Almost four decades on from that momentous triumph, and with Nicaragua seemingly in the midst of another epochal upheaval, Masaya now has Daniel Ortega in its crosshairs. Masaya has long been a bastion of Sandinista rebellion and rule. It cannot be in vain I hope other cities join us so it is total pressure against the government.
But in recent days the violence β which has so far claimed almost lives across the country β has escalated dramatically. Dozens of barricades, cobbled together with tree trunks, concrete paving stones, metal signs and nail-studded planks, block the path into the heart of what was once a bustling tourist town famed for its artisan market. Mortar-wielding combatientes stop, question and search passersby.
Stencil artists have set upon homes and businesses with spray cans to pour more scorn on their president. To reach it now, visitors must now sprint down a kind of sniper alley, down which demonstrators and church members claim security forces have been firing at demonstrators and civilians. A statue of the Virgin Mary keeps watch over an improvised two-bed emergency room located next to what was once his sitting room.
A volunteer force of medical students, paramedics and rescue workers camp out on its tiled floor, waiting for their next call. Then they used rubber bullets. Now β¦ they are using. On Sunday, the same. Like many local residents, the fireman said he backed the protests: The mothers are crying I too have cried. There is blood; the blood of the young people, the tears of the mothers.
Map Today, Masaya is once again in full revolt β this time against the Sandinistas themselves.
