$3.00 NICARAGUAN WOMEN i 1 Unlearning the Alphabet of Submission

Women's International Resource Exchange (WIRE) Guardianphoto by Jim Levitt

Woman cutting meat in a new market in Ciudad Sandino.

Guardianphoto by Peter Kelly

AMNLAE members march in Managua, July 1984.

Guardianphoto by Paolo Bosio

Sandinista woman at the funeral of her husband, murdered by contras.

Guardianphoto by R. DeFrancesco

Survivors of contra raid accompanying bodies of murdered relatives to Jinotega for burial.

APIA, Larry Boyd Soldier in Sandinista Army.

Cover Design by Linda Briggs Ragged Edge Press Fall 1985 lern

CONTENTS

We Have the Capacity, the Imagination, and the Will: Milu Vargas Speaks with Margaret Randall 1

The Man Who Loves Me by Gioconda Belli 5

Adrienne Rich Reflects on U.S. Feminism and Nicaragua . 7

Women's Liberation: A Barricada Editorial 9

Women and Agriculture by Aida Redondo 11

The Sandinista Philosophy of Government by Miguel D'Escoto 13

Nicaraguan Prostitutes-Protagonists of Their Own Transformation: WIRE Interviews Jacqueline Cuevas 15

A Necessary Critique: A Barricada Editorial 19

Open Letter to My Aggressor and His Accomplices from Patricia Lindo, AMNLAE Activist 20

The Family in Our Revolution by Jorge Flores 21

AMNLAE: Women's Leadership in the Revolution by Mercedes Mejia 23

Pepe and Maria 27

Nicaragua: Nation of Births by Lauren Poole 29

Nicaragua 1984: Human and Material Costs of the War 32

Dr. Myrna Cunningham: A Miskitu Woman Testifies 36

Gioconda Belli-A Poet and Revolutionary Speaks: A WIRE Interview 39

Song to the New Times by Gioconda Belli 43

Resource List ...... 47 N

• National capital • Provincial capitals —-— Pan AnKriaM Highway

Map from Sweet Ramparts

NICARAGUAN FACTS Laraf Area,' 57,143 square miles (approximately the size of Iowa) Population: 2.8 million (approximately the size of metro- politan Boston) Median Age of Population: 15 (U.S. median age: 30) Language: Spanish (official); English and Indian lan- guages spoken on Atlantic Coast Ethnic Minorities: Miskito Indians—70,000; Sumo Indians-6,500; Rama Indians-500; Black Creoles- 27,000 (estimates) Religion: 90% Roman Catholic; 10% Protestant/ Evangelical Literacy: 87% of the population under 10 years of age (under Somoza: 50%) Gross National Product: (1981) $2.2 billion Chief Products: Cotton, coffee, beef, sugar Miles of Railroad: 215 miles Miles of Paved Road: 1,000 (approx.) Size of Regular Army: 20,000-25,000; Militia- 80,000

From Nicaragua: A Look at the Reality Quixote Center P.O. Box 5206 Hyattsville, MD 20782 i WE HAVE THE CAPACITY, THE IMAGINATION, AND THE WILL:

Milu Vargas speaks with Margaret Randall

The Revolution is four years old. Nicaraguan women are MR: And all these activities are promoted by growing in it, contributing to it, and are an integral part AMNLAE? of it. They bring their tradition of struggle and their magic, their strength and their compassion. Their achieve- MV: Yes, and there are other areas besides. For exam- ments and problems are those of an entire people in strug- ple, in the Council of State-our parliament- gle, of an entire nation reclaiming its identity by strength AMNLAE's representative has had outstanding par- of dignity and arms. But their condition as women— ticipation: the work she does, the seriousness with which historically elevated as well as subjugated—suffers speci- she confronts the task of revolution, her initiative in fic birth pains in this period of transition to a different and presenting new laws. more just society. I went to see companera Milu Vargas It is important to note that, for us, "being AMNLAE" (head legal counsel of the Council of State/Council of the does not only mean a woman who is affiliated as a People) to ask her to speak about women in the Revolu- member. It involves having certain values and attitudes tion, to describe their problems as well as their gains in as a woman. You yourself know that militancy is not just these four years of youthful victory. Milu's dynamic figure a membership card; militancy is a way of life, an attitude. is well known to those who visit the Council. She talks easi- AMNLAE is undertaking the task of ideological trans- ly, but her answers denote a great deal of concern and formation of values. To "be AMNLAE," to be a revolu- reflection. tionary woman, is not easy. Because our very lives have We settle in at her office and I launch the first question: gradually been transformed in the repressive situation we lived through in the past, in the role we have had to MR: Milii, AMNLAE * has its own history by now. take on along with our male comrades in the liberation It has moved from the concept of a mass organiza- struggle, and with our equal responsibility for the con- tion to that of a women's movement, a product of its struction of a new society. In these conditions, in our very own experience and analysis. Could you say a litr practice itself, our lives have transcended those of tradi- tie about the organization of Nicaraguan women, its tional women. most important tasks, what it means for women in The family, for example. It was based on a vertical con- the popular sectors, its future prospects? ception, the father owned everyone and everything. He was the one who gave the orders, the one who par- MV: Let's try and be organized so we can be clearer. ticipated. Now we see that women have prepared them- Women here are 50.8% of the population (1971 statistics). selves, through their practice, to go beyond that kind of Not all women in Nicaragua belong to AMNLAE, but relationship. There is a more egalitarian relationship. I AMNLAE as a women's organization affects all women's don't mean to be idealistic; I think it's a process which lives. Its task is to lead the struggle for Women's eman- has begun and continues to advance, but is far from cipation. AMNLAE has assumed many activities to finished. There is still a lot to do to complete it. And we're more fully incorporate women into the revolutionary pro- going to keep on working with objectivity. cess and also plays a key role in the ideological transfor- Another thing, the question of reproduction, maternity. mation taking place in this society. Sixty percent of the Previously we had bourgeois values in this area. Your volunteers in the literacy brigades were women. At the greatest fulfillment was in being a mother; beyond that present time women also represent 60% of the People's there was nothing. Today we realize that we can be Militias. Eighty-eight percent of the Popular Health mothers, consciously and happily so, not as a burden but Workers are women. And almost 90 percent of the neigh- as a privilege. And not with a restrictive maternity borhood revolutionary patrols (a fundamental base for which prevents us from fulfilling ourselves in other fields. the defense of the Revolution) are women. We have transcended that. This has often meant guilt for us (because we think we're taking time away from our children). But we have to come to the conclusion that what counts is not the amount but the quality of the time "Luisa Amanda Espinosa Association of Nicaraguan Women spent. And we have gone about looking for some way to

Women's International Resource Exchange be with our children for perhaps a short period of time there was a myth for women; no one talked about a but with a high degree of communication. satisfactory sexuality for women; sexuality was con- As far as household tasks are concerned, we used to sidered a conjugal duty. Today we speak everywhere, with think that we had to do all the housework. Today com- our workmates, with a neighbor, and we insist on things paneras who have had concrete experience in this with regard to women's sexuality: one, that a woman par- sense—they talk to the companero and say: look, if I have ticipates too, that she has a right to pleasure. And two, to do revolutionary guard duty, if I'm in the Militias, if that sex must reflect a good relationship, real I'm in the Health Brigades, if I'm in the literacy cam- communication. paign, I can't be totally responsible for the housekeep- And then there's the image of woman. Our com- ing. It's not just an abstract struggle-you do half and munications media are important, because it's not I do half-but the very dynamic of the Revolution which enough for us to change in private life; the changes have has made us transcend these roles. to affect society too. It was interesting for me to meet a The companeros have understood and are doing their companera in Italy who sent me a study she made of two part, some well, others protesting, others still resist (and of our newspapers: La Prensa and Barricada.** She read in resisting become part of a family problem). And we them for a year, clipped everything to do with women, women have gradually been transformed. We're not new and did a study of the image of women presented in each. women yet, that's a long way off, but neither are we the She said to me: the Barricada woman is dynamic, same as before. And we will no longer transmit the same decisive, disciplined, a woman who enjoys living and who old values. We are transmitters of ideology; in this sense participates in all the tasks of the Revolution. In Bar- we have a great effect on our children's education, in the ricada we see women cutting coffee, women militia, example we give them. women in the armed forces, the mother who loses a son Another point, and one which is seldom dealt with: we or daughter and transforms her pain into combativity, frequently hear commentaries that the Revolution de- the mother who is able to love her children to the fullest, stroyed the traditional concept of sexuality. But we've the mother who expresses solidarity. And everyone grown in this sense too. We women have come out of our notices. Today society does not condemn a woman who structural isolation. We used to think that our lives and our problems were ours alone. So we kept quiet or con- fided in a neighbor or workmate. Today we deal with **La Prensa was the bourgeois opposition paper during most of the Somoza dictatorship. After the Sandinista victory, it showed itself to these topics not as personal problems but as social or col- be more and more committed to bourgeois values, until it became what lective issues. This is a product of the Revolution. It's it is today: the voice of counterrevolution inside Nicaragua. In the pro- logical for us to speak of these things now. But we do run cess, some 85% of La Prensa's original staff left to found an indepen- a risk; there are still people who don't agree or who may dent third newspaper, El Nuevo Diario. Barricada is the FSLN's dai- ly. For the first three years of revolution, La Prensa sold almost twice misinterpret us. I believe that we have to take this risk as many papers as Barricada. Gradually, the figures have reversed and assume our responsibility in this area as part of our themselves, and recent figures are 60,000 for Barricada, and 50,000 militance in the women's organization. Because before for La Prensa.

© This young member of a folkloric dance group says goodbye to her mother who has come to see her off on the second contingent of "Culture Brigades" going to Nicaragua's war zones in the north and south.

Women's International Resource Exchange does not limit herself to traditional roles. Previously a While it's true that it hasn't taken an aggressive or im- woman who didn't assume the traditional roles (I think aginative attitude yet, it expresses the Government's the women who began the revolutionary struggle could political will to underwrite its policy of support for the describe this better) were considered strange, and wor- development of women, for their integration in produc- thy of scorn. The La Prensa woman continues to be tion and in social and economic affairs. We can't deny passive and submissive, only standing out when she is that there is a discrepancy between the development of in a beauty contest or is an artist. men and that of women. At this stage women need more AMNLAE has undertaken to change many values for incentives, more programs to help them integrate them- women-the importance of a collective instead of an in- selves. There will come a time when there will no longer dividualistic attitude, of being objective instead of sub- be a need for a Women's Office, but at this moment I jective, of analyzing instead of being uncritical and believe it is important. accepting what we're told. AMNLAE is involved in all We have the Communications Media law which I see this. And we are a force. In many areas the role as very significant, perhaps because I travel outside the AMNLAE has played has been outstanding. But I don't country. This law prohibits the exploitation of women for want to be naively optimistic. I believe that AMNLAE commercial purposes. It was decreed soon after the has to develop a more self-critical attitude and realize the triumph, without AMNLAE even requesting it, on the opportunities it loses to really do its work and be effec- initiative of the Revolutionary Government in recogni- tive as the vanguard organization of Nicaraguan women. tion, I think, of the place won by women throughout all Despite our achievements we can't for a moment sit back those years of struggle. and say: we're doing great. We have to be self-critical in The Adoption Law is also very important, especially order to be able to keep moving ahead. given that we had 40,000 orphans after the triumph. With that law several preconceived notions were done Q: Milu, it would be interesting to review the away with, in the first place through the discussions legislation of the Saiidimsta government to date, which were held. Our old legislation, dating from 1904, specifically concerning women. Logically all new had a very closed conception of adoption. First, only a laws concern women as persons, as citizens, but I'm couple with ten years of sterility could adopt. The idea thinking of those laws which affect us more specifi- was not to give a home to a child but to give satisfaction cally in our condition as women. .. to a couple who were unhappy because they lacked chil- dren. Now the principal objective is the children. Now MV: The focus of the question is correct. It's very im- single parents can adopt, the age has been lowered, portant to understand that we women are not apart from changes like that. We also discussed issues like, is a child the whole society. The laws affect us all. As citizens, as born to me different from a child not born to me? Adop- revolutionaries, as part of this process, all laws affect us. tive parents maintained that for them adopted kids were But we do have to speak of some of them in particular. their children, period. The first thing that improved our situation is the Fun- Another law, the Father-Mother-Child Law, has been damental Statute, proclaimed on August 22, 1979. It discussed more than almost any other, with heated argu- declares our equality, without discrimination by sex, ments. This law declares that decisions about children, religion, or race, etc. This almost always exists in the their education, feeding, etc., should be shared decisions, legislation of other countries in the world, but within our not just taken by the father. This was a controversy. Many revolution it has a greater meaning because we know companeros didn't accept it. There were many assem- that we don't make laws just as declarations of principle blies, very tough arguments, very subjective, coming but that we make them effective, we make them live. from the soul and the guts, but we managed to put forth Then there is the Statute of Rights and Guarantees of this new idea that the parents should decide together the Nicaraguans. It stipulates equality in the family and about the lives of their children. And there were other that the State commits itself to removing all obstacles important elements in that law. Because it not only to that equality. Then there's the Mothers' Day Decree, establishes the parent's obligation with respect to their No. 430 of June 7,1980. It changes the concept of mothers children, but also that of the children with respect to previously held. their parents. A different concept of the family. Another decree is the reform of the family protection The debates around this law were some of our first regulation, Decree 2148, published November 2,1981. It public discussions about personal relationships, fhe most refers to an office of INSSBI, where one requests food intimate areas and values at the affective level. They allowances from non-supporting fathers. Even though weren't distant laws, removed from us and making it easy this existed under Somoza, today it has another signifi- to be objective. No. We were involved. The law was cance. And it's really carried out. Another law is for the published on July 3,1982, after discussion in the Coun- protection of breast-feeding, Decree 912 of December, cil of State, because laws are discussed first and then 1981. It promotes breast-feeding as a primary goal, published in the Gazette. necessary and important. And then there's the Social Another important law is the Law of Nurturing - Security law which provides for pensions for widows. It's nurturing understood in the broad sense of the word: important to point out that not only the legal wife but home, clothing, education, attention. The Law of Nurtur- the companion is recognized, with certain requirements ing recognizes domestic labor as useful labor. AMNLAE of course, a certain period of living together, children in held 210 assemblies in all sorts of places, in market- common. A recent decree, No. 1091 published August 6, places, all over, besides consulting with other organiza- 1982, establishes the Women's Office. What does it mean? tions in the Council of State. Of course this law affects

Women's International Resource Exchange men more than women, because we have a history of monious life, especially in these times of so much paternal irresponsibility. That's why there was so much stress. I imagine you've thought about this situation, protest, so much discussion. logical but still painful. Without trying to give neat These laws we are talking about are very precious, solutions or definitive answers, it would be interest- because they imply a transformation of values. The old ing to share your ideas about this... ideology just doesn't hold now. And the new values, which are often promoted by women and certainly-as you were MV: When we socialize this experience, or this concern, saying—are going to affect women most, really are go- I think both men and women share it. And we have to ing to enrich the lives of men just as much as women. decide to discuss it. It's true that our lives cannot be said And from that point of view I think it's been really im- to be harmonious. But we ask ourselves: what patterns portant, even though quantitatively we have few laws and of harmony are we looking at? The patterns of the past, there's still much more to change. Because there are those of our fathers who went out at eight, came home many laws that discriminate against us still. . . for lunch at 12, went back to work at 2, and returned home at 5 in the afternoon? We don't have that anymore MR: Milu, in this context I'd like to ask you about and we have to accept it. We no longer have that amount abortion, which is illegal in Nicaragua. It's illegal of time to spend even with our children or with our but it exists, and is a very serious problem. How is partners. abortion viewed? Is there a change of legislation in But we have to accept our reality, that is, foreign ag- the works? gression and the sacrifices which it implies for this tran- sitional generation, for this generation which has to build MV: It's true. We're in a very bad situation with regard that future which probably isn't ours but that of our to abortion. We can't shut out the sun with one finger; children, but is also part of commitment and sacrifice. abortion exists. And our legislation punishes it. But this Many people have to give their lives suddenly, and there is not revolutionary legislation; it is from the past. Only are others who give them up little by little, day after day. therapeutic abortion is accepted. That is, when the doc- In any case, it's a life of commitment. tor says that you or both of you might die. Only in that But I think there's an alternative. I'm not a pessimist. case is it accepted, and worse: it isn't the woman who con- I think we have to look at it realistically. There are alter- sents, she has to get the consent of her husband. So on native kinds of relationships in this period of transition, top of the fact that it's punished and only accepted when and of imperialist aggression. We have to look for quality it's considered therapeutic, it's not the woman but the rather than quantity in communication, and in that man who consents. And it's your body, it's your life that case-yes, we can have a harmonious life as far as possi- is in question. ble in this period. With a great deal of communication, But you must also see the current political situation with honesty on our parts, from both sides, because there that we're in: Central America is hanging between life won't be any time for fighting and arguing. But living and death. It's not that we don't recognize the need for rather than arguing. abortion, a social necessity when thousands of women die All of us who are revolutionary have enough creativ- from illegal abortions. In 1979 I began a study of abor- ity to gradually create our own relationships with other tion (which I left unfinished for other reasons) and I was characteristics, but equally harmonious, equally satisfac- shocked by the number of women who showed up at tory and full. Or even more so. We have our moments; hospitals already in serious condition because they had well, let's live them, talk, discuss, exchange as much as gone to a midwife or nurse who lacked experience. At that we can because we don't know when we'll have another time in Managua alone there were 5,000 abortions a chance to be together. Yes, there are alternatives and new month. And that's only the reported cases. And only in relationships, with characteristics appropriate to the Managua. times. Maybe we don't have such a long time to sit and I think sooner or later there has to be a solution to this. chat after dinner, because we probably get home late, But we're in a situation of imminent war and we can't have a meeting to attend, have some task to do, but we just proclaim a law on abortion without preparing peo- can come together and we do, with our children, know- ple. Because it's going to be controversial. You can't just ing that the quality of communication has improved. We proclaim that law without a base. I think the first step, are able to deepen communication in a short time. as women or as an organization, rather, would be to begin I believe that we have the capacity, the imagination, a discussion of the topic. and the will to create our own alternatives within this situation which we are living. You pointed out something MR: Milu, I'd like to bring up a topic that concerns too in your question, that in this time of so much stress all women (and not a few men), but which has still we need to have the healthiest relationships possible, the not been publicly discussed: that of the couple most satisfying, because that undoubtedly will make us when the woman has a position of responsibility. work better. And in this sense I believe that there is a I'm thinking of the tremendous contributions of commitment of men and women to come together to Nicaraguan women during the insurrection. One discuss these topics and look at the errors on both sides, of the results has been that in many cases a woman with a critical and a self-critical attitude. And I think cannot go back to accepting even the most subtle we will be able to get results that can be translated into pressures on the part of a man. Nevertheless, a more satisfying, more gratifying way of living that part broken relationships, loneliness, the large number of our lives which is also of the highest importance. of women alone, don't present a picture of har- Because I don't believe anyone thinks (s)he doesn't need communication, sex, affection, life. . . Translation produced by: The Participatory Research Group. Bulk copies: Participatory Research Group 302-229 College St. July 1983 Toronto, Ont. M5T IR4 Women's International Resource Exchange $1.50 each (includes postage) The Man Who Loves Me

Gioconda Belli

The man who loves me But, above all else, Should know how to part curtains of flesh, The man who loves me Fathom my eye's depths Must love people. And know that in me nestles Not as some abstract category A tender, transparent swallow. Mentioned carelessly But as something real, concrete The man who loves me To whom one shows devotion through actions, Will not covet me like a commodity Giving up one's life if required. Nor exhibit me like a sportsman's trophy. He will stand by me The man who loves me Loving, just as I love Will recognize my face in the midst of battle And stand by him. And with knee bent to the earth he will love me The love of the man who loves me As the two of us fire together Will be strong as the ceibo trees, At the enemy. Solid and sheltering as they are, My man in love Clear as a December morning. Will not fear giving himself The man who loves me Nor fear finding himself magically smitten Will not distrust my smile In a plaza filled with great crowds. Nor fear my hair's profusion. He will be able to shout "I love you" He will respect sorrow, silence. Or make extravagant announcements on top of buildings And with caresses he will play upon my stomach Proclaiming his right to feel As on a guitar The most beautiful and human emotion. Making music and pleasure issue From my body's recesses. My man in love Will not flee kitchens The man who loves me Nor the diapers of our child. Will discover I can be His love will be like a refreshing breeze A hammock on which to rest his burdens and cares, Carrying away among mists of dream and the past A friend with whom to share intimate secrets, Weaknesses that, for centuries, kept us divided A lake on which to float As beings of different worth. Without fear that the anchor of his commitment My man in love Will prevent flight Will not want to stereotype and standardize me. Should it occur to him to be a bird. He will give me air, space, The man who loves me Nourishment to' grow and improve Will make poetry of his life Like a Revolution Structuring each day Which makes of each new day With his gaze set on the future. The beginning of a new victory.

This poem was published originally in Somos (Managua: March 1983) and was reprinted in Mujer, Unidad de Communicacion Alternativa de la Mujer (Santiago, Chile: May 1983). Title by WIRE. Translation by Julie Mayer-Orozco.

Women's International Resource Exchange Nora Astorga, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Women's International Resource Exchange US. FEMINISM AND NICARAGUA

I had been thinking, for some time before I went to Nicaraguan women, often raising children alone, work- Nicaragua, about the fact that U.S. feminism is after all ing to support their families, learning to depend on their rooted in North America, within a technologically very own courage and staying power. I trust such women to powerful and malevolent political system; and about the set their own priorities. In a society born in poverty, problems and dangers of seeing our particular issues as menaced from without, the priority at this moment is life some kind of cutting edge or vanguard for women every- itself, and the protection of life itself, and the protection where. (This is a common North American, Euro-Ameri- of a revolution which spells hope after decades of terror can form of chauvinism.) It has seemed important to me and deprivation. that as a movement we gain some conscious perspective Another thing I realized concretely while there: If you on this, allowing us to see ourselves as a self-respecting are trying to transform a brutalized society into one and self-critical part of one great movement for freedom where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin among others, all interdependent. I went to Nicaragua with the empowering of the most powerless. You build partly to test these thoughts against a concrete reality. from the ground up. You begin by stopping the torture While there, I went through moments of feeling con- and killing of the unprotected, by feeding the hungry tradictions—both within feminism and within the San- so that they have the energy to think about what they dinista Revolution-like a physical pain: not just the want beyond food. The Sandinistas are committed to pro- sensation of being torn apart, but also of long-severed viding all citizens with basic nutrition; have cut the il- pieces wrenching back together. And there were mo- literacy rate in half; have wiped out polio and made a ments-watching daybreak over green hills from a bus hugh dent in the infant mortality rate. These elementary en route to the Honduran border-of astonishing, sim- things change women's lives. They affect what a woman ple happiness. can do with her life. Food, health, literacy, like free con- At the Conference on Central America in Nicaragua traception and abortion, are basic feminist issues. last July, I felt the absurdity of travelling to a four-year- As a feminist, I can feel skeptical of phrases like "the old, evolving, U.S.-beleaguered society, carrying in hand integration of women into the Revolution"-a much-used an agenda from U.S. feminism which we expect that phrase. As a U.S. citizen, I have learned to be skeptical society to answer for or be written-off. Listening to and of false integrations. But the process of "integrating learning from the women and men dedicated to creating women into the Revolution" is at least different from the a new Nicaraguan society felt more urgent, more neces- attempt to get some women "integrated" into the upper- sary, to my own feminist politics than pressing the level executive or professional world in a capitalist question of abortion, which is still illegal there. (Con- patriarchy. Within the process of revolution the middle- traceptives are free on demand; no anti-gay laws exist class housewife and the poor woman have a chance to and none are contemplated.) The issue of women's rights meet, work together, and explore what they have in com- over our own bodies is, of course, not just a U.S. priority; mon as women, what needs they share as women that are it's a global one. But how women engage with these not being met. "Integration" of some women into issues, under many different forms of patriarchy, is be- capitalist patriarchy only deepens the trenches between ing determined by the women of each and every move- women. ment for social change. In the late sixties and early seventies many U.S. Contrary to impressions conveyed in the U.S. media, feminists, myself included, voiced frustration and disillu- the Sandinista Revolution is not a clone of the Soviet or sionment with the Marxist Left which seemed incapable Chinese or Cuban revolutions, though ties with both of recognizing and addressing women's oppression as Cuba and Grenada* are naturally close. A leadership of women. We insisted that our chains were not only econo- women in the armed rebellion against Somoza's U.S.- mic but mental, embedded in that domestic or "private" supported fascism was fertilized by a history of strong sphere where men of all classes dominate women. I

*This article was written prior to the U.S. invasion of Grenada. (WIRE note)

Women's International Resource Exchange believe we were right; no ideology which reduces women abandon politics for lifestyle. No historical process is ever simply to members of the working-class or the bour- totally repetitive or totally new. geoisie, which does not recognize how central feminism must be to the revolutionary process, can be taken I came home from Nicaragua convinced that white seriously any longer. But also, in the past decade "radical feminists need to keep defining and describing our rela- 1 feminists," "socialist feminists," "lesbian feminists" have tionship both to capitalism and to socialism and to talk been pulling at each other, stretching each other's minds, seriously about our place in the interconnecting move- eavesdropping on each other, learning from each other, ments for bread, self-determination, dignity and justice. more than we often admit. Women of color have often We need to talk about the ways this society has been the catalyst for these connections, and the chief ex- influenced our mental images of revolution. And I came ponents of the evolving consciousness. home feeling that feminists in the United States, because Feminists have, and rightly, judged harshly of a we are here, have a special reason to help try to get the socialism that leaves women still accepting a secondary foot of the United States off Central America. The role, and working two full-time jobs instead of one as a women of Central America will then have room to move measure of their liberation. But to stop with that judge- and name their own priorities as women; and this possi- ment, to forget that revolution is itself in evolution, is to bility affects us all.

®1983 by Adrienne Rich Title by WIRE

Women's International Resource Exchange WOMEN'S LIBERATION

A Barricada editorial

"Peasant women have a hot potato in their hands; we The conscious involvement of women in Nicaragua's must make haste before they 'get burnt.' They should political and economic life, Acevedo believes, will have receive training, improve their technical skills. Their a great impact on national development. participation in the productive process will be crucial." In 1982, women constituted 50 to 51 percent of the In the statement above, Angela Rosa Acevedo was country's population and 40.5 percent of the economically alluding to the fact that Nicaragua is an agrarian coun- active population. try, the basis of its development is agrarian reform, and Around 183,500 women work outside the home. But women are playing an growing role in agriculture. Al- this figure is deceiving, because the majority of these though it may sound odd, there is a direct link in Nicara- women are underemployed or are employed as domestic gua between agrarian reform and women's liberation. workers. Moreover, 83 percent of women workers are Acevedo is a member of the national directorate of the heads of families, abandoned by their husbands. Luisa Amanda Espinosa Nicaraguan Women's Associa- In other words, the majority of working women, in- tion (AMNLAE) as well as its representative in the cluding those who have great economic and social respon- Council of State. She noted that the values and practices sibilities, are in the service, not the productive, sector of inherited from the Somoza era, such as discrimination the economy. against women and segregation of women from decision- On the other hand, Nicaragua is not an industrial making positions, are difficult to overcome. "But this country; its stated economic goal, Acevedo said, is to hasn't intimidated us," she said, "particularly now that become an agroindustrial country. Thus, "it is vital to a legal framework guaranteeing women's rights to poli- train women who are members of agricultural coopera- tical and economic participation and supporting them in tives or are small- or medium-sized landowners, and who, the social sphere is in place." in practice, have become aware of their right to par- "Understanding that the problem of women is not their ticipate in national life." problem alone is crucial; at least in theoretical terms Acevedo also noted the problem of unequal ideological society has recognized that women should take part in development among women in the country. On the one every kind of task. In practice, perhaps the framework hand, there are women in the city "who, because of the has not been sufficiently broadened." opportunity they have had to study and work, are able In any case, events in Nicaragua have unfolded so to consciously participate in the tasks of defense and pro- rapidly that more opportunities for women have opened duction." up. "War is a harsh reality," Acevedo explained. Then there are the peasant women in the zones under Peasant women have always worked outside the home, attack who by necessity have taken charge of production but because of semi-feudal traditions, it was the man- and broadened their understanding of women's problems. "the head of the family'-who received the wages. Incur- In between, said Acevedo, there is a whole range of sions by contros in the northern provinces have forced the women who have yet to demand from society and the men to join militias to fight the invader. As a result, state their right to participate. women have taken complete charge of production in the "How can they if they have no kind of training?" mountainous and fertile provinces of Matagalpa, Jino- Acevedo asked. "Eighty out of every 100 illiterate persons tega, Nueva Segovia, Madriz and Esteli. in 1979 were women. It would be quite an accomplish- "Women are doing non-traditional work for which they ment if the 42 percent of [illiterate] women who learned were ill-prepared, but had to do because of the situation," to read and write in the National Literacy Crusade could said Acevedo. "AMNLAE is asking the National Union finish their primary school education." of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG) to design an accele- Women's educational deficiencies lead to their under- rated program for the entire rural sector." representation in trade union leadership, Acevedo said, The purpose of the program would be to help women and place the burden of teaching them their union rights develop skills in order to prevent decreases in production, on their male colleagues. as well as guarantee peasant women a decisive role in Urban women workers, she continued, are over- the rural economy above and beyond the emergency whelmed with family problems, giving them little oppor- response to men's absence from their communities for tunity to participate in union activity. In addition, there reasons of national defense. is an ingrained attitude among men that women are less

Women's International Resource Exchange productive on the job, and are absent and arrive late more programs] because they perceive the benefit in terms of often. "But I question these arguments. There are no the country's production, although, to be sure, they don't statistics available relating to women's performance on stop thinking about their children." the job and I believe these arguments are meant to In trade union work and job advancement there is still weaken the demands of women workers." a struggle against ideas from the past. "We can't say that Yet the problem of passivity among women is common. machismo is buried, even among women. Many women "Legal rights exist, but do the compaheras demand they work like ants but they haven't become aware of how im- be fulfilled as frequently as we would like?" asked portant their contribution is; they feel their work is more Acevedo. of a burden than a means of creation." For example, there is the problem of men abandoning In the very remote farms of northern Nicaragua wo- their families. The Council of State has passed a series men still receive lower wages than men for the same of laws that for the first time make it possible for a work. They haven't found out that equal pay for equal woman to demand an allowance from the father of her work has been the law since 1979, Acevedo stated. "On children, either through the courts or the Nicaraguan top of that, the bosses make them do the heaviest work; Social Security and Welfare Institute (INSSBI). they say women must 'earn their place.' " In 1983, there were 29,123 allowance requests "Everyone talks about the importance of women's in- presented before the INSSBI alone. Although this figure volvement," she said, "but in practice a woman has to be does not represent all the cases of paternal irresponsibil- triply exemplary to receive a promotion in certain in- ity, it does mark progress as far as women's understand- stitutions. Or when a meeting lasts longer than expected, ing that they have rights and can demand from society the husband asks where she was, and the housework is and the state that those rights be respected, according neither valued nor shared." to Acevedo. "Before, only those abandoned women who The outlook for women may seem a bit pessimistic, but were in a very precarious economic situation dared to de- it really isn't so. Rather, the problems are symptomatic mand an allowance." of the new relations that are emerging and the fact that The greatest concern of Nicaraguan women continues women are waging a struggle. to be their children. Many women have become involved "At present AMNLAE has the capacity to mobilize in the programs of the revolution, "such as the people's 100,000 women for a cultural event, for example," Acevedo health campaigns, for example, because they see in them claimed. "Women's awareness of the importance of study- the immediate benefit for their children," Acevedo said. ing, of gaining skills, is constantly growing. And "Here women have acted as father and mother for a long AMNLAE has succeeded in helping women comprehend time. But then they continue their involvement [in these this need."

Ti-anslation by Jonathan Fried. Extracted from Barricada and reprinted in Mujer, Uiiidad de Comunicacion Alternativa de la Mujer, No. 22 (May 1984).

Campesina women receiving title to land in a land-giving-away ceremony 10 Women's International Resource Exchange WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

Aida Redondo

Significantly, the United Nations Food and Agricultural fruits and vegetables for family consumption or sale in Organization (FAO) has dedicated World Food Day to the market. women in agriculture. What can Nicaragua say in regard AMNLAE and PAN have offered to give training and to this? technical assistance to many of these women. These Not only in 1984, but in the past five years Nicaragua women have also played an important role in the develop- has been gradually changing the conditions of exploita- ment of a "family garden" program: By 1983, 66 "fami- tion and subordination to which women historically have ly" gardens, 12 "community" gardens, 148 "backyard" been subjected. The economic model of the Somoza era gardens and 55 greenhouses-for growing vegetables, was based on the extreme exploitation of the workforce, sweet potatoes and some fruits-had been created under male and female. The reproduction of the workforce, this program. however, was fundamentally the woman's job. The revolu- Women now also have equal rights regarding access to tionary government has recognized that women are land, credit and services. The Cooperative Law explicitly doubly exploited and expressed its willingness to con- states that women can freely exercise their right to "par- front their problems as women and as workers. ticipate with voice and vote," and encourages women's In 1980, women made up 25 percent of the economi- participation in management of the cooperatives. Cur- cally active population, and approximately 65 percent of rently 42 percent of agricultural cooperatives have heads of households were women. For this reason, it can women members. Women in the cooperatives take part be said that the country's social and legal programs and in almost all production tasks; in some cooperatives it reforms in general address the needs of women. has been suggested that they are the most efficient In the area of education, the illiteracy rate among rural workers. women has been reduced to 12.5 percent. A large percen- tage of the 1,404 schools that have been constructed are located in rural areas. Dozens of health centers have been set up; these centers, in conjunction with the national health cam- paigns, have been central to the eradication of polio and the reduction of morbidity and mortality rates. The great majority of new housing projects are being built near centers of employment. In the legal field, AMNLAE-the organization that promotes women's interests-has drafted a number of very important new laws. In 1983, as part of the National Nutrition Program (PAN) and in an effort to guarantee a sufficient food sup- ply, around 260 Rural Provision Centers (CAR) and 298 rural, retail warehouse outlets were created. Efforts have also been made to improve nutrition and child-care in state-owned enterprises. Children's cafeterias and 19 Rural Child Service (SIR) centers have been set up. Many women belong to agricultural cooperatives or work on farms or ranches. Other women, though not for- mally part of an agricultural operation, still work in agriculture. Many work in cooperatives although they o are not cooperative members; or they grow basic grains, Women management of a state farm outside Managua

Women's International Resource Exchange 11 Women agricultural workers have the right to receive involved in the ATC study of the obstacles and limitations the same pay and benefits as their male counterparts. women confront in joining or becoming active in the Labor regulations have reinforced this ruling, giving union. This is one way of developing women's awareness equal wages and benefits as well to children over 14 who of their problems, thus helping them struggle to improve work with their, mothers. Previously, children's work was their situation. unpaid. In five years of revolution the problems of women in A large part of the economically active female popula- agriculture have not been resolved; but there is a deter- tion is employed in tobacco and banana production and mination to strive toward resolving them. As a social in the coffee and cotton harvests. Approximately 37 per- force, Nicaraguan women are contributing to all the cent of workers in the cotton harvest are women. The social changes that are being put into effect. The progress Agricultural Workers' Association (ATC) has encouraged described here represents only a portion of the concrete leaders among women agricultural workers to become achievements that Nicaragua can offer to the world.

Translation by Jonathan Fried. This article appeared in Barricada (October 17, 1984).

The tobacco industry

12 Women's International Resource Exchange SANDINISTA PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT

Miguel D'Escoto, Foreign Minister

When a revolution takes place, people look for the that democracy entails social democracy, and many ideology that guides the building of the new society. rights, such as the right to work, to a family wage, to Sometimes revolutions can be embarked upon rather learn, to read, to write—all those different rights that hastily, and people may think the essence of a revolution provide us with an opportunity to participate and not be is to overthrow a government. That is not the revolution. manipulated. That is something that has to happen prior to the We are moving in every direction to develop our new revolution. democratic Nicaragua. We are not going to fall to what Well, thank God, in Nicaragua, in the varying trails Somoza did. He tried to give a shellac of democracy by of our mountains and valleys and in our cities there has having controlled elections from time to time, so that the been in gestation for more than half a century a true United States could say that his regime was democratic. Nicaraguan ideology, which we call Sandinismo. The United States is saying this about El Salvador and Sandino was not a philosopher; he did not sit down to a great many other governments it wants to support. explain in a systematic way his political thought. He was a person endowed with a great amount of popular wis- dom, and although he was without formal education, he So in the Sandinistas, we have synthesized the common denominator or the end result of Nicaraguan political thought, the result of our been very much aided by Marxist experience. thought to understand some great Sandinista thought rests on four fundamental pillars. problems. But we have been The first is nationalism. We are not talking about chau- vinism here, but about a nationalism that is manifested equally or more influenced by in the will of our people to regain sovereignty, to deter- Christian thought. mine our own destiny, even to have the right to make our own mistakes and learn from them—and to determine what system of government we will opt for to best meet The third pillar of Sandinista thought is its Christian the needs of our people. element. Despite many deficiencies in the work of evange- Sandinismo is not nationalistic in any sense that leads lization in Nicaragua, Christian evangelical gospel us to believe that we have discovered a formula that is values have permeated down deep, and they are reflected good for any other country. We believe that, just as we in one of the main characteristics of Sandinismo. are looking for our own way, every other country has to The fourth pillar of Sandinista thought is a further look for its own way. This is why for us. it seems strange clarification of the second, which I said was a democratic for anyone to think that we might be intent on exporting ideal: we aspire to a system of social justice. This is a our revolution. revolution that is being made to create a democratic A revolution is not an exportable item. Revolutions can system that has meaning and consequence for the peo- take place only when a people decides to make it possi- ple. And by "the people" I mean everyone, not just an ble, as happened in Nicaragua. Without broad popular elite, but everyone. participation, our revolution would not have been Sandinismo is not static. It develops and is enriched by possible. new generations of Sandinistas. Another of these four pillars of Sandinista thought is As a 20th-century revolution, we are definitely in- a democratic aspiration. Now, you ask, why should we fluenced by Marxist thought. I certainly am, as many aspire to democracy if we never had it? Well, it is natural modern people are-maybe they don't know it-but they to humankind. We believe that humanity has been cre- are influenced too. For example, the emphasis on concep- ated in the image and likeness of God, created to be a tualizing the present as an historical trend to better co-creator with God in the unfinished task of making understand it is one of the contributions of Marxism. this a world after God's own design. From a philosophical perspective, of course, Marx helps This democratic aspiration is not to be confused with us understand the connection between liberal philosophy, an aspiration to have just the formality of democracy; we capitalism, and imperialism, and the connection be- are talking about real participation. We are quite aware tween liberal thought, capitalism, and racism. Sure, no

Women's International Resource Exchange 13 one really believes that someone is inferior because of curred when, the church began this process of renewal color, but a different pigmentation helps you justify in Nicaragua and consciences began to open. Coman- exploitation. dante Daniel Ortega publicly has said that he went to the So we Sandinistas have been very much aided by revolutionary struggle because he understood that was Marxist thought to understand some great problems. But what was demanded if he was to be faithful to Christ. we have been equally or more influenced by Christian I am reminded of a marvelous painting of the baptism thought. of Christ in a gallery in London. It was painted by A process of renewal in the Catholic church began after Leonardo da Vinci's teacher, Verrocchio. In it you see Vatican II permeated our reality through the historic John the Baptist pouring water over Jesus in the river. meeting of Latin American bishops in 1968 in Medellin, An angel stands by the side holding his garments. Colombia. It filtered down and reached Catholic schools, Verrochio had great love and admiration for Leonar- where they began to have qualms of conscience that they do, his young disciple, and he wanted him to participate were educating only the elite and helping them to live in this masterpiece. So he asked Leonardo to paint the in a bubble separate from the rest of their brothers and angel. Of course, the disciple was better than the teacher, sisters. and what is most interesting in the picture is the angel, The schools began to foment the idea that young although the whole work is very good. students should voluntarily help out in the poor barrios, And God also made us co-creators, wanting us to par- in the poor neighborhoods, with parish priests who were ticipate and share in the canvas. God initiated a process working among the poor. That's how the students dis- and, in a great love for humankind, decided not to do it covered the plight of their brothers and sisters and began all. Having been given that orientation, we cannot ac- to search for what to do. From there they went to the cept being reduced to the level of simple spectatorship mountains and joined the Sandinista Front. Many of in a game in which only a few play. We have a built-in these students who are in high government positions to- need to actively participate with our God-given rights in day are very young, because all this happened in the ear- the common task of searching for a more human and just ly '70s. The great growth in the Sandinista Front oc- society.

Reprinted with permission from Sojourners (Crucible of Hope, Box 29272, Washington, DC 20017).

14 NICARAGUAN PROSTITUTES: PROTAGONISTS OF THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATION

WIRE interviews Jacqueline Cuevas

WIRE: Jacqueline, tell us about your work. she's fundamentally interested in women's problems; and through her union, when she begins to work at a new job. J.C.: I coordinate a project to re-educate prostitutes. It's We deeply respect these compaheras as people, and we jointly sponsored by the Antonio Valdivieso Center* and of the staff see ourselves as merely a support system for the Nicaraguan Social Security and Social Welfare In- their self-development process; they take from us, stitute (INSSBI). gradually, those elements needed to deal with society and to interact with those organizations involved in the WIRE: Was yours the first such program in building of a new society. Nicaragua? The entire re-education process is developed through J.C. No. Ours is the newest; there are three others the methodology of popular education. This methodology which predate ours. The first one was organized in Cor- entails three stages. In the first, the companera looks at into, a port town, in late 1979. In fact, I worked with the her own life and tries to figure out what made her a pro- mass organizations and especially with the Christian stitute. Many dynamics are at work in this period. She community in Corinto during the first stages of our pro- becomes involved in many activities and begins to ject. The Leon project began a year later, followed in six observe herself, to try to uncover what makes her tick, months by the Julio Buitrago neighborhood project in what is the nature of her relationship with men, with her Managua. The Corinto program is run by a parish and children, her neighborhood, with society. For the first is state-supported; the one in Leon is directed by time she becomes aware of how strange her life has been, AMNLAE (Luisa Amanda Espinosa Association of Nica- strange from the point of view of building a just, egali- raguan Women); and Julio Buitrago is run by the John tarian society. XXIII Department of Research at the University of Cen- The second stage consists of helping the companeras tral America. Research and outreach for our operation to explore the origins of prostitution itself-how it began late in 1983. emerges from unjust social structures, how this injustice is part and parcel of certain types of societies. From the WIRE: Would you explain how the program moment when she is able to see the relationship between operates? her own problems and the existing social structures, she. sheds the personal blame she has assumed for her own J.C. We try to link the re-education process to the situation. The prostitute is a woman filled with guilt, character of the Revolution itself. We think that a revolu- who feels like a sinner. tionary social project which has its deepest root and ideological basis in people's power—in other words, in the WIRE: And that's the way society treats her. organized expression of the people themselves, as agents of their own development-requires a society which is J.C.: Exactly. When she realizes this, she quickly struggling toward autonomy, toward the personal and col- begins to change. And then comes the third lective development of the human being. And since we methodological stage: her transformation as a woman believe this so deeply, we see the re-education process of when she gets a productive job. At this point, most of the a prostitute companera as one in which she, as a woman, women leave prostitution. is the protagonist of her own transformation. As she develops, she is more and more able to express herself WIRE: Does the project undertake to find such through revolutionary organizations: through the block jobs? committees in her neighborhood; through AMNLAE, if J.C.: Yes, of course. All these stages are essential parts *The Center has been described in Thomas Walker's Nicaragua in of the project's operation. Revolution as "A... major vehicle for linking the churches and the Revolution. . .This center for Christian reflection was established WIRE: What is your approach to education? within a month after victory 'to keep the revolutionary spirit alive among Christians, to help Church leaders understand the Revolution, and to counteract the pressure of rightist businessmen on Church J.C.: We work within the system of popular education. leaders.'" (WIRE note) The women are organized according to their levels of for-

Women's International Resource Exchange 15 mal education, the introductory level being literacy, with In any case, the most advanced group of our com- the next level building on the first; then come the levels paneras is doing fine. There are five women who left pro- we call intermediate and advanced. We use the guide- stitution right away; they have incredibly high lines on reading, writing, and arithmetic prepared by aspirations-to study, to acquire technical training, to VIMEDA, the Vice-Ministry of Adult Education. The continue developing as human beings. very content of the lessons grows out of our discussions One group of fifteen companeras is about to begin work with the companeras and is concerned with their own at a cannery whose construction has been temporarily perspectives as prostitutes. delayed. Thanks to funding and equipment donated by Bread for the World, all positions wfll be held by our com- WIRE: And the materials you use were developed paneras. They're in special training courses on Mondays, by the project staff? Wednesdays, and Fridays, where they're learning mathe- matics and how to weight fruit, sugar, and vegetables, J.C.: All of them. We're current working on materials how to calculate percentages, how to operate the dealing with women and violence, and obviously we have machines. In addition, they learn about human relations, had to put everything together here, since nothing ap- trade unionism, cooperativism. Meanwhile we continue propriate had yet been written. to discuss the issue of prostitution-combined with the We approach the work from various angles: in other teaching of literacy. words, although the thematic axis is prostitution, we ex- amine it in terms of the specific conditions and charac- teristics of each group. With some women the point of WIRE: Does the project have contact with the departure is sexuality and the discussion begins there; Sandinista police? with others it's the general problems of women, what it J.C.: Yes, we've been working closely with them since means to grow up in a dependent capitalist society, such its inception. At first the women identified the Revolu- as Nicaragua was. We try to adjust the techniques of tion with the police—who had been very repressive—and popular education and the materials we use to the con- ditions of the women, so that they can identify easily. even mistrusted us. So we began an intensive training course for those police who patrol neighborhoods where prostitution goes on. And we give refresher courses from As they begin to question the issue of prostitution, they time to time. Thanks to our courses, the police are now find that they need to learn to read and write. For exam- able to analyze prostitution as a social problem, and they ple, if we are teaching the use of the syllable cha, we place see themselves as partners in the re-education of these it in the context of a word with various shades of mean- companeras. We go out on patrol with them at least twice ing, such as chavcdo. This generates ideas and associa- a week, visiting the houses of prostitution that still ex- tions. We examine this word from several angles: chavalo ist and inviting women to join our classes. ("kid") as it refers to their children, who are one of their We also collaborate with the Ministry of Health in its strongest sources of motivation; chavalo (young person) anti-venereal disease programs. And, because of the risk as it refers to the youth of Nicaragua and its commitment of U.S. aggression we've taken intensive courses in first to the social process; and then, chavalo, the word they use aid. We've also been working with a number of Chris- for their clients. In this way they delve deeper and deeper tian communities and block committees which support into the problematic of prostitution and chavalo takes on our work. great meaning in their lives at the same time as it serves as a learning tool. WIRE: Are there laws prohibiting prostitution and if so are they recent or are they the legacy of WIRE: This approach suggests an indebtedness to somocismo? Paolo Freire. J.C.: During the Somoza period, one of the biggest J.C.: Right. It's the pedagogical method which he prac- businesses—along with drugs and alcohol-was prostitu- ticed and promoted; and Freire's concept of education is, tion. There were prominent families with wealth and of course, a profoundly liberating one. social status that owned houses of prostitution. The Na- tional Guard divided the country into sectors for the pur- WIRE: How long are the courses? pose of getting the houses to pay protection money. A sliding scale was in effect: houses in the more elegant J.C.: That depends on the level the woman reaches. We sections paid the National Guard Commander directly; now have two work groups. We began with a group of fif- the more modest and sordid houses paid off lower rank- teen women working in a plant nursery. They've been ing officers of the Guard. The Guard also charged a sales working for four months. Everything went quite well in- tax on prostitutes who were sold by one sector to another. the beginning; the work atmosphere was good, and the women were well received by the other workers. That was WIRE: A form of slavery... very important because they are used to rejection. Every- thing was going quite well but problems arose when the J.C.: Yes, the women were virtual slaves. The older pro- nursery was classified as not being part of the strategic stitutes who were no longer in much demand would be sector of the economy; wage cuts followed and this caused sold and a percentage of the purchase money went back a sense of let-down among the nursery workers which to the National Guard. And there was another form of adversely affected our companeras. We urgently need to control over the women. The bordello owner would sell transfer then to a productive industry where there's more shoes, stockings, dresses, cigarettes, and liquor to the consistency and where the industry's economic develop- women. If the day came when the prostitute wanted to ment is consonant with the country's strategic needs. leave the profession, the owner would demand an exor-

16 Women's International Resource Exchange bitant amount for the items the women had bought; and WIRE: How old are the companeras who attend? if the woman tried to run away, the owner would call the Guard, who knew how to stop her. J.C.: Between sixteen and fifty. One of the first laws passed after the Revolution was against prostitution. In the beginning the penalty was WIRE: Do they continue to live where they have incarceration, but it became apparent that the Revolu- always lived? tion couldn't provide for the thousands of women who, from one day to the next, would have to learn new work J.C.: Yes. Housing is a serious problem. Rents are high skills, customs, another life-style. and of course the social environment is not a healthy one. So, by default prostitution is not outlawed. We and the We're trying to get funding from an international organi- police are its de facto regulators. According to the police, zaton to finance pre-fabricated houses for the women. We since we began working in Managua the incidence of contacted the Ministry of Housing which offered us disorderly conduct in the neighborhoods where prostitu- building lots in several neighborhoods at a nominal cost. tion exists has dropped. In the beginning we would ar- We urgently need to build one hundred homes in two rive with the police at a street corner where prostitutes years. So far we have financing for a women's center in congregated and the group would disband like a flash the Larreynaga neighborhood; it's an area with wonder- .. .everyone running in different directions. Now when ful organizations and an excellent Christian commun- we arrive they greet us affectionately and give us big ity. We need the house both for ongoing activities and for hugs. Some who have skipped class tell us why and we crisis-intervention on a twenty-four hour basis. We'll have have a good talk. two bedrooms there for women with serious immediate So today's prostitute knows that the Revolution is ex- problems who need temporary shelter while they resolve tending its hand to her and it's up to her if she wants to their housing situation. We will- also have recreational take it. Those who reject help are becoming more isolated facilities, alternatives for leisure time activities. You see, even from their own sister prostitutes. we've realized that the women who now have jobs go back to their old hang-outs because they don't yet know how WIRE: How do you recruit for the courses? to amuse themselves in other ways. Amusement means guoro, rum, and hard drinking. Recently we've been J.C.: The women who are attending bring others along; organizing other activities, such as excursions, family sometimes the block committees bring people to us, and gatherings with dancing and so on. That's why we need the police, of course, are constantly publicizing our pro- a house. We've received support for it already from Bread ject, but without the repressive attitudes they held for the World. earlier.

© Ex-prostitutes in a collectively-owned sewing workshop in Leon

Women's International Resource Exchange 17 WIRE: I imagine that many of the companeras sible for aiding women with these problems. The Nicara- have children. guan Social Security Institute and the Office for the Pro- tection of Working Women, a branch of the Ministry of J.C.: Yes, the majority, and they are generally good Labor, are expressions of the Revolution's specific interest mothers. The women don't operate in their own neighbor- in women. The mere fact that there are four projects hoods; therefore their children and their neighbors are working with prostitutes, in the midst of the disastrous usually unaware of how they earn a living. We arrange economic situation that imperialist aggression is caus- social services when necessary and we usually have the ing, reveals the sensitivity and tenderness of this Revolu- children in daycare while their mothers are in class. But tion toward the more deprived sectors of the population. there's no need for orphanages or other special arrange- ments for them. WIRE: Do some women, out of embarrassment about revealing details of their private lives, not WIRE: Are there statistics on prostitution? avail themselves of the services these organizations offer? And are there many women who are un- J.C.: Of course none were gathered before the Revolu- aware of these governmental resources? tion. We know that many women left prostitution at the - time of the Revolution, but we also know that when some J.C.: Battered middle-class women are often embar- factories closed down, prostitution grew as many women rassed and don't go to these organizations for assistance. were left alone with children to support, and few job Some of them turn to AMNLAE for help. I personally possibilities. know many women in government posts who, through the support of women in AMNLAE, haVe gained a WIRE: Although my question has no direct bear- deeper awareness of their problems and have confronted ing on the project, can you tell us about battered their husbands, proposing separation in some cases, or women and the resources available to them? fighting for custody of their children-and sometimes meeting violence with violence. But women from the J.C.: This is a male chauvinist society, especially popular sectors are not at all embarrassed and fre- because of religious influence and the other ideological quently call in their neighborhoods or the police for elements which make up capitalist society. The more support. macho the male is, the less formal education he has had, the more brutally he treats his wife. He considers her, WIRE: Is any effort being made to educate, to along with their children, to be his property. Let's say change the ideology of, those men who beat their things go badly at work or in the street; he comes home wives? feeling violent and beats his wife. Since she can't hit him back, she hits the kids. But women have been thinking J.C.: The Office of the Protection of the Family is mak- a lot about this form of behavior and they very quickly ing a great effort in that direction, first by demanding begin to understand the underlying mechanism. Unfor- that fathers be responsible for their children, and then tunately this awareness exists only in certain women, by giving women the financial support they need to and women in general still don't have it. I think that in develop themselves, to educate themselves, while pro- societies like this one, with a revolutionary program, viding the best possible care for their children. Here, the what's at issue isn't only battering; what has to be dealt job of the social worker is fundamental in supporting the with is the attitude of men toward women. And since this couple's efforts and establishing a fruitful dialogue on is a society which encourages discussion of all kinds of these problems. Union women, in the countryside as well problems, it's easier to advance, both ideologically and as in the urban industrial unions, have begun a real on a practical level, toward new lifestyles and goals. struggle alongside their other worker sisters to oblige The Office for the Protection of the Family is respon- men to understand that equal treatment is called for.

Translation by Linda Wine

18 Women's International Resource Exchange A NECESSARY CRITIQUE

A Barricada editorial

"What is the Sandinista People's Militia?" is a 16-page tion into the Militia, he gloatingly remarks, "Mission ac- pamphlet in comic-book format which outlines the goals complished!" and stresses the importance of the Militia. However, it It is clear that the intention of the writer was to use contains some material of questionable merit that really humor to make the pamphlet more attractive and to should not pass without comment. Although it attempts assure that it would be read and understood. But it is to present to our people in an accessible way the duties necessary to be aware of the many subtle ways the ideo- of Militia members, a glance at the accompanying draw- logy of the past can manifest itself without our being ings reveals that they incorporate many aspects of the aware of it. Revolutionaries must seek to promote new ideology of the past. values, and struggle constantly against non-revolution- The intentions of those who put together the pamphlet ary values that may be expressed, even in jest. We are are not in question. Obviously they were trying to inform taking this opportunity to point out something that is people in an entertaining way about the People's Militia. becoming more and more noticeable in some sectors; In so doing, they hoped to promote a greater participa- humor can turn into a kind of escape valve that allows tion in the next training period. the expression of reactionary ideas about women that in However, the underestimation of women is evident. other circumstances would not be stated openly in se- Women are portrayed according to the old stereotypes of rious discourse. bourgeois ideology. They are depicted as beings who feel but don't think, who act irrationally-carried away by their feelings-rather than being guided by reflective thought. Women are shown as second-class persons, totally dependent on men. Even an act as decisive as enlisting in the militia to defend Nicaragua from aggression is trivialized by the fact that the woman in the cartoon makes this decision only after falling in love with the man who is trying to recruit her by seducing her. This questionable tactic is taken to the extreme of reducing the woman to an object when the Militia chief says in one of the frames, "I'm as crazy about you as I am about my VZ." This type of crude reduction of the love a man may feel for a woman to the sensation he feels for his gun is borrowed from capitalist society's advertising techniques, in which the "love" a man feels for a woman is compared with the "love" he feels for his car. Clearly, what we see in this cartoon constitutes an af- front to the thousands of heroic women who, long before the victory in 1979, risked their lives and in many cases lost their lives for the revolution. These thousands of women were motivated by the same desires that moti- vated the men who struggled alongside them against ex- ploitation, crime, and the internalization of the op- pressor's values which function so effectively to keep us oppressed. The cartoons also indicate a lack of respect for the female combat reserve force who leave their families and go into areas infiltrated by the enemy. These women don't take this step in order to follow a man. And they take it even though they must leave their children, friends, and family for long periods of time. Also, the Militia leader's attitude is inconsistent with the qualities attributed to him on a previous page where The important thing is to discern and acknowledge the he is described as "an outstanding worker of revolution- positive aspects that any erroneous behavior may have. ary steadfastness." Once he completes his task of Revolutionary critical consciousness and openness to self- recruiting the Militia member, using a coldly calculated criticism promote understanding, which is a way of tak- tactic of seduction, and with the certainty of her inscrip- ing another step forward in the revolutionary process.

ruary 1983) and was reprtated i •• Unidad de 19 OPEN LETTER TO MY AGGRESSOR AND HIS ACCOMPLICES

On Monday, at 7:40 pm, barely 30 yards from the Minis- daily, stubborn and difficult task of education and per- try of Defense, I was the victim of a sexual attack by a suasion in order to transform the minds of men and young boy, apparently a student, who, without looking women. Not only those who are obviously sick, like you, at my face, nor at the companera at my side, attacked me, but also those who, though aware of the reality and of without giving me a chance to react. what they're doing, still continue in the vice and corrup- I talk now to this young boy (and his accomplices). tion of the past. I could not respond to your aggression. The confidence The three companeros from the EPS [People's Sandin- I had, despite being in a dark and lonely road, and ista Army] who were on duty at the Ministry of Defense despite the fact that WE WERE TWO WOMEN refused to come to our help, arguing that they weren't ALONE, meant that I couldn't foresee that you intended allowed to leave, that this wasn't their duty but the du- to hurt me. My stupid physical weakness "through be- ty of the Sandinista Police, that they didn't witness the ing a woman" and the unexpected nature of your attack attack and even doubted that I was telling the truth, that prevented me from reacting quickly and snowing you it wasn't very important since the youth who attacked that nobody, absolutely nobody, has the right to harm me was almost certainly "drugged up", and one of them another human being, especially not when they act with even managed to ask my friend if the attacker had been the full certainty that the other is weaker. an acquaintance of mine. Because you could rely on your physical strength and You, companeros, were accomplices, and you must could be sure that I wouldn't be able to respond-I understand that this was more upsetting to me than the wouldn't be able to fight back Vith the same aggression actual attack. with which you attacked me. I am sure that if I had arrived telling you that I had But you were so caught up with your obsession to at- been robbed, the only thing you would have said is that tack women that you didn't even realize that I recognized you weren't authorized to act in such cases, but it you while my friend went off to look for some man, some wouldn't have occurred to you to doubt my words. companero who was capable of punishing you, of telling But in my case it was different. To sum up, one more you off and showing you that here, in this country, we're woman was grabbed by a man. What does that matter? no longer going to permit people to exploit or abuse She probably provoked him. Or else it's a lovers' tiff. And others-not economically, not physically, not sexually and if this were so, then, "it's your problem". Who forces her not psychologically. to be a woman? Maybe I was idealistic. Certainly you are part of the Because I didn't ask to be protected, or to have an of- legacy left to us by Somoza's dictatorship—the era when fense committed against me for being a woman. they exploited weak men, women and children with I asked for the solidarity of one person with another, armed force. To put an end to this, it was necessary to regardless of whether you were from the EPS, the police, put weapons in the hands of the weak. Instinctively, the or were plain citizens. Not only did I not get this, but you only thing I wanted at that moment .was not to be weak even went so far as to doubt me. (at the time I hated being a woman because of my weak- I pointed out the individual-he was walking by in the ness) and to get you in my hands and make you change street, more than likely waiting for other women to at- through force. tack. I asked you to detain him, you saw me go out to con- But now, after thinking about it, I understand and front him, you saw him run off, and you didn't move. acknowledge that although it would have been fair if I It is this lack of solidarity which I was questioning had attacked you too-you did deserve it-something with my shouts. It is this mentality which must change. more effective is also needed, like encouraging, along with the transformation of the living conditions of the Patricia Lindo Nicaraguans (in work, housing, health), the systematic, AMNLAE activist

from Barricada (Managua, Nicaragua). Translation from Sweet Ramparts, by Jane Deighton, et al. (London: War on Want and Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, 1983) i 20 Women's International Resource Exchange Jorge Floras

Within the revolutionary process that began four years based on the claim that it was important for the children ago, we are experiencing changes that are transforming to grow up with a father in the household, regardless of our daily lives. These changes are essential to the crea- the quality of life that characterized it. tion of a different kind of society organized for the growth A couple's ideological differences almost inevitably give and development of new human beings. Among these rise to disputes which prevent a smooth coordination of changes, qualitative in nature, we wish to discuss those activities or tasks that each one may wish to carry out. which are intimately related to questions of family life A husband may not approve of his wife's coming home and male/female relationships in Nicaragua. late after participating in militia drill. If he is not con- Nicaraguans have a more humane, rational and vinced that defense is now a priority, it is unlikely that responsible attitude toward marriage, family and he will accept her participation in activities that demand children as a result of the impact of revolutionary change a permanent state of alert and a major commitment such on daily life and on former ideological biases. Tbday, very as membership in the military reserve forces. few women would accept rough treatment from a spouse Many marital separations occur when a spouse is or efforts to hamper or devalue women's active participa- mobilized. There are members of the militia and army tion in the formation of this new society. reservists who return from training or from combat in While many Nicaraguan men involved in and commit- the mountains to find that their spouses have other com- ted to the revolutionary struggle may have a macho and mitments. It must be said that in these situations, separa- domineering attitude, Nicaraguan women are maturing tion is not caused by a spouse's participation in national and realizing the importance not only of their historical defense programs, but by the weakness of the couple's role, but also of new perspectives offered to them by the relationship itself and also by a divergence of interests. Revolution in the area of male-female relationships. As This underlying situation may be intensifed by the ab- a woman's participation in the struggle increases, so does sence of a spouse, and this may lead eventually to a her self-esteem and independence. She gradually trans- separation. forms herself into a person of consequence whose social There are examples of highly committed men involved commitment and sense of identification with the cause in revolutionary tasks who do not allow their wives to of her people is consonant with her personal life. take on the same commitment. In other words, they have The task of eliminating exploitation and transcending transferred the old structures of the past (i.e., the divi- the socio-economic structures ofsomocismo is linked to sion of labor between husband and wife) to the present the task of creating a new human dimension in which situation. They think that men are entitled to a public daily life, family, work and children all have another life while women must remain in the private sphere even meaning. And it is in this context that we are examin- in the context of a revolutionary situation. When they ing the institution of marriage. speak about the participation of their wives or com- Ideas about family life promoted by the former ruling paneras it is clear that they are the ones who give or class and reinforced by certain religious beliefs are be- withhold permission for "their" women's participation in ing challenged. Most importantly, the notion that a mar- the revolutionary struggle. These companeros, in spite ried couple must remain together unil death separates of having great revolutionary convictions, have not them is losing its former dominance. This prescription transformed their values; they have merely made super- required a married couple to perserve their union, re- ficial changes. Now that they have the opportunity and gardless of the conflicts, abuses or outrages suffered right to participate fully in the social life of the Revolu- within it. tion, they reserve this right for themselves and relegate This viewpoint defined marriage as a "cross" that the to their spouse the same work as before. couple had to bear throughout their life. lb separate from Another aspect of this behavior is that we often approve one's spouse was to risk public censure and condemnaton the performance of others but not that of our spouse. by one's family, friends, and co-workers. A divorced What we praise in a co-worker or friend we denounce in woman was considered a failure and everyone insisted our spouse. We accept that others sacrifice their time or that a married woman continue living with her husband, leave their children in the care of other people in order

Women's International Resource Exchange 21 to carry out their commitments to the revolution, but, the stability of the union and permit each person to when it is a question of our own children, we disapprove realize his or her full personal potential. and refuse to do the same. Divorce and separation should be seen as alternatives Now that women are conscious of their historical con- to be chosen with maturity and responsibility. In other dition, they participate in different organizations. Today, words, we are not going to establish a relationship only women can study and work and they are reaching higher to separate soon after because of a lack of understanding, levels of responsibility in the workplace. In general, only to repeat obsessively the whole operation again with women's strategies for organizing their lives during the another person. process of change enable them to clarify their true role This would indicate impulsiveness, a lack of serious- within their marriages and in their family life. ness, and immaturity. Matrimony should be entered into Women are beginning to consider seriously the fact with the seriousness and responsibility that this institu- that within the revolution all human beings are equal tion requires. Now that we have the opportunity to and that it is one's level of participation, one's level of establish relationships based on cultural models and responsibility and commitment that make a difference. criteria distinct from those of the past, marital unions When a husband or lover reacts negatively to a just and should be based on the new social and ethical values revolutionary position taken by a woman, that woman's which the transformative activity of the revolution is revolutionary consciousness asserts itself. creating. Strengthening social institutions and the fami- Thus, couples who are not content to continue under ly is a very important task of the revolution and we must norms and customs imposed in the past take upon them- promote this within the contradictory circumstances of selves the difficult task of clearing the way toward the our lives. creation of new forms of male/female relationships. They Principled behavior will show critics who accuse the seek to give a more profound humanist content to their revolution of promoting "a crisis in the institution of the relationships, consonant with the new revolutionary family" that the people who really wish to promote a morality which has laid bare the hypocritical and crisis in the heart of families are those who wish to con- discriminatory relations which were fostered by the old tinue in the past, prolonging a situation in which rela- somocista order. tionships were more commercial than familial, and the Nicaraguans are beginning to reject the idea that a values of an individualistic, dehumanized and repressive woman has to suffer and endure mistreatment and dis- social model were the motivating force. respect at the hands of her husband in order to "preserve The foundations of the new Nicaraguan family are be- the marriage." The idea that marriage is a "calvary" in ing created and will eventually emerge from the ex- which a woman has to put up with her husband's miser- perience of the full integration of men and women into able behavior, his drunkenness, his other women, etc., the tasks and commitments which the Revolution re- has fewer and fewer adherents. quires. New forms of relationships will evolve for couples, married people, and families as we collectively realize Marriage and family relationships should now be the necessity to eliminate gradually the old concepts and based on a voluntary basis in which all persons involved practices which were transmitted to us in the past. This have equal rights, duties and opportunities. Such unions process sometimes requires more strength and will than should be based on a coincidence of interests, respect for that required by other revolutionary tasks. A revolu- the individuality of each person involved; and they tionary commitment to our people requires that, in ad- should encourage mutual support, the common good, dition to the transformation of social and economic bases, solidarity and friendship. All these things contribute to we create new perceptions of family life.

Translation by Julia Mayer-Orozco. This article appeared in Barricada (July 7, 1983) and was reprinted in Mujer, Unidad de Comunicacion Alternativa de la Mujer (Santiago, Chile: August 1983).

Photo by Margaret Randall. From Women Brave in the Face of Danger: Photographs of and Writings by Latin and North American 22 Women, Margaret Randall ($10.95, The Crossing Press, Trumansberg, N.Y.) AMNLAE: WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP IN THE REVOLUTION

WIRE: Mercedes, would you tell us a little about Working conditions were bad for all workers, but for your own life? women they were especially oppressive. For example, there were no daycare facilities. And of course, women MM: Well, I'm thirty years old, the daughter of a were limited to certain traditional, low-paid occupations. worker-a laundress. She used to wash and iron in the homes of the rich. She brought up ten children alone. I WIRE: Were there trade unions? If so, were am the eldest of the daughters and therefore when I was women workers unionized? little I was expected to help around the house, to wash and iron for my brothers, cook-as well as go to school. MM: There were some, but most of them were so called I think that experience contributed a lot to my conscious- "white" unions, which were controlled by the employers, ness as a woman, and from a very early age I empathized and which didn't defend workers' rights. Women didn't a lot with my mother. participate much in union activities; they didn't have the I became involved in anti-Somoza work in 1975 opportunity. through the Christian movement in my neighborhood. Another problem affecting women during the Somoza Little by little, I began to look beyond the immediate pro- era was prostitution, a result of widespread unemploy- blems to the more general national and international ment. And health services for the population at large context. were almost nonexistent. This lack hit women especial- I was going to night school then, because I worked days ly hard because of their unmet needs for pre- and post- at a pants factory. Then, due to much effort on my part natal care, for contraception, and for sex education. and that of my mother, I went to the university. She Upper-class women, of course, could afford such services dreamed of my learning a profession. At the university from private doctors and clinics-including abortions. I joined a student organization affiliated with the San- dinistas and political work began to absorb me complete- WIRE: In Margaret Randall's Sandino's Daugh- ly. We did a lot of work with the committees of mothers ters many women were interviewed who had joined of political prisoners and the disappeared. We also the struggle against Somoza as a consequence of organized hunger strikes, demonstrations and other their kids' involvement. These were older women. forms of protest. I had always been concerned with women's issues and MM: That's how it was. Our experience in AMPRONAC in 19771 joined AMPRONAC (Association of Nicaraguan in the Somoza years was that in the barrios, the Women Confronting the National Problem). I worked in neighborhoods, women joined the struggle more readily, the eastern neighborhoods of Managua, helping to orga- and carried out a wide range of tasks-from hiding stores nize a supply network for the companeros and com- of weapons or medical supplies to giving an underground paneras fighting in the mountains, giving courses in first companero a place to sleep. A husband would often ex- 1 aid, and organizing storage centers for medical and food press fear, reluctance, and it would be the wife who would supplies and arms. say, "We can't leave him in the street." If her own children I After the triumph, I was named AMNLAE's represen- weren't involved, her motivation was often that of tative to the Council of State and I am a member of solidarity with other mothers with children in the move- AMNLAE's national executive committee. I am current- ment against Somoza. In this way her consciousness ly the general secretary of District 3, Managua. began to develop. Like all Latin American mothers, Nicaraguan women WIRE: Can you tell us about the problems are very devoted to their children, and it has usually Nicaraguan women were facing at the time of the been the mothers who were responsible for their develop- revolution? ment, their education and wellbeing. Since Somoza and the National Guard concentrated much of their repressive MM: There were general problems, which all efforts on the young people -whom they considered to be Nicaraguans had to face—unemployment, for example, more dangerous because more revolutionary-this led to inadequate health services, limited educational facilities. much suffering on the part of mothers, many of whom

23 had a daughter or a son who was expelled from the women and the family. We also have an officially con- university, or jailed, or disappeared. This suffering stituted Legal Office of Women, which can be very created more commitment to the country's struggle, helpful with such questions. It attempts to explain the closer contact and involvement with their kids' activities. laws and to offer aid where needed. WIRE: Comandante Borge, in one of his earliest WIRE: How has AMNLAE's work changed in the speeches after the Sandinista triumph, spoke of the five years since the Revolution? widespread problem of fathers who abandoned their families. He said that the jails were ready to MM: In 1977 we had organized as AMPRONAC, for the receive such irresponsible men. And in the film purpose of raising women's consciousness through par- Women in Arms there is a dramatic scene in which ticipation in their own organization. The prime objective several women in a public square are interviewed; was to overthrow Somoza, and AMPRONAC played an when asked what changes they hoped the Revolu- important role in achieving that goal. For example we tion would bring to their lives, they all complained organized the logistics for the opposition, hiding medical of abandonment by the fathers of their children and supplies, food, and arms for the underground and we also hoped measures would be taken to confront this organized public protest actions. Soon after the Revolu- problem. Have such measures been taken? tion we changed our name to the Luisa Amanda Espinosa Association of Nicaraguan Women MM: The fact is that many Nicaraguan women are (AMNLAE). single mothers. We don't have reliable statistics on this Now, we need to think in other terms: how to move the question but it is estimated that about 45 percent of all Revolution forward, how to achieve the status in society mothers are single. If a couple live together in consen- that corresponds to women; how to reach the oppressed sual union or in legal marriage and if they then separate, woman, the marginalized woman, the woman who the kids usually stay with the mother. The father often doesn't participate, who has no consciousness of her role leaves and takes no further responsibility for the fam- as a woman in society-who has accepted the notion that ily. There's a lot of work for us to do in this area because her role is exclusively that of taking care of the house and we believe that the responsbility for kids falls on the her kids. That is our task. father as well as the mother, whether they live together We had seen our priorities, after the Revolution, as be- or not. ing health, education, literacy, but in 1981 we reviewed Until now, only those children born in wedlock were our work of the previous three-year period and saw that protected by the law, and they are the minority since things were not advancing well. What was happening most poor women live in consensual unions. We think was that, for example, a woman factory worker would there must be legislation that protects all children, that participate in trade-union activities and go to all the guarantees that their basic material needs are met. To union meetings. Then, she'd go home and out again to that end we have passed the Law of Father, Mother, Child block committee activities-guard duty, health brigade Relations and also the Nurturing Law. work, or some other task. Then there were all the The Nurturing Law stipulates the responsibility of domestic duties which only women carry out: parents' both parents not only to feed their children, but also to meetings at school, taking kids to the doctor, helping clothe them, educate them, and meet their health needs. them with homework, and so on. And if this woman was Parental responsibility must be equally shared. Which- in the People's Militia, she had meetings and drill ses- ever of the two parents earns more should take on a pro- sions. She would end the day really exhausted because portionately greater share of financial support for them. of too many commitments. Adding AMNLAE meetings activities to all this was just too much. WIRE: How is this law implemented? So we had to reorganize, with a looser framework and fewer demands made on the members. Now we operate MM: There are many problems. Five years have passed more as a movement rather than a tightly-knit organiza- since the Revolution, right? Years during which we have tion. We needed to reshape our project so as to involve been taking small steps towards transformation. On the women who were not formerly involved, who still live legal level this has been difficult because these laws have their lives-as many still do-within their own four a heavy ideological content and challenge the behavior walls. We had to organize activities that would motivate of men and women who were shaped in the old society. and integrate them into the group, that wouldn't be an The first problem is that not everyone has grasped the added burden. We've made mistakes along the way, dur- content of these laws, and therefore we need to undertake ing the last three years, but we're correcting them as we an educational campaign to explain them. Second, even go along. if they were understood, we would still have trouble en- Now we have working committees in workplaces and forcing them. Why? Because there is unemployment- neighborhoods. In a factory, say, with a hundred women and we're not going to enforce them in the case of an workers, we might have a working committee of four to unemployed mother or father. Third, our judiciary is still six women. They will observe, for example, that of the virtually unchanged from the past. The judges still have hundred perhaps only 25 are attending certain educa- their heads in the past; they don't understand these laws tional activities at the workplaces. Their task will be to and don't know how to apply them. In this regard, increase that number. AMNLAE, together with other organizations and gov- We're still a long way from organizing all the women. ernmental bodies, has been conducting seminars and Managua has 200 neighborhoods, 800,00 inhabitants, workshops with the legal personnel. What is needed is and we still have not reached all the women; it will take a family code that would embody all laws relating to years.

24 Women's International Resource Exchange We have many problems. We are a women's organiza- credible rigidity. That's when we enter the picture. For tion in a country under attack-in a war that means example, we have a working committee of AMNLAE at deaths and other casualties every single day. The war the Berta Calderon Women's Hospital, which is where brings with it economic problems, shortages of daily women check in who have induced abortion and are necessities-and the family member responsible for find- bleeding. There are also cases of women who are de- ing these necessities is the woman. Young people are go- nounced by neighbors for inducing abortion and brought ing off to the war zones, to the army or the coffee to the hospital under arrest. Then we intervene, chal- brigades; and the mothers, girlfriends, sisters, and wives lenge the police and the judge, whoever, because this are involved in the organization of civil defense, because shouldn't happen. It's the inflexibility of the law and of we have to protect our people, our children, in case of the judges that leads to this. bombardment-and that means digging trenches, build- ing shelters. So, what should women's demands be at such WIRE: Has there been an effort to replace the at time? To have access to food and other necessities so judges who are holdovers from the Somoza period? that her family can eat; to participate in military train- ing, so as to contribute to the common effort-and so as MM: Yes, but the problem is that we don't yet have the to defend herself, should the need arise. personnel with which to replace them. We are training Another problem that affects women directly: batter- people, women and men-the so-called "popular judges'- ing. There is a high proportion of men who batter their but it takes time. They have to have a minimum of wives or companeras and it is our job to find ways, preparation and a certain cultural level. We have had to mechanisms, methods to put an end to this. Then there begin the process with literacy programs, in many cases, is the problem of illegal abortions, with many resulting because before the Revolution very few people even com- deaths. pleted primary school.

WIRE: The women who have illegal abortions and WIRE: Can you tell us something about sex then go to a hospital because of infection, are they education in Nicaragua? subject to legal sanction? MM: We are taking our first steps in that direction. We MM: Yes, there are penalties. There is a law, a holdover have set up a National Education Council, made up of from the Somoza period, which declares abortion illegal, representatives of the youth organization, AMNLAE, and there are judges who apply somocista laws with in- trade unions, and the Ministry of Education to discuss

Mercedes Mejia at the podium

Women's International Resource Exchange 25 educational problems. Among its concerns are textbooks the compaheros and companeras who complete the CEP and curriculum. We have begun to institute sex educa- course of study go on to one of them. tion at each educational level, beginning with kinder- All these efforts represent an economic drain. For ex- garten* But this is a new field for us and we need mate- ample, in the rural areas great effort was put into open- rials-we try to make do with the little we have, using, ing schools for continuing education for adults as well as for example, magazine clippings and translated materials schools for children but they have been burnt down, from abroad. destroyed, by the contras. The same thing has happened Sex education is carried out not only in the classroom, to many projects in the war zones—whether they be but also in AMNLAE's magazine, Soraos, which is deal- schools, or social service centers for children, or health ing with this subject regularly. Articles also appear in centers. They don't leave a health center standing, much Muchachos, a young people's magazine. There are talks less the silos and warehouses for basic food supplies. They offered for the general public and AMNLAE is about to burn all the fields and the silos. launch a radio series which will deal with a range of sub- So, even though we've made advances in education, it's jects relevant to women and, of course, sex education will not enough. In the majority of cases our modest progress be included. In fact, all the mass organizations will has been reversed by the destruction wrought by the con- disseminate such materials, in coordination with the tras. All this means that we have to move a lot more slow- schools and the media. ly toward meeting people's needs in all areas—education, health, nutrition, jobs. Since the Revolution we've had WIRE: Do you face opposition to sex education 7,000 co/i^ra-caused deaths, and 50,000 died in the war from conservative or religious circles? against Somoza. We've suffered material losses amoun- ting to more than 3 million dollars. We don't get loans, MM: Yes. Since there is a national, standarized cur- our credit is cut off, the little we have is destroyed, and riculum for all schools, public or private, some of the they kill our people. Catholic schools have caused problems. They sometimes I would like to mention, if I may, that AMNLAE is not claim that they have no available teacher for sex educa- state-subsidized. We depend to a large extent on aid from tion or that the teaching materials are objectionable. Op- abroad. Many solidarity groups in Europe and the position doesn't come from the parents but from sectors United States have been very generous, providing us linked to the church hierarchy, and especially from with paper, pencils, cassettes, and office supplies in members of right-wing parties, who are always looking general. We sometimes joke that we no longer greet peo- for a way to attack the government. ple by shaking hands in the normal way but with our palms up, because we so urgently need the help of women WIRE: Are grade schools co-ed? everywhere. That's our reality. I'd like to thank WIRE for this opportunity to tell our MM: Yes, all schools are co-ed, including those that story and I'd also like to thank the women of the United were formerly single-sex, such as the private, religious States for their solidarity with AMNLAE and with the schools for the children of the wealthy. people of Nicaragua, which they've expressed in so many Speaking of education, I'd like to tell you a little about ways: gifts of pencils and paper, powdered milk, medical some of our adult education programs. Not only are supplies, and so on. We know that they understand that universities as well as day and evening high schools free we're not attacking anyone, we're being attacked. Our and open to everyone, but there are programs for those people know that the U.S. government is one thing and who learned to read and write in the literacy campaign the people of the United States are another. This streng- of 1980. For example, if in a given factory five workers thens us immensely. It means we are not alone. had participated in the campaign, they would continue I'd like to send greetings to the women of the United to meet so as to improve their reading and writing skills. States, to the latino, and Caribbean sisters residing there, By now, most of them would be ready for ninth grade. to the mothers of the United States, who-we are sure- There are more than 200,000 Nicaraguans participating will not permit Washington to send their sons to kill in these popular education collectives, or CEPs. Also, Nicaraguans and to die on Nicaraguan soil. para-technical institutes have been organized, with -December 1984 shorter courses of studies than the universities. Many of

*For an example of kindergarten sex education, see "Pepe y Maria,: on the facing page ....

Translation by Bobbye Ortiz AMNLAE's address is: Apdo. Postal A238, Managua, Nicaragua.

26 Women's International Resource Exchac PEPE AND MARIA

UftS 4^o Cars vO- CClSo «-Oflnr\4S TO DO-'i a. "4e va4— V) o \ s e. • SV>e 0,0 dl u>iVV\e

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They look 4V>e

' £o Peps and Maria- off4kciMO

Women's International Resource Exchange 27 lange And Mario. UJ-T cl<3

4®ci<^-

FIN

Translation by Bobbye Ortiz From Somos (AMNLAE, Dec. '83-Jan. '84) Based on drawings and story by Gunilla Wolde.

28 Lauren Poole

"Nicaragua es una nation departos"(Nicaragua is a na- work as part of the primary care system, referring high tion of births), said Comandante Tbmas Borge in his clos- risk patients to health centers and delivering lower risk ing address to the First United States-Nicaragua Health patients at home. Government-trained midwives are Colloquium. As is typical of Borge, his statement was given certification and delivery kits upon completion of metaphorical. Nicaragua is giving birth to a new soci- the course. ety and new ideas are being born. But Borge was also As the people recognize the value of this training, the referring to Nicaragua's high birth rate and his remarks demand for them increases. There are still traditional- were specifically directed to the Nicaraguan lay mid- ly trained midwives functioning outside of the system, wives attending the colloquium. Borge recognized the however, and the government-trained midwives have midwives in his address, underscoring the tremendous been instrumental in the attempt to recruit them into emphasis that the revolutionary government has given the program. The term partera popular (popular, or peo- to maternal-child health. ple's midwife) is now used to refer to the more highly Dona Haydee Cruz, one of the midwives from the trained midwives. It is a term which recognizes their municipality of Esteli, gave an eloquent and moving ac- relationship and commitment to the community. count of her personal history. Speaking before a work- The revolutionary government of Nicaragua has given shop of Nicaraguan and North American nurses and top priority to the area of maternal-child health. As such, midwives, she said, "We have lived during two eras. The the midwife training program has helped to reduce era of Somoza and the era in which we now live, that of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates. the Frente Sandinista. In the old era, I became an em- Other programs include: provision of well-baby and pirical midwife without anyone teaching me anything. prenatal care in hundreds of health facilities built since Everything I learned was from my own experience. That 1979; provision of family planning services; massive pro- is to say, in those days we lived an abandoned life in motion of breast-feeding, with a ban on pro-formula which nobody mentioned us and nobody paid any atten- advertising; more equitable distribution of foodstuffs and tion to us. When the time came, the Frente Sandinista food supplementation programs for pregnant and lac- appeared among us, we began to cooperate with tating women and their children; construction of oral them. . ." rehydration centers to treat diarrheal disease; and During the insurrection, while continuing to work as massive immunization campaigns. a midwife, Haydee provided her home as a meeting place In order to learn firsthand about the actual provision and supported the involvement of her husband and her of these services, a small group of North American col- children with the Frente. After the triumph, she was loquium delegates traveled to a rural health center, Julio asked to be the health responsable for her community Buitrago Urroz, located about 75 kilometers from and began coordinating the popular health campaigns. Managua. This center is the major health facility in the She was also one of the first lay midwives to get further area, with an emergency room, consultation and exam training under an important new program initiated by rooms, a small laboratory and seven hospital beds. There the revolutionary government. we met with two health care providers: Maria Cecilia Before the triumph, the vast majority of rural women Paz, a Colombian nurse who had been working in Nicara- received no formal obstetrical care. If they were attended gua for two years and Matilde Mendez, a Nicaraguan during labor and delivery at all, it was by a lay midwife physician in her second year of social service. like Haydee. And like her, the midwives learned their We learned that the center's seven hospital beds are art through experience and the passing down of skills most commonly occupied by recovering post-partum pa- from generation to generation, woman to woman. Since tients. Yet when asked if many rural women opt to deliver the revolution, those skills and the great contribution in the center, Maria Cecilia said that the vast majority made by the lay midwives have been recognized and prefer to be attended by a midwife at home. She ex- enhanced by the state. plained that the expectant mother prefers a familiar Currently, large numbers of lay midwives are being community woman to stay with her to help manage her trained in programs which modernize their medical household during those first postpartum days. skills. These programs focus on aseptic (sterile) techni- Besides delivering most of the area's babies, the mid- ques during delivery and risk assessment of the prenatal, wives have been helpful in referring women to the health intrapartum, and postpartum patient. The midwives center for family planning services. "Before the triumph,"

Women's International Resource Exchange 29 explained Maria Cecilia, "the midwives were used by the the youth organization have produced and distributed in- private demographic associations to distribute birth con- formation on anatomy, sexuality, and family planning. trol methods. Now that the Ministry of Health is taking Maria Cecilia and Matilde's experience is that more over these services, the midwives provide basic informa- and more women are asking for family planning ser- tion but refer women to the clinic to obtain family plan- vices. Currently, oral contraceptives and lUD's are the ning methods and follow-up." only methods available at their clinic. "Both methods," The subject of family planning is a difficult and con- says Maria Cecilia, "have met with resistance from some troversial one in Nicaragua. The majority of Nicaraguans of the men. When they feel the IUD strings, they send are Catholic and believe that each pregnancy is a bless- her back to the clinic to take it out. They won't let her ing. Also important is the historical context for the pro- plan her family. They think if she's protected she'll go out vision of family planning services in Nicaragua. Before with someone else. So the women come and get the pill the triumph, almost all services were delivered by the and take it secretly." When asked about the use of the international population control agencies which, as barrier methods, Maria Cecilia replied that occasionally Maria Cecilia stated,". . . always had the policy that there the center supplies cream, foam, and vaginal supposi- should be fewer births so that there would be fewer tories but that currently none were available. Of the guerillas." diaphragm she said, "In the rural areas, it would be very Presently, there seem to be two other prevailing at- difficult for us. The cost is high but it would be mostly titudes on family planning. One is that women should a question of education." For most rural women, the cost be allowed to control their reproduction while the other of cream or jelly would be prohibitive not to mention its is that women should bear many children to increase the sporadic availability. number available to reconstruct the country. The govern- One of the most striking images from the visit to this ment does not appear to have a formal policy on birth clinic was that of several disposable IUD applicators control, and has taken a more pronatalist position. soaking in antiseptic solution for reuse-a painful exam- Nicaragua's population jumped from 3% to 4.5% in 1980. ple of the supply shortage partially caused and clearly This rise in population is common in postwar situations. exacerbated by the isolation and undermining of Nicara- Thus far, the mass organizations have played a more im- gua by the United States government. portant role in raising the issue of family planning. Statistics regarding contraceptive choice in Nicaragua AMNLAE (the Nicaraguan Women's Association) and may somewhat reflect these shortages. A presiding obste-

November 1984

30 Women's International Resource Exchange trician-gynecologist at the colloquium stated that in areas where medical care was essentially nonexistent 1983, 22.1% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 prior to the revolution. were using contraception. Of those, 75% were using the Despite these notable advances, serious problems re- pill, 15% the IUD, and 10% were using other methods. main. The major obstacle to the continued development These statistics were probably gathered from women of the Nicaraguan health care system is U.S. military seeking family planning services in government facili- and economic intervention. Already scarce resources are ties only. Not included is the use of Depo-Provera (a long- being increasingly diverted from areas such as health lasting injectable contraceptive) which has reportedly to Nicaragua's defense. U.S.-backed contra attacks have been banned by the revolutionary government. Depo- forced the closing of many health posts and are respon- Provera is allegedly, however, still in use. Perhaps this sible for the deaths of twelve physicians in 1982. The food is true because almost half of the family planning ser- supplementation programs for high risk mothers and vices in Nicaragua are still provided by the private sec- children mentioned earlier are being cut as more food tor, which is not under government control and includes is being sent to the front. The popular health campaign the international population control agencies. most visible during our visits was a first aid campaign With regard to the issue of abortion, historically there geared toward teaching the populace how to deal with has been a high rate of self-induced abortions and a casualties caused by war. On our tours to various health subsequent high incidence of septic abortions in Nicara- facilities, preparations for war were clearly evident. A gua. Although the revolutionary government has not yet makeshift sign in an oral rehydration unit indicated that taken steps to legalize abortions, the number of septic the area would be used for triage (emergency care) by war abortions has decreased since 1979. Women who come to victims in the event of an invasion. the hospital with an incomplete abortion are no longer, Equally visible throughout Nicaragua was the people's detained and questioned as they were prior to the revolu- desire for peace and their will to continue to reconstruct tion. Values around both family planning and abortion their country. The U.S. delegation to the colloquium joins are changing. the Nicaraguans in their call for peace and commends the Nicaraguan government for their achievements in More has been done in the past four years to improve the area of health. We also condemn the interventionist the health of Nicaraguan mothers and babies than at any role of the U.S. government in Nicaragua as we have time prior to 1979. In those four years, the infant mor- witnessed firsthand the undue hardships this action has tality rate has decreased from 121 to 88 per 1,000. Polio placed on the people. For this reason, we join many others has been virtually eliminated. The number of institu- in our country in calling for an end to all covert and overt tional births has risen from 41,947 in 1977 to 58,006 in U.S. aid designed to destabilize the Nicaraguan 1982. Prenatal, and well-baby care are available in rural government.

Lauren Poole is a Family Nurse Practitioner at the Montefiore Family Health Center in the Bronx. She was a delegate to the First U.S.- Nicaragua Health Colloquium and is active in Bronx Health Workers for Human Rights in Central America. This article appeared in CAR ASA News, Feb.-Mar. 1984, 17 Murray St., NY, NY 10007.

Women's International Resource Exchange 31 NICARAGUA 1984: HUMAN AND MATERIAL COSTS OF WAR

In 1984, anti-government forces continued to inflict and MISURASATA. Rivera traveled to Managua, where significant human and economic losses, which have he met with government leaders, and entered into a directly affected not only Nicaragua's armed forces and negotiation process. In January 1985, however, the government, but the civilian population as well (see negotiation broke down, and their future course is Appendix). uncertain* In early 1984 Nicaragua's ports were increasingly The counterrevolutionary forces set out in mid-1984 to targeted, and the focus of the war shifted to economic disrupt the July 19 celebration of the overthrow of sabotage. Aerial attacks, some with direct U.S. participa- Somoza, late-July voter registration, and the November tion, occurred at the northwest port of Potosi in early elections. Eight electoral officials were killed by rebel January and February, and at the fishing port of San forces during the entire electoral process, and 16 polling Juan del Sur in March. CIA mining of Nicaragua's three places were unable to open or function normally on elec- main ports-Corinto, San Juan del Sur, and El Bluff- tion day due to contra harassment. was carried out in January and February, raising a ma- jor U.S. domestic controversy in March and April. Economic sabotage and indiscriminate killing of civil- Nicaragua turned to the International Court of Justice ians were the main methods employed. The June 1 at- at the Hague in search of a legal ruling to back up its tack in which FDN forces entered Ocotal for several call for an end to U.S. intervention. In May the Court, hours was indicative of the economic sabotage strategy. in a preliminary ruling, called on the United States to The sawmill, radio station, electric power company of- halt all support for military actions that jeopardize fices, and grain silos were all destroyed or seriously Nicaragua's "sovereignty and political independence." damaged with losses totaling almost $7 million, accord- (New York Times, 5/11/84). In November the Court re- ing to an independent report by Maryknoll Sisters in fused to accept the U.S. argument that the matter was Nicaragua. not in the Court's jurisdiction, and two months later the The participation of U.S. mercenaries fanned the Reagan Administration pulled out of the case. flames of controversy over U.S. policy when two members In early 1984, the Nicaraguan Democratic Force of the Civilian Military Assistance-one of them an (FDN), based in Honduras, regrouped in the wake of its Alabama National Guardsman-were killed in a contra abortive attempt in late 1983 to seize a part of attack on the northern town of Santa Clara in early Nicaraguan territory near Jalapa. The FDN also began September. to operate for the first time in southern Nicaragua, where While the elections proceeded without major disrup- the Costa Rican-based Democratic Revolutionary Alli- tions, FDN attacks in late 1984 took a significant toll on ance (ARDE) has been the predominant anti-Sandinista the coffee harvest. Such attacks resulted in material force. Attempts to unite the FDN and ARDE literally destruction as well as the deaths of many civilians, in- blew up in ARDE commander Eden Pastora's face in late cluding road workers, coffee pickers, or members of farm May. Since then Alfonso Robelo, who in late 1984 an- cooperatives. nounced he was abandoning the military arena, has The fall 1984 revelation that the CIA had prepared the entered into an alliance with the FDN and Steadman "Psychological Warfare Manual" for the counterrevolu- Fagoth's Honduran-based MISURA. The alliance, tionary forces was a political blow to the Reagan Ad- known as UNIR (Unity for National Reconciliation), ministration, as the manual suggests killing government however, has yielded little more than formal declarations. officials and sympathizers of the Sandinistas. Robelo continues to sign as the leader of ARDE. As 1984 drew to a close, both the Nicaraguan govern- Pastora, however, appears to have the loyalty of the ment and U.S.-backed anti-government forces presented ARDE fighting force. He has resisted U.S. pressure to figures describing the year's balance, as well as prospects unite with the FDN, saying its leadership is somocista. for 1985... Pastora's major 1984 action was the two-day seizure last Economic Difficulties Compounded by War April of the isolated Caribbean port of San Juan del The war has had several negative effects on Nicaragua's Norte. economic growth: On the one hand, material damages In late 1984 ARDE was further weakened by the ap- resulting from actions in 1984 totaled US $254.9 million, parent withdrawal of Miskito leader Brooklyn Rivera equivalent to 70% of Nicaragua's annual export revenues. ^Negotiations were reopened in April 1984.

32 Women's International Resource Exdk , mumcation infrastructure ^3)^taf l as - TJ^ ~*-l i. ... speculation, 5) the fiscal deficit 6) l»rk f I 8r°Wmg Pnces, and 7) a precintt™,; f ,, °funiformityin and provision for social serving t g, are health productivity PreciPitous fall in agricultural »^SSS?r38rpithe war. As of November 1984 £ P^°nS dlsplaceds by revolutionary Sks m6S beCaUSe °f counter-

""?*on the

taken place since SeptembS19*4f wv^ attacks have on extoding such artZ? ^3 f^ en*l»^ iJecember 4 a J — -

Aange Women's International Resource Exchange

33 • rationalization of the subsidy policy, even with regard In January 1985, the Reagan administration an- to basic goods, so as to overcome supply and demand nounced its intention to pull out of the U.S.-Nicaraguan imbalances. Government subsidies on basic goods talks which, since June 1984, have unfolded in Man- will be eliminated, or maintained at diminished zanillo, Mexico, and its refusal to participate in the World levels for lower income groups. Court suit brought by Nicaragua to challenge the legal- ity of U.S. actions aimed at Nicaragua. U.S. plans to The government summarized its goals for 1985 in the block the Contadora regional negotiations were made watchword, "For peace, all against the aggression." The public in November (Washington Post, 11/6/84). Thus, the major emphasis will be fighting the war in an attempt prospects for a negotiated solution to differences between to prevent the anti-government forces from operating the United States and Nicaragua and the armed con- within Nicaraguan territory. flicts in Central America in 1985 appear dim.

Reprinted with permission from Central American Historical Institute.

© Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs of the Revolution in Rivas, 1982

34 Women's International Resource Excha APPENDIX: HUMAN AND MATERIAL COSTS OF THE WAR MILITARY/SUMMARY FIGURES

Deaths from War (1982-June 1984) Total Government Employees: Wounded Kidnapped Murdered Victims Workers 102 655 226 983 Technicians 38 68 78 184 Professionals 8 11 25 44 SUB-TOTAL 148 734 329 1,211 Teachers (Adult Educ.) 118 89 207 Peasants in cooperatives, Christian Delegates of the Word and Miskitos 5 2,179 436 2,620 Total Civilian Victims 153 3,031 854 4,038 Total Military Casualties 3,353 GRAND TOTAL 7,391 -Embassy of Nicaragua, "In Brief Since 1982, 134 children under 12 have been killed by the contras and 37 maimed. 6,239 children have lost one or both parents. -Daniel Ortega, Speech at Fourth National Children's Festival, August 1984 1984 Summary armed encounters 1,500 contra casualties 4,000 contra deaths 3,000 Nicaraguan army deaths 1,000 Nicaraguan civilian deaths 600 Nicaraguan wounded or abducted 2,400 (civilian and military, excluding contras) An average of 4.3 Nicaraguans have been killed per day as a result of the war. In 1984, material damage resulting from contra attacks amounted to $254.9 million, approximately 70 percent of the value Nicaragua received for its exports during the year. —Speech by Humberto Ortega, December 26, 1984 SOCIAL SECTOR: EDUCATION AND HEALTH Since 1981, 18 doctors and nurses, including two Europeans, have been killed, according to the Ministry of Health. 153 teachers have been killed since 1982. -New Statesman, August 31, 1984 In 1984: 98 adult education teachers killed by contras 171 adult education teachers kidnapped by contras 15 primary teachers killed; 16 kidnapped by contras 14 schools destroyed 840 adult education centers shut down 354 schools did not function 20 million cordoba losses in education from January to September 1984 -Fernando Cardenal, as quoted on Radio Sandino 12/22/84; in FBIS 12/28/84. ECONOMY Contra attacks on Nicaragua's ports, the burning of granaries, warehouses, farms, factories, and fields, the mining of harbors, the destruction of hospitals and schools, have caused an estimated US$200 million worth of damage (in 1984). —New Statesman, August 21, 1984 U.S. actions since Reagan became president, including the freeze on bilateral aid, blocking international loans, and the cut in sugar quotas, have cost Nicaragua US$550 million. —Cesar Arostegui, deputy director of the International Fund for Reconstruction, as quoted in the New York Times, October 22, 1984 Nicaragua will lose more than US$25 million in coffee revenue in the 1984-85 harvest due to the counterrevolu- tionary actions. Approximately 100,000 quintales (1 quintal=100 Ibs) of coffee planted near the border with Honduras cannot be picked this year. -Ministry of Agriculture, quoted on Radio Sandino 11/28/84; in FBIS 11/29/84 An average of 10 cooperatives per month are being destroyed by the anti-Sandinista rebels. —Ministry of Agriculture Jaime Wheelock, September 25, 1984

N.B. These figures have been garnered from a variety of sources. Nonetheless, due to the nature of the situation, most of the data orginates from Nicaraguan government sources. This list does not attempt to be complete. Reprinted with permission from Central American Historical Institute Update, January 29, 1985.

Women's International Resource Exchange 35 J.E. It seems that Steadman, Armstrong and J.E. The Miskitu have certain rights that Ameri- Brooklyn Rivera had different ideas about what can Indians do not have, such as the right to in- was best for the Miskitu. Perhaps as a doctor your struction in native languages. I don't think there relation with the people was different from Fa- has ever been a literacy crusade among Native goth's? Americans. How did the Miskitu receive the literacy crusade? M.C. I think from the beginning they didn't care much about the people; their personal ambitions came first, M.C. It was during the literacy crusade that Fagoth and after the revolution they moved back to the Atlantic made most of his propaganda. . . most important is their coast to become leaders. It was easy for someone who reception of the adult education program, especially in came from the university and spoke both Miskitu and the new settlements. Because they have more contact Spanish to become a leader, especially if you had to relate with the rest of the world, because of the opportunities to the new government. The village leaders are shy and for scholarship, they see education doesn't end with don't speak Spanish well. reading and writing, and they feel it important to join the adult program. J.E. My understanding is that the FSLN wanted the leadership of Misurasata to develop from among the people, like in the other organizations, such as J.E. You've traveled recently to the United States; AMNLAE or the CDSs, but it didn't work because do you have anything to add for those who didn't of the role played by Steadman and the rest. Is there hear you speak? now more of an opportunity for the natural leader- ship to develop? M.C. A good way to help the Nicaraguan people would be to support our lawsuit against the Reagan ad- M.C. In the villages and resettlements, the people ministration;4 we feel that the support given to the responsible for production, education and health pro- groups that attack our civilians violate international law. grams are all native people. There are also many scholar- The only way that we can have peace and continue work- ships which will enable Atlantic coast people to prepare ing for what we have gained and still need is to stop themselves to run programs. Reagan's aid to those groups. J.E. Are the Atlantic coast people beginning to understand that the revolution is not a gift, but a lot of hard work?

M.C. With the presence of the missionaries, the multi- nationals, the British colonizers, there was a lot of pater- 1. Steadman Fagoth was one of a handful of Miskitu who studied in nalism on the Atlantic Coast, and people thought that Managua in the 1970s. In early 1981 he was arrested, along with the rest of the Misurasata leadership, for fomenting a separatist plot. At change would come from the outside. Now they see that the time, the government revealed documents from Somoza's security this isn't true, that if they want change, they have to work forces which showed that he had been a paid informer from before the for it, and also that now they have the opportunity, victory in 1979. After his release on a work-study program, he fled to because before, even if they wanted change, they couldn't Honduras and organized armed opposition to the Sandinistas. U.S. work for it. sources say Fagoth's faction has been the chief recipient of CIA funds among the Miskitu opposition. 2. Puerto Cabezas on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast was used as a train- J.E. Could you give me an example where the peo- ing base for CIA-supported Cuban exiles, and B-26's which attacked ple have been able to negotiate with the government Havana's airport flew from Puerto Cabezas. to change a decision? 3. The December 1981 Red Christmas plot included plans to dynamite the Managua oil refinery and foment a secessionist uprising of the Nor- thern Atlantic Coast. M.C. I remember a group of Sumo who were resettled 4. Dr. Cunningham is a plaintiff in the Sanchez-Espinoza vs. Reagan from the Rio Coco with Miskitu. They asked the govern- law suit, filed in U.S. courts in November, 1982. This law suit, spon- ment to move them, because they didn't want the chil- sored by Congressman Ron Dellums of California, seeks damages for personal injuries suffered by Nicaraguans as a consequence of U.S.- dren to lose their culture. The government moved them supported paramilitary attacks, and requests an injunction against to another village near other Sumo, because it respected further activities. For further information, contact the Center for Con- their culture. stitutional Rights, 853 Broadway, New York, New York 10003.

This article appeared in the Summer 1984 issue of Nicaraguan Perspectives, which is published by the Nicaraguan Information Center, PO Box 1004, Berkeley, CA 94701.

Title by WIRE

38 Women's International Resource Exchange GIOCONDA BELLI: A POET AND REVOLUTIONARY SPEAKS

a WIRE interview

Q: First, we want to know about you, your per- that they already knew belonged to the FSLN. So I left sonal history.. .we had the opportunity to read the country but I returned about two months later and some of your poetry but know very little about your I stayed another year until I had to leave because the per- background. We would like to start there.. .How son I worked with was taken to jail. We had known, at does a poet end up on the Nicaraguan Electoral that time that we had to remain silent under torture for Commission? at least one week in order to give our companeros time to get away. I was ordered to leave the country and I went A: Originally I was not for the revolution. I came from to Mexico. It was in December 1975 and I started to work what you call a bourgeois family. I was educated in in the Solidarity Committee in Mexico. And after that Europe, and also in the United States. I studied adver- I went to Costa Rica where I stayed until the triumph, tising in Philadelphia. I was married very young, 18, it working in the Foreign Affairs Commission of the FSLN. was the custom here. When I was 20 years old, I, well I I did all kinds of things. . . smuggling arms, everything. thought I didn't like the life I was leading. I thought my We were working in logistic work, supply lines for the life was very empty, without purpose. Also my family had war inside the country. And also I did a lot of political been a family from the opposition, from the Conservative activities in Europe, in conferences, because I had this Party, so they were anti-Somoza. But I didn't know much poet status and I had the opportunity to be heard by the about politics, so I started to work in an advertising agen- intellectuals in Europe and by people in Latin America. cy with some friends of mine who were poets. Through I had the power to move around and to do a lot of work, them I met Camilo Ortega who was the brother of Com- telling everybody what was going on in Nicaragua and mandante Ortega and he started talking to me about the getting aid and getting resources and all kinds of things situation and reality of Nicaragua. I mean, living here —arms, medicine. you could sense the misery, the poverty and the repres- After the triumph, my first job was to take care of the sion, but you didn't very well know what to do about it. TV station and also to get out the first edition of Bar- And that opened up a new world to me. I started to see ricada. I also worked in the Ministry of Planning where everything in a different way and I started to feel that we designed an advertising campaign, part of an econo- I could really make something out of my life. I started mic and education campaign, to tell people what was to work with the FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberation happening with our economy and about the first econo- National) in 1970. At that time, of course, this work with mic plan in 1980. And then I went to work in the Depart- the FSLN was done behind my husband's back. He didn't ment of Propaganda of the Frente Sandinista and now agree with it. He was a person who was very apathetic I work in the elections. That's about it. about what was going on with the rest of the people in Nicaragua. I remember my first readings of the FSLN Q: Do you still write poetry? materials; I used to read them hiding in the bathroom in my house! But of course, in this situation I started to A: Right now I don't have time really. I started to write get more involved with the FSLN and I started to have poetry almost at the same time that I started to get in- trouble in my house with my husband. So, I decided to volved in political work. At first, my poetry was, I think leave him and I left him. After that I got more involved a poetry of valium. In my first book of poetry there is with the fight of the FSLN. I participated in the assault no mention of the political situation in Nicaragua but I that took place in December 1974.1 wasn't in the com- did mention a lot of things which were a scandal in this mandos but I was part of the group of people who worked society. For the first time in this society a woman says in the organization of the whole thing. We were able to that she likes to make love, for example, or that she likes liberate some companeros who were in jail at that time. to be a woman and things like that that were very scan- After that, well before that, I had already been pro- dalous in this society. I also talked about women taking secuted by the security here-the National Security of hold of their lives. It was kind of a psalm to woman- Somoza. And so, the companeros told me to leave the hood—this first book of poetry I wrote. And after that I country because we knew that the first people they were worked when I went to Mexico, I worked on this other going to put in jail after this action would be the people book which is called Linea de fuego. This book is a mix-

Women's International Resource Exchange 39 ture of poems of love and war and all these kinds of Q: How old are they? things. And after that I wrote another book which was published in 1982. This set of poems I wrote after the A: I have a daughter who is 15,1 have a daughter who triumph. Since then I have been writing off-and-on is ten and I have a son who is five. because I have very little time to write. And I think that it's now time for me to, well, I want to go on being a poet Q: How do you handle all these responsibilities? and not only being a poet, I want to write a novel and prose. But there are priorities in the Revolution. Some- A: Well, I try my best. Before, when my two girls were how right now, for example, in the poems I have written, little, I was involved with all this work. My son was born I think that I am repeating myself a little bit and I don't in 1978... I almost died because I was doing a lot of work like to feel that. I think I will have to work in a disciplin- and he was a premature boy. He weighed two pounds and ed way in order to be able to write better. I think next a half. Now he is very healthy. It's a miracle... I have year, maybe. trouble, especially now, explaining to them about my work. Well, I have tried to explain to them because before Q: Now that you are a mature revolutionary and the revolution I remember I was always telling them that you have a revolutionary consciousness, and a when the revolution triumphs we will be able to be to- woman's consciousness, what is the relationship gether and be happy and to have time together and every- between the two? It sounds that you came to both thing. After the Revolution, of course, there was more of them in such a way that they are very interwoven. work and they were always asking, well, when is the time to be together. A: Yes, they were. I think that women's liberation can- Their father is not a revolutionary. He lives in Houston not be done without the liberation of the society. I mean and they go to Houston two months a year to see him. our old society had to be liberated in order that women When they come back, they come back with a lot of can be liberated because men have to be liberated also. values that are different. They get a lot of clothes, they It's that the problem of women is the problem of the whole get a lot more things than they have here. Last year I society. That doesn't mean that I think there is no im- decided to start intensive political work with my eldest portance in doing work for women specifically. I -think child because she was becoming very reactionary and I that even in this society, for example, where we have a tried talking to her a lot and I dedicated myself to her revolution we still have to have another revolution—a a lot. I said to my companeros that I had to take that as revolution of women-because the traditional behavior of political work because I do not allow a child of mine to men in their relationships with women cannot change become a counter-revolutionary. Well, I started to work from one day to the other. And also our revolution has with her and talked to her and give her love and atten- to deal with the problem of the development of a new tion and go out with her. She started to understand. I've society. We still have a problem of machismo, men behav- tried to be honest with them because they haven't had ing in a way that is not correct and that doesn't make a very easy life. I tell them that I am not perfect, that us happy. But I think we are in the process of changing I try. Now I am very happy because my daughter became this type of behavior because we are in the process of a member of the Juventud Sandinista and she went by developing a new kind of society. But also we are con- her own will. She told me that she didn't want to go to scious that this changing of men's habits and men's her father's house this year and that the situation in the behavior will take a very long time. Also that we women country was very pitiful and she wanted to go to pick cof- are the ones that have to undertake this task because fee. So she went and picked coffee for two months and she men will not undertake it because it's against their in- came back early because she was planning to go to visit terest. So I think we are doing it. I think it's very in- her father for one month. She called her father and her teresting, this revolution, because we even have it on the father said he didn't want to see her because she didn't personal level in our relations with men. For example, if think like him anymore. But it's quite difficult. And with you have a companero he probably is macho, although on the second one she wants to stay in Houston now. She the political level there is no discrimination against called me and she said she wanted to stay with her father women. We have never felt that, not before or now. I and to study English. And I told her that she could do mean, for example, I did a lot of work, I was important that later. But she has to come back or I would go to bring and I was in the Foreign Affairs Commission of the her back because I think she is too small. She is only ten FSLN and nobody ever questioned that I was a woman. years old. If later on she makes that decision I have to I have been assigned as a representative of the FSLN respect her but I think she needs to have more criteria before the National Assembly of political parties and I before making that decision. She is too young to under- think nobody has questioned that I am a woman. I stand all these things that are in the United States- haven't felt in my work any kind of discrimination toys, shops-to a child it's a magical world, and the TV. . . because I am a woman. Here, you are what you are because of your capacity, because of your conviction, Q: Do you belong to any cultural organization, e.g., revolutionary conviction. a writers' organization?

Q: Do you have children? A: Yes. I am a member of the Writers' Union and San- dinista Cultural Workers' Association. I participate as A: Yes, I have three children. well as I can. Sometimes I can't go because of my other

40 Women's International Resource Exchange activities but I try every time I can. It's very important. the society. And this is going to be a lot of work, to be We are having discussions about the situation of all the able to get this equality between men and women. It is artists in Nicaragua, especially writers. We have a very very difficult because we have a backward country, with pitiful situation because a lot of writers have important cultural problems and all that. responsibility, either in the government or in the party. Of course we don't have time to write; it's very difficult. Q: I was very impressed with many of the Everybody accepts that a painter has to paint, a dancer AMNLAE women who were from the campo, villa- has to do training and all that and everybody thinks that gers themselves. They did understand. And there poets and writers are sort of magical creatures who get were a lot of these women. But, do the men get their inspired and they run to their typewriters and produce consciousness raised? Is it that you expect each this work of art. And so we are fighting to get recogiz- woman to raise her companero's consciousness? Or ed. For writers to get recognition, we have to have time is there an effort in a more organized way to change to write but of course it's something that we have to do the men's consciousness? with some criteria of what is more important for the revolution. Because, for example, I think it's very impor- A: It's very hard. Because of our situation, men tant for the revolution to have a beautiful literature and developed in political quality and political experience. to have people who write about what is going on here and They have political training and all that but. . . there is what are our experiences that we had during the war. not the same level of development in their consciousness There is a lot of personal history of people which is so of recognizing the role of women. I mean they recognize beautiful and so moving, so moving for a lot of people out- the role of women in society, but when you come to very side of Nicaragua, which could help us to explain even simple things of everyday life, they react like men. I more of what is going on here; how all of this came about; mean they do not re.act as revolutionaries. I think it is how we fought for it; how we did it. Now it is very easy the work of the women to change that. And it is difficult to come here-somebody was telling me when you come because men are afraid of us. I mean afraid of women here you don't realize what we went through—we went they think are advanced, who believe in themselves and through a lot of things. We had to fight very hard to get have consciousness of their own value as human beings. this revolution, to make it exist. It was a dream for a very They know that they are not going to be able to manage long time. It was a dream that we thought might not be these women the way they used to. They feel afraid. I possible to accomplish and this whole process... is in the think it's a very interesting process. And that you have memory of a lot of people. It would be important to be to do it with a lot of love because it's not their fault. I able to write about this. But also there are other impor- mean sometimes when you're very feminist and don't get tant tasks. For example, Sergio Ramirez is a very good what you want, it's better to be more persuasive. And novelist, but it would be very difficult to tell him to stop sometimes you even use feminine tactics in order to get being a member of the junta. It's very important for the what you want. You have to handle it in a very dialectic people of Nicaragua that he is a member of the junta. way. There are many other examples like that. I am hopeful that maybe next year I will be able to ask for permission to write. I want to have time to write and Q: Do women complain about there not being a I think as the revolution gets institutionalized it's going woman in the top leadership in the country? Do to be easier for us to be able to have more time. And also women talk about that? There are many women if we can stop this war, we will be able to build our coun- who are active on many levels but they don't get to try in peace. This is going to help all of us because we the top, not like the men... have a lot to do in order to preserve the revolution. A: Well, because that was our historic condition. Q: People talk about the importance and necess- Sometimes we joke about it. But we also know it was ity of getting women out of the house and into pro- because the women integrated into the society after the ductive roles and yet the reality seems to be, the men did. The leadership we have now are historically our material reality seems to be, that women always leaders but we don't think it very remote that someday have worked, not only in the home, but out of the we will have women on the top. house.. .the peasant women clearly have to work to support their family... Q: Are any women going to run for office?

A: Yes, for example, I do not agree with some things A: Yes. that AMNLAE sometimes says about women. If you go to a peasant community and you start doing work with Q: You? women telling them that they have to go out of the kit- chen when they practically stay in the kitchen all day, A: No, I hope not. I want to write. and they work; they do double labor. They do their own labor and they do the labor of the country. Well, what Q: A couple of us who were here last year met with happens, the companeras get upset at that. I think it has Margaret Randall. She mentioned that it was a to be presented in terms that women get integrated, not strain on women to be in political leadership and passively, but as an active force in the formation of the have relationships with men. She alluded to it so society. That is what is going to make men also more briefly that we weren't sure what she meant. She developed and more advanced in view of women's role in seemed to be implying that the process of building

Women's International Resource Exchange 41 after the revolution so dramatically changed the problems in personal relationships. role of women and since it put them so quickly so far away from their previous roles, it created all of Q: A lot of the men in the left today are intimidated these emotional and psychological tensions in their in a certain way that you had expressed... relationships with men. The strain of these changes is harder for women than men and she said that of A: And I think it's a problem for women, too, because women with whom she worked... she didn't know sometimes you think you are very liberated. When some- many or any of them whose personal lives had not body might try to establish a relationship with you, been really traumatic. which is not traditional with you, you might feel they are not treating you the right way. I was saying to a friend A: Yes, we had our personal lives dramatically chang- that we have points of reference in the past but we don't ed. Sometimes, at first, we expected our companeros to have points of reference towards the future. And it's hard be revolutionary in the whole sense of the word, in an to know what you really want. And you have all this pro- integral way and not to behave as men. That was some- gramming in your head that affects your whole way of thing very far off for us to think because it takes quite behavior. a long time to get that to happen. Some women didn't ac- I like to say that to be a liberated woman and to be a cept situations that before they might have accepted. revolutionary in a sense are parallel. It's an everyday There was a very great commotion in personal life and struggle; you have to be thinking of new things and new that was phenomenal here. Most of the women who are ways. I think that's the main thing-there's a new way- in leadership positions today are single. I mean they have just as I am sure the Revolution is a new way of life for been married but now they are divorced. Most of us are women. And we have to create that new way. We have to alone, we don't have companeros because we have had be the creators ourselves.

Managua, Nicaragua, March 1, 1984

42 Women's International Resource Exchange SONG TO THE NEW TIMES

Gioconda Belli

Dedication: To my brothers of the FSLN To Tomds, who survived to see it.

I'll speak, With laughter the people arrive I, with their cargo of tomorrows to be built Sandinista woman and I sing possessed by the guitars of History renegade to my class, announcing itself joyfully conceived in well-lit rooms, a dawn flowering with sweetness born at twenty to a reality from the bell-towers of villages, distant from my organdy and sequin dresses: in the voices of milk-men, cheese vendors, tortilla-makers, to the ways of those with no bread, with no land, cane-cutters, peasants, dark-skinned creators of wealth simple victors over the darkness men and women whose only fortune and the tricks of politicians is their vigor, their hardy movements. -so many years of selling-out the country, of giving away land, I'll speak concessions, honor- over the earthquakes defeated now by these turbulent masses and the shrill, desperate voices who stir, surge, disperse, of some of my relatives cry at the top of their lungs, fearlessly, shamelessly, who demand old privileges lost forever, redeemed from speechlessness rabid at the dispossessed from being everything with the right to nothing: who've invaded plazas, theaters, clubs, schools, sunlit lions unleashing and now move about, their beautiful fury. poor, still, I sing, but in charge of their homeland, of their destiny, let's sing, proud among the proud, so the sound of these footsteps exploding volcanos issuing from the lava of war the past may never cease. trees sprouted in the eye of the storm. The shining bayonets border our frontiers I move like a wall of protective mothers above the exhaustion of work jealously watching over their young. above the dead still alive among us, May the earth's fertile fruits along with those who never die be nurtured by these handsome fields toward the mountain-top, and the machines gleam, letting my names drop away, working at full speed in the factories, abandoning everything among the brambles, and an unblinking sun rise, all the shiny left-overs, loosening my clothing breaking through openings in doors and windows in order to glimpse the infinite horizon so we can grab time by its mane the heralded dawn of those who toil —alum of wind to sweep poverty away— who open the roads men, women, born with the future on their shoulders, with their spades, and machetes, and shovels, may poetry triumph, and love, and abundance arrive, blasting the day with the broken chains of centuries golden ears of corn, now fallen away behind them, a harvest of word and example, and women with skirts full of maize a thunder-bolt to convince the unsure. -all the rivers coursing through their arms- Realm of joy, of festivity, of kisses, cradling the children who arrived at the time of hope, long have we labored in your making, no longer orphans of destroyed homes engendering the sun and murdered parents. as we burn from within.

Translated by Electa Arenal

Women's International Resource Exchange 43 Photo by Margaret Randall. From Women Brave in the Face of Danger: Photographs of and Writings by Latin and North American Women, Margaret Randall ($10.95, The Crossing Press, Trumansberg, N.Y.)

44 Omen's International Resource Exchang RESOURCE LIST

Solidarity Organizations (Many of these publish newsletters, pamphlets, bulletins.) National Network in Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People 2025 Eye St., #402, Washington, B.C. 20006 (202) 223-2328 Nicaragua Support Project 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY, 10012 (212) 475-7179 Nicaragua Information Center P.O. Box 1004, Berkeley, CA 94701 Madre 853 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 (212) 777-6470 Chicago Committee in Support of the Nicaraguan People 3411 Diversey St., #1, Chicago, IL 60647 Casa Nicaragua 1239 Broadway, #809, New York, NY 10001 (212) 475-7179 Witness for Peace P.O. Box 29241, Washington, B.C. 20017 Nicaragua/Honduras Education Project 1322 18th St., N.W., Washington, B.C. 20009 For an exhaustive listing of nationwide Nicaraguan and Central American organizations, see Directory of Cen- tral America Organizations, Central America Resource Center, P.O. Box 2327, Austin, TX 78768. ($8) Other Solidarity Activities MATERIAL AID TO NICARAGUA: Oxfam America 115 Broadway, Boston, MA (617) 482-1211 MEDICAL AID: NICMAC c/o Casa Nicaragua, 1239 Broadway, #809, New York, NY 10001 Central America Health Rights c/o Boston Committee for Health Rights in Central America, P.O. Box 796, Astor Sta., Boston, MA 02123 (617) 492-4169 Committee for Health Rights in Central America 1827 Haight St., Box 5, San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 821-6471 TRAVEL TO NICARAGUA: Tropical Tours 141 E. 44th St., #409, New York, NY 10017 (212) 599-1441 Marazul Tours, Inc. 250 W. 57th St., #1312, New York, NY 10107 (212) 582-9570 and (800) 223-5334 (toll free) WORK BRIGADES: Nicaragua Exchange 239 Center St., New York, NY 10013 (212) 219-8620 COURSES IN SPANISH: Casa Nicaragiiense de Espanol organizes monthly Spanish-language courses in Managua. 70 Greenwich Ave., #559, New York, NY 10011 (212) 949-4126 Nica organizes Spanish-language courses in Esteli. P.O. #1409, Cambridge, MA 02238 (617) 497-7142. NICARAGUAN PRODUCTS: New Society Products sells Nicaraguan coffee, cassettes and records, crafts, solidarity T-shirts. 853 Broadway, #1105, New York, NY 10003. (212) 254-0853 Slide Shows, Videotapes, Films Guide to Films on Central America (1984) describes forty of the best films, videotapes, and slideshows on Central America. Available from Media Network, 208 W. 13th St., New York, NY 10011. (212) 620-0877. $2.50 (postpaid) Exchange TV sells and rents Nicaraguan television programs, c/o Jubela, P.O. Box 586, New York, NY 10009 (212) 674-8883

Women's International Resource Exchange 45 Black, George. Triumph of the People. London: Zed Press, 1983. Borge, Tomas; Carlos Fonseca; Daniel Ortega; Humberto Ortega; Jaime Wheelock. Sandinistas Speak. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1982. Cardenal, Ernesto. The Gospel in Solentiname. Maryknoll, NY, 1976. Cardenal, Ernesto. Zero Hour and Other Documentary Poems. New York: New Directions, 1980. Deighton, Jane; Rossana Horsley; Sarah Stewart; Cathy Cain. Sweet Ramparts. London: War on Want and Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, 1983. Hirshon, Sheryl L. (with Judy Butler). And Also Teach Them to Read. Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill & Co., 1983. Lappe, Frances Moore and Joseph Collins. Now We Can Speak: A Journey Through the New Nicaragua. San Francisco: Institute for Food and Development Policy, 1983. Meiselas, Susan. Nicaragua (photographs). New York: Pantheon Books, 1981. Nicaraguan Women and the Revolution. New York: Women's International Resource Exchange, 1982 (revised ed.) Randall, Margaret. Christians in the Nicaraguan Revolution. Vancouver/Toronto: New Star Books, 1983. Randall, Margaret. Risking a Somersault in the Air: Conversations with Nicaraguan Writers. San Francisco: Solidarity Publications, 1984. Randall, Margaret. Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle. Vancouver/Toronto: New Star Books, 1981. Rosset, Peter and John Vandermeer, eds. The Nicaragua Reader: Documents of a Revolution under Fire. New York: Grove Press, 1983. Selser, Gregorio. Sandino. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1981. Tkzewell, Judy, ed. The Miskito Question and the Revolution in Nicaragua. Hampton, Va. Tidewater Nicaragua Project Foundation. (3916 Shell Rd., Hampton, VA 23669), 1984. Walker, Thomas, ed. Nicaragua in Revolution. New York: Praeger, 1982. Publications with Regular Coverage of Nicaragua

Barricada International (English-language edition of Barricoda, Sandinista newspaper). New Society Products, 70 Greenwich Ave., #559, New York, NY 10011 (212) 949-4126 Central America Report. Religious Tksk Force on Central America. 1747 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 Central America Update. Box 2207 Station P., Toronto, Ont., M5S 2T2, Canada Envio. Central American Historical Institute, Intercultural Center, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 20057 Indigenous World/Mundo Indigena. 227 Grand Ave., #103, San Francisco, CA 94114 Latin America Update. Washington Office on Latin America, 110 Maryland Ave., N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002. NACLA Report on the Americas. 151 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011 Nicaraguan Perspectives. Nicaragua Information Center, P.O. Box 1004, Berkeley, CA 94701 Solidarity Publications. P.O. Box 40874, San Francisco, CA 94140 (Books, pamphlets, buttons, T-shirts)' Update Central America. Inter-Religious Task Force on El Salvador and Central America, 475 Riverside Drive, #633, New York, NY 10115.

For information on Nicaraguan women from the 1970s to 1982, see WIRE'S Nicaraguan Women and the Revolution, Second Edition (1982). WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE EXCHANGE publishes many other informational packets on women throughout the Third World. A free catalog of these resources is available from the WIRE collective. 2700 Broadway, #7 New York, NY 10025 (212)666-4622 Acknowledgements

Nicaraguan Women: Unlearning the Alphabet of Submission was made possible in part by fund- ing from W.H. and Carol Bernstein Ferry, The Funding Exchange/National Community Funds, and an anonymous donor. Many people have given generously of their time, resources, and skills. WIRE thanks: Electa Arenal, Linda Briggs, Peggy Conte, Gay Farley, Rachel Field, Jonathan Fried, Eva Gasteazoro, The Guardian, Julia Mayer-Orozco, Maddy Miller, Mujer, (ILET), Tani Takagi, Linda Wine. The subtitle of this booklet was suggested to us by a verse from "La Unica Mujer," a poem by Bertalicia Peralta, of Panama.

THE WIRE COLLECTIVE Joanna Gajardo Marie Jenson June Makela Mariana Miller-D'Alessandro Bobbye Ortiz Sybil Wong Women's International Resource Exchange (WIRE) 27OO Broadway, Room 7 New York, NY 1OO25 • 212-666-4622