Word: sandinista
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...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 (and his hat) back...
...Miami, the cartoonist was approached by several businessmen in the Nicaraguan expat community that fled the Sandinistas in the 1980s, and are now keen to undermine the Ortega administration voted into power in 2006. Their proposal: a mass-distribution anti-Sandinista comic book...
...While the work of most journalists is complicated by Sandinista secrecy, cartoonists tell a story that reporters can't; and they reach a larger audience in a country with high levels of illiteracy and low levels of formal education. That combination of factors makes cartoonists important opinion makers, representing a strong critical voice in a country where the political opposition is weak...
...Sandinista supporters clearly perceive a threat. Molina says he receives a torrent of abuse by email from Ortega loyalists, but for Guillen, an evangelical Christian whose newspaper was heavily censored and temporarily shut down by the first Sandinista government during the 1980s, the threats hit a lot closer to home. After receiving several e-mail death threats and a cell phone text from someone who threatened to crucify his young daughter, Guillen packed up his family and moved to Miami - from where he continues to file daily cartoons for La Prensa...
...Guillen acknowledges that his new venture, which will be distributed for free on buses and in markets, will up the ante. But as someone who grew up believing in the original ideals of the Sandinista revolution, Guillen hopes it will help people to demand change. "Comic books in the United States are for distracting people," Guillen said. "I am trying to get people to focus...