WORT 89.9FM Madison · What Went Wrong In Nicaragua?

Four and a half decades ago, Daniel Ortega was the standard bearer for the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, or FSLN, the socialist guerrilla army that seized power in Nicaragua in 1979.  In contrast to the autocracy and corruption of deposed dictator Anastasio Somosa, the Sandinista government was, at first, a breath of fresh air: the new revolutionary government embarked on a series of land reforms, a highly successful literacy campaigns and economic reforms. Ortega became the poster child for socialist revolution in Central America.  After rewinning the presidency in 2006, however, Ortega has betrayed his revolutionary roots,  becoming more and more authoritarian.  Last year, this became strikingly clear with the Nicaraguan government’s bizarre crackdown on Sheyniss Palacios, a Nicaraguan beauty queen who won the Miss Universe Pageant.  Donna Vukelich-Selva is an Associate Professor of Education at Edgewood College, who studied Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian issues and formerly taught at a bilingual school in Managua.  Donna Vukelich-Selva joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on January 15, 2024.

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