A Tour of Managua

This afternoon we had the opportunity to have a tour of Managua. This is a Managua so very different from the one I lived in. When I lived in Nicaragua in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was the very end of the Sandanista revolution. The U.S. trade embargo had been in place for many years, and the Berlin Wall had come down. Nicaragua was isolated from much of the world and in great economic crisis. For example, I remember that there was only one building in the country open to the public that had air conditioning. (And Managua is a very hot city!) This building housed the “diplotienda”, a store that originally had been accessible only to foreign diplomats and members of the press. Because I suffered from allergies while living here, I would on occasion go to the diplotienda only for the air conditioning, which would clear up my sinus and give instant relief. Today there are four large shopping malls filled with air conditioning, not to mention movie theatres, and countless other homes and businesses including, I imagine, those big casinos I saw last night as we left the airport.

Now you might think to yourself how wonderful it is that this city has so many new amenities. It must mean that the quality of life has improved greatly for Nicaraguan citizens. Clearly much foreign capital has flown into the country and the infrastructure has been greatly developed in the 15 years since I’ve been here. And that may be true for the Nicaraguan elite and members of the middle class. But Nicaragua is a country where roughly 50% of the population lives in conditions of poverty. All of these improvements have done very little to improve their lives. In fact the poor continue to become poorer. This is a country where half the people have limited opportunity to improve the conditions of poverty in which they live.