown quickly in recent weeks, fueled mostly by concerns over Nicaragua's deteriorating political and economic situation, it has also rekindled nostalgia for the old revolutionary symbols and songs that have since become propaganda tools for an unpopular government...
...everyone is laughing. As Nicaragua becomes increasingly polarized and the Sandinista government intensifies its crackdown on the independent press, cartoonists are suddenly in the firing line. Molina, known for being the more aggressive of the two, says his plume is no more barbed than before, but that the worsening political climate has changed the context of his work. "What has changed is how my role as a cartoonist is understood today, especially from the government's viewpoint," the long-haired cartoonist said. "Whatever I do is automatically called oligarchic, counterrevolutionary, or an instrument of the empire...
...Nicaraguan media analyst Alfonso Malespin says the role of cartoonists in Nicaragua is "traditionally anti-power, because power is serious and has no sense of humor." By making people laugh at power, the cartoonist's work is inherently subversive. And it's effective, Malespin says, pointing to fact that both papers' newsstand sales jump on Sundays when they publish their weekly cartoon supplements...
...first edition is scheduled to hit the streets of Nicaragua in July, and Guillen says its mass appeal is aimed at helping his unidentified backers to "win the streets" from the Sandinistas. "Comics are a very powerful instrument of cultural penetration," Guillen said. "This is going to be very subversive. This is a guerrilla...