Nicaragua, in the first six months of 1998, has been convulsed by crises and scandals which have left its population reeling in shock. The certainties and sacred cows of the past are all under a microscope and on trial.

On the third of March, Zoilamerica Narvaez, the adopted daughter of Daniel Ortega, General Secretary of the FSLN, publicly announced that she was renouncing the surname Ortega because, she alleged, the Sandinista leader had sexually abused and harrassed her from the age of 11. Her biological mother and Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, strenuously denied the charges, while Ortega limited himself to speaking of his pain at the accusations. Nicaraguan society and the FSLN in particular were profoundly shaken by these allegations, raising as they do the widespread and only recently acknowledged problem of child sexual abuse in Nicaragua. According to a study carried out by the Women’s Network against Violence in Leon, a quarter of girls and a fifth of boys have been sexually abused in that city before they reach the age of 12.

This accusation threw up various challenges to Nicaraguan society and the FSLN, challenges which they have failed to meet: the challenge to acknowledge child sexual abuse as one of the worst social cancers in Nicaragua; to recognise that a political leader like Daniel Ortega is also a product of a machista society, which tolerates and condones child sexual abuse; and that a social and political movement like Sandinism should not stand or fall with the merits or sins of one person. The party retrospectively conferred papal infallibility on Ortega, decided he was above reproach, that an attack on him represented an attack on the principles of Sandinism, and rejected the charges out of hand.

The closed ranks around Ortega and re-elected him, unopposed, as general secretary at their May Congress. Ortega used the parliamentary immunity conferred on him by his seat in the national Assembly, to avoid facing the legal charges brought against him by Zoilamerica on 27 May. Zoilamerica is supported by leaders of the independent Women’s Movement who see in this an opportunity to "break the silence" on the taboo issue of child sexual abuse.

On the right of the political spectrum, President Aleman also suffered a crisis of legitimacy. At the end of April it was revealed that a plane used by the President and his cabinet had also served for 6 months for transporting cocaine in and out of Nicaragua. The red-faced denials of complicity by president Aleman cut no ice with he Nicaraguan public. The head of civil Aviation, sacked by the president as the Chief scapegoat, declared that the responsibility lay not with him, but with "the system".

In this depressing context we publish the text of a letter from Ligia Gutierrez and Maribel Flores, two Sandinista activists who have recently joined the ever-swelling ranks of "Sandinistas outside the party" and who, in this period of ethical crisis, don’t know where to turn.

In Spite of the fact that we didn\t vote for this dis-government, we live in this unfortunate country and the people with the power decide our fate. The Paris Group (international donors) have approved loans of 1,800 million dollars for Nicaragua, part of which is to help service the debt, another part is to support the processes of privatisation and "modernisation" (in other words slimming down) of the State, a small part is for agricultural production (for the rich farmers0, and finally an allocation for Civil Society (supposedly for the poorest sections of society) but all of this comes only if we in behave well in their terms. Everything rests on achieving "consensus’ between the ‘actors’ or "social partners’ ; in other words the idea is to tame not only all the social classes of the nation, but the country itself, carrying out whatever role foreign governments and transnationals consider fit for us.

All this in the context of an immobilised society, afraid of believing in anything, trusting anybody, hoping for anything, since wherever you look, nothing is going right.

 

At the moment the case is before the courts, but it hasn’t moved forward, because Parliament is not going to lift Ortega’s immunity. (There are 32 Deputies altogether hiding behind their immunity to avoid standing trial). Opinions are very divided. Some consider it a political conspiracy to get rid of Daniel, others that it’s all ttru and they are very demoralised faced with such a level of degeneration. We are taking cautious line, but we don’t want to be ingenuous either, or for anyone to presume on our support. The case has been surrounded by such a level of publicity, and Daniel hasn’t said anything. It’s his wife – surrounded by her children - who has reacted, counteraccusing Henri Petrie (FSLN militant, till recently a member of the Central Committee of Managua), and whom they claim has manipulated Zoilamerica, as they are rumoured to be romantically linked. They also point out that he is involved in UFO-spotting organisations.

Our position is that we don’gtknow anything about the Ortega-Murillo family, or the conflicts that there might be within it, which have nothing to do which the principles by which we are guided. The case against Ortega is bound to fail, but it has created a great rift within Sandinism which the right wing with all their efforts haven’t been able to do. The reality is that Daniel, whether you agree with him or not, is the Symbol of Sandinism and this Symbol has received a terrible blow, which has meant a mortal wound to the only real left-wing option which has existed in Nicaragua, and you know as well as we do how much human sacrifice went into the building of that option over so many years.

Feminist groups are supporting Zoilamerica with public statements; she has received a level of support not given to other abused women. They accuse Daniel of being autocratic, and of course this is true, but unfortunately it’s also true that many of them are as autocratic and as elitist as he is. It’s up to us socialist women to have a big re-think about all of this, and above all take on a more humanistic attitude and practice that leaves aside all aspects of dogmatism and fundamentalism.

 

The government does just as it pleases; all the other alternatives – centre parties, MRS (Dissident Sandinista party) can’t even count on the support of their own few sympathisers.

The doctors’ strike has just ended. It lasted 4 months. Unfortunately it didn’t have the impact it could have had because of the Zoilamerica affair, which took away all its impetus. It didn’t receive the support it would have had otherwise. We did our best, selling raffle tickets and collecting for the striking doctors, and staffing the barricades which were built at the beginning, but this bombshell diminished the belligerence of the struggle. It could have been a much better strike and other sectors might have joined in.

Maybe you find us very demoralised, and we would like to be more optimistic, but it’s a real struggle to be cheerful with this level of social discomposition.