Nicaragua's Ring Cycle

Two weeks ago I saw Gotterdamarung, the final opera in Wagner's Ring cycle. Shortly thereafter, I got on a plane and went to Nicaragua. What I learned there bore shocking resemblance to the moral of these four operas. I'd read a bit about the history of the country. For much of the 20th century, Nicaragua was actually one of the richest countries in Central America. However, it was also ruled with a iron fist by Somoza, the country's dictator. Then came his ousting by the FSLN, a scocalist revolutionary group, and brutal civil war. Nicaragua's former socialist leader, Daniel Ortega recently returned to power.

Viewed from outside, Nicaragua seems to be a democracy. Once on the ground, you quickly see the the country is functionally a mix of communist dictatorship, Catholicism and a healthy dose of street-level capitalism.

During the ride to our villa, I immediately noticed the abundance of political posters with Ortega's face, or smiling children. Slogans claimed that the president was working 'with all for the good of all' or for 'Socialism, Christianity, and Solidarity'. When I asked our driver about them he told me that the signs had gone up for the previous election, but but were never taken down. Now they're simply propaganda, some of which appears to have been put up after the election.

Indeed, as I traveled through the country President Ortega's likeness seemed to be almost as ubiquitous as Putin's in Russia. The socialist bent of the government party line was like something straight out of the former eastern bloc. Signs throughout the country proclaim the government's national phrase: " El Pueblo - Presidente!" or the people are president. Even local government gets in on the act, claiming to be institutions of 'citizen power'. In the capital, national scocalist statues are common. A park dedicated to Cuban-Nicaraguan friendship features a recent socialist-realist mural of Castro and Ortega standing together under the red star of communism.

Most of the public arn't buying the act. The majority of Nicaraguans Don't support their president. On a drive through Managua, our driver pointed out Ortega's various vanity projects, grumbling that the president " wants every year to be like Christmas."

It seems likely that he will get his wish. After coming to power Ortega forced a change of the constitution, allowing him to be re-elected with only 30% of the vote.

On the flight home, I pondered what I had seen. In many ways Nicaragua's situation resembles the plot of Wagner's famous work. Wotan's status as a god was dependant on a contractual consensus inscribed on his spear, the instrument of his power. By breaking those agreements, he fell from grace. Nicaragua's dictators also must answer to their people. Somoza's refusal to give aid to the masses following, a devastating 1972 earthquake made his rule untenable. The power of ruling elite is dependant on the masses' acceptance of the government's actions even in dictatorship.

Today in Nicaragua, it appears as if the same cycle is staring all over again. Tempted by the shining gold of absolute power, the revolutionary has become the despot.

I can only hope that Ortega will realize that the quest for absloute rule leads down the path to immolation -- and that his position is contingent on the expectations which his subjects ascribe to the instruments of his office. The people do have power, but not because their government proclames it. They infulence the future by demanding actual progress in spite of the party line.