Word: sandinista
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...capital of Managua, the Christmas trees along the downtown streets are lit festively every night of the year - even in July. The nightly ritual of lighting the trees (in this case, metal poles decorated with strings of lights and various other ornaments) serves as an eternal celebration of the Sandinista government's victory over the energy deficit inherited from the previous administration, at least according to Omar Cabezas, the ombudsman for the administration of President Daniel Ortega...
...turning point for Arguello came when a not-so-poor supplicant came seeking his help. President Daniel Ortega was desperate for a mayoral candidate who would be both popular and subservient to the Sandinista leadership, and saw Arguello as the answer. Even though Ortega's first government had confiscated property and bank holdings from Arguello during the '80s, by 2007 the ex-champ felt indebted to the Sandinista Front for helping him out of drugs and giving him a shot a redemption. Plus, Arguello actually believed in the Sandinistas' message of defending the poor, and he embraced his new role...
...suicidal tendencies. But less is known about how Arguello brought his fighter's spirit to his later career in Nicaraguan politics, which, unlike boxing, is not a gentleman's sport. "Politicians are a bunch of crooks," Arguello told me in a 2007 interview, after serving three years as the Sandinista vice mayor of Managua. He referred to the mayor's office as a "snake pit." (See pictures of Colombia's guerrilla army...
Arguello's relationship with the Sandinistas also became strained, as Murillo appointed several yes-men to run the mayor's office. On several occasions, city council meetings were run by Arguello's handlers in his absence. His main function as mayor seemed to be to sit behind Ortega at Sandinista rallies and stand and wave to the crowd when announced by name...
While the note may very well turn out to be a hoax in a country with no shortage of pranksters, its sentiments reflect a commonly shared notion that Arguello, while a brilliantly graceful fighter and undisputed national icon, got in over his head in the world of Sandinista politics. In the end, it wasn't boxing or drugs, but rather politics, that made the champ...