Fernando González, the second of the Cuban Five to be released from prison, has been in Masaya as part of the campaign on behalf of the other three, who have been incarcerated since 1998. On Saturday afternoon a small room packed with about 300 people saw him receive the freedom of the city from the…
Today, September 15, marks 193 years since the end of Spanish colonial rule in Central America. Traditionally celebrated as Independence Day across the five countries that share it, Central America’s autonomy has in reality been in question for much of the time since 1821. To begin with, the five countries remained attached to distant Mexico,…
The government is blaming it on the warming of the Pacific Ocean known as El Niño, while scientists are disputing how much warming has actually occurred. But whatever the cause the drought that has hit Central America and extends south into Colombia is very real. The rainy season should have begun in May, but three…
The Oropéndola is one of Nicaragua’s many attractive bird species, not only because of its large size and conspicuous colouring but also because of its habits. I can hear one as I write this – it’s sonorous, chuckling call – almost like a turkey gobbling – is quite distinctive. When doing their displays, the males…
A short time after the revolution brought the Sandinistas to power in 1979, Reagan’s US government illegally began to fund the armed resistance in the north of the country, who soon became known as the ‘contras’. The struggle against the well-armed contra and the simultaneous economic blockade severely tested the new government. Although it won…
The Leicester-Masaya Link Group has published a two-page review of its project work – with active projects both in Masaya and in Leicester itself. You can download the review as a pdf here. The link group’s AGM last week, attended by Leicester Mayor Peter Soulsby, had a report from Masaya by Skype which updated members both…
The latest small stage of our solar project (‘Proyecto Sol’) brings to just 202 the total of households where electricity has been installed in the rural parts of Masaya since 2005, for a total investment of just over $200,000. We’re still working in the isolated area between Nicaragua’s two big lakes, which ironically is less…
Last week the local school celebrated completion of about $80,000 worth of work to totally refurbish its two buildings and provide a proper outside play and assembly area. The school, a basic structure originally built by local organisation MASINFA in 1993, with funding from Masaya’s twin city of Nijmegen in Holland, was badly in need…
In recent stories in the Nicaragua Dispatch, Nicaragua has been described as a renewable energy paradise and as ranking third in the Latin America renewables market. But neither story mentions what has become Nicaragua’s forgotten resource: solar energy. Perhaps this is not surprising as the government’s own assessments of its achievement in moving away from…