The Trees of Life

Managua, Nicaragua

Nicaragua was the first Latin American country I had visited that was ruled by a populist leftist regime. In broad historical strokes, the Sandanistas (FSLN), aided by Castro's Cuba, took power in Nicaragua through a civil war in 1979. They left power in 1990 after losing a democratic election in the wake of 11 violent years fighting the U.S.-funded Contras. In 2006 Nicaraguans elected Daniel Ortega President and the Sandanistas retook power.

The FSLN has spent the last 11 years consolidating power in Nicaragua. They modified the constitution to remove term limits so that Ortega could be reelected in what were widely viewed as rigged elections in 2011 and 2016.

I spent a couple days wandering around Managua and found the ubiquity of FSLN propaganda staggering. Everywhere you see visages of leftist strong men - especially Hugo Chavez, who was a major supporter of the Ortega regime. The letters "FSLN" as well as red and black flags are spray-painted on buildings, trees, and sidewalks. There's a boulevard downtown with a couple dozen displays detailing the FSLN's history of Nicaragua, through brutal dictatorships up until the Sandanista's victories.

In the middle of the city there is a lagoon surrounded by hills, and above the hills is a large crude statue of the revolutionary hero Sandino. The Sandanistas hastily erected it in 1990 on their way out of power. It's actually a huge 2D profile of Sandino, but from a distance it just looks like a giant man in black. The eerie Sandino can be seen from all over the city, a towering shadow looking down on everybody.

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In travelling around Nicaragua I would hear varying opinions about the FSLN. A tour guide I had in León hated them and loudly claimed he wanted all the communists out of the country. An indigenous woman from Estelí supported the regime entirely and said that her region's economy had greatly improved in the past decade. Most people seemed more middle of the road. The Ortega regime had improved infrastructure - especially schools and hospitals. But people did not support the reelection and they thought the government was corrupt.

As an American, the complete political dominance of the FSLN is hard to fathom. It would be like if every major city painted murals of Trump and replaced their street lights with miniature Trump towers. Also I suppose you have to imagine the Trump administration modifying the constitution to extend his term and barring popular opposing candidates from running against him in an election. Which maybe is not too far-fetched at this point.

I do not support the FSLN at all. In the abstract I support the struggle against the Sollozo dictatorship and the 1979 revolution. But to me Nicaragua is just another example of the same goddamn tragedy of every modern leftist revolution. You have a mass of people who fought and died in the name of liberty and justice only to deliver their country into the hands of a few power-hungry men. It's sickening and sad.

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Next to the Sandino profile above the lagoon is a Tree of Life. The Trees of Life are to me the most bizarre manifestation of FSLN propaganda. They are large 2D structures like the Sandino statue, but they are covered in electric lights and lit up at night. First Lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo adopted the design from an Austrian painter and has spearheaded an effort to fill the city with them.

The Trees of Life exist and are still being added to all the major boulevards and points of interest in Managua. Supposedly they represent the new spiritualism of Nicaragua, which is some new agey blend of Catholicism and mysticism. They do look pretty cool at night. But surely they are a phenomenal waste of electricity in a poor country where pickup trucks share the highways with horse-drawn carts.

And in opposition to all the Trees of Life and FSLN graffiti you find - nothing. Nowhere in Managua or as far as I know anywhere else in the country will you see any visible sign of political opposition to the Sandanistas. Which to me is perhaps most disturbing of all.