In my last entry I wrote of the incredibly nice banks they have here. After today, I know a little more on why the banks are so nice.
In Nicaragua, everyone speaks of the corruption, poverty, and revolution. On three separate occasions, I was told how Nicaragua was the second poorest country in the Americas, then in the northern hemisphere, and then in the world (the fish kept getting bigger). I don't know what the ranking on poverty in the world truly is, but I do know that Nicaragua is an incredibly poor country. Everywhere you go, you are reminded of this. With the revolution in recent memory, people are both wary of the government and uncertain of the future. This was all compounded by the power situation. The day we arrived in Grenada marked the first of many planned power outages throughout the city (and country). It turns out that Nicaragua's power runs on petrol-based electricity generators. With the recent rise in world gas prices, the cost of electricity went up overnight. As a result, the people simply don't have money to adjust to the shocks in prices. Power bills went unpaid and as a result Spain is shutting off the power to the country on a regular basis.
You may be wondering where Spain comes into the picture here. Well, I'm not really clear on the history on this country, but I will share what I do know. Spain has a long history with the rich families of Nicaragua. They had a part in the revolution and during the war they looted many of Nicaragua's national treasures, including the biggest and most exquisite of petroglyphs from Ometepe island (see one of them in the pictures from Ometepe). In Nicaragua, there is one rich family that rules above all others (to include the political process and country itself). Recently, this family sold off 60% of the country's power to Spain. Historically, when the power companies bill's weren't being paid and they shut off the power, people would riot in the streets until they turned the power back on. However, the rich families have found a way to avoid the problems of rioting, by selling the energy off. Now when the pwer goes out, the people can riot, but the problem is being caused by people in a far off land, and they have no way to fight back.
The gas situation has been much less problematic for the country because they don't really use cars and trucks. In fact right now I am on a bus heading to my next destination, and the four lane highway we are riding on has a car to bike ratio of about 1:3. Picture a fairly regular American four lane, and now picture hundreds of bikes riding along with you.
There is so much about the history of this country that I would like to learn. It is intriguing to me to see all the corruption in the government firsthand. Nicaragua gets billions of dollars from dozens of foreign countries every year, but a very small percentage of that money actually goes to the people. Last year, the government made it mandatory for all children in Nicaragua to go to school. However with a 74% unemployment rate and no infrastructure, there were over 1,000,000 children last year that did not attend school. I don't know what the answer is to the problem, but there is definitely a problem. Education is the answer to solving the countries problems, but how do you educate a country that has no roads, no houses, and an upper class that steals all your aid money?
Nicaragua has elected three presidents since the revolution and things have been going alright as far as democracy goes. There is another election coming up and people are pessimistic and worried. There are 4 candidates for president with one clear leader in the polls. This candidate (whose name I cannot remember) is pro tourist, anti-corruption, and a man of the people. The only problem is that this candidate died a couple days ago of a heart attack. He has been replaced, but the people are wary of the unknown candidate. Many people who were going to vote are now unsure of who to vote for. The fear in the country, is that the party of the bad guys in the revolution (not sure which one) will again rise to power because their supporters will definitely get out the vote, but the uncertain people will stay home. This is the point where the bad guys could very well give the power back to Ortega, whom the US spent a lot of effort to oust in the 80's (he was recently released from jail).
Did I mention that we went like two and a half days without water??? In the sweltering heat, it was quite miserable. The power pumps the water throughout the country, and without power, we also had no water. No water meant no laundry. Trying to pack light, Haley and I did not bring large wardrobes. While we were assured that we didn't stink, we could smell the mildew, sweat and who knows what else. Finally, on the 6th of July, the water came on at 3:00 in the afternoon and we dropped off some laundry. We actually got it back at 8:00 that night without incident (except for Andrew who nearly had a heart attack when his clothes were missing--luckily we found she had simply placed them in someone else's bag).
So, the banks are also owned by the same family that owns the entire country, and as a result, they are the only ones in town with electricity and air conditioning (and money--hmmm, a bank?). That is why the banks are so nice. It just shows the disparity between the rich and the poor.
Enough of the problems of this country. Next entry, I will have to be more positive (because it is an amazing place and Haley and I are having a great time).
No comments:
Post a Comment