Massey Nicaragua

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Nicaragua: transition to socialism in the USA's backyard

Author(s): Doreen MasseyReviewed work(s):Source: Geography, Vol. 72, No. 4 (October 1987), pp. 352-356Published by: Geographical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40571313.Accessed: 06/08/2012 08:36

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352 GEOGRAPHYpopulationrowthnthe argerities. heapplicationofsocialist rincipleso theproblemsfmeetinghebasicneeds ftheurban oorhavebeenconspicuousby heirbsence.Housing olicies, or xample, epre-sent continuationf he reviousegimendhave otbeen adjusted o meet the needs of the pooresthouseholds. hose who chooseto live outside hegovernmentchemesndbuild quatterousing avebeen treatedruthlessly.heir shacks have beendemolished nd manyhave been re-educated'ndreturnedo the ountryside.Suchunsympatheticctions avebeen extendedomanytherspects f he nformalector.n 1983 nd1985 here ereclean-up' perationsgainst quattersand treetraders,hilstmanynaccompaniedomenwerewronglyrresteds prostitutes.his hows cantevidencef a socialist ntentoredistributeealthotheurban oor. ndeed, hemain ities eemmore obe the domain of a rapidlyproliferatinglackbourgeoisie mployed rimarilyythegovernmentitself.

ConclusionsDespite he ocialist hetoricf thegovernmentnZimbabwe,ealgains y he rban ndrural oorhavebeen imited.ndeed,manyf thosewhohavemovedinto he ities ince ndependencereworse ffnow

than heywerebefore. omeprogressas beenmade

inreorientatingural roductionowardshe maller-scale nd ommunalroducersut, ivenhe ontinua-tion frapid opulationrowthnd the lowtransferoflandrights,hespread f benefitsas beenverylimited.As withmany f tsAfrican eighbours,heZim-babwean overnmentas foundtdifficulto dhereotheprinciplesf Maoist ocialismn thefaceof con-tinued ressuresrom nternationalapitalism. iventhe valuable ndustrialector n Zimbabwe, uchpressuresave erhapseengreaterhannmost f heSocialist hirdWorld.However,hebiasagainster-tain ultural,ocial ndeconomic roupsxhibitedythegovernmentoesnot ugurwellfor hefuturefmany f thepoor n socialist' imbabwe.KevreferencesDrakakis-Smith,. (1986) Urbanisationn the socialistThirdWarld: he aseofZimbabwe ,nDrakakis-Smith,D. (ed.) Urbanisationn theDevelopingWorld,ondon:CroomHelm,pp. 141-158.Schatzburg,M. (ed.) (1984) The PoliticalEconomy fZimbabwe, ew York:Praeger.Simon, D. (1986) Regional inequality,migrationnddevelopment:he case of Zimbabwe**,ijdschrifioorEconomischen SocialeGeografie,7(1),pp. 7-17.Zinyama,. (1986) AgriculturalevelopmentoliciesntheAfricanarmingreasofZimbabwe , eography,1(2),

pp. 105-115.UniversityfKeele D. Drakakis-Smith

Nicaragua:ransitionosocialismntheUSA'sbackyardGeographicalocation,nthegeopoliticalense, soneofNicaragua'sroblems.his inyountry,fon-ly hreemillioneople,s situatednwhatheUSA ikestothink f as its backyard*,ts spherefinfluence'defineds long go as theMonroeDoctrinef 1823(Fig. 1).

The revolutionThe revolutionfJuly 979,nwhich heNicaraguan

people verthrewhe ongdictatorshipfthe omoza

family,asas much revolutiono establish ationalindependencerommperialism,ntheshapeoftheUSA,as to stablishmore qual nddemocratic,ndeventuallyocialist,ociety.he revolutionas edbythe andinistaront orNationaliberation,hich asconfirmeds themajor artyn lectionseld n1984,andwhose ery ame s based n that f NicaraguanpeasanteaderSandino) hohad 0years eforeoughtforhiscountry'sndependence.Nicaragua's istory,ike that f thewholeCentralAmericanegion,s dominatedy heUSA,andby uleGeography 1987


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GEOGRAPHY 353100 80 SO* 76 70

UNITED STATES /'' ' ^ ' j> J&f*'9*'MEXIC0 ^~^s^h^^ Cf '** JtJ Q ^^JL^^.^ Cf 20-

>s. . r'r ^^JAMAICA.S^ j

(BELIZE'^/gueMAL^-'i

- ^ CARIBBEAN SEA'i J HON0URA8 - jEL SALVADOR &y NICARAGUA ^ t? ^sv^-

PACIFIC OCEAN Y^^ ^ (^^ ( (' * '(^ ^V Canal zone Jj /N >-^C^^ N^F^V^ N' VENEZUELA

0 6Q0M1LES ^O> ' COLOMBIA*' '-0 500KLOMETRE8 ' ^

Fig. 1. - Nicaragua: locationmap.

throughSA-selecteduppets.t ne ime icaraguahad articulartrategicmportanceo ts uge orthernneighbours the otentialite orn nter-oceanicanal;buthe analwas ventuallyuilthroughanama. heregimehichhe evolutionverthrewas hat f heSomozaamilyhich ad uled,argelyith SA up-portPresidentartereingxceptionalnhis riticismof heack fhumanights),hroughsystemf errorand orture,ndhad lso ccumulatedlarge ropor-tion f hewealthf he ountrynto tshands.All hiss mportantoknow ecausetresultedntwo haracteristicsf he andinistaevolutionoth fwhich avehada strongnfluencen subsequentdevelopmenttrategy.irst,he evolutionarynsurrec-tiontselfas upportedy he astmajorityf he eo-ple.Underomoza, ewwere afe romepression.Even he ther ajor apitalistamiliesantedogetridof whatwascalled he unfair*ompetitionfSomoza. econd,he winims fnationaliberationand fairerndmore emocraticocietyere een sinseparable,ndeedsbeing ecessaryo ach ther.

Economic policyBoth f heseharacteristics,ndboth f he imsfor he evolution,an e eentworkn he andinistapolicyowardshenationalconomy.heeconomywhichhe andinistasnheritedashighlyependent,and n veryubordinateositionithinhe nterna-tional ivisionf abour.t was a classiccolonial'

economy,f hemodelhat asformednder hatsnow alledthe ld nternationalivisionf abour*,nwhich hirdWorld*ountriesroducedawmaterialsforxportnd irst orldountriesroducedanufac-tured oodsfor homeconsumptionnd export.Nicaragua'sas a classic aseof primaryroductdependence*.t hadfourmainxports coffee,ot-ton,ugarndmeat whichroughtnthe ulk fthe ountry'soreign-exchangearnings.llof heseproductserexportedorer ess n heirraw tate*.The ountryasmainlygricultural,ithome om-mercend ervicesn heowns,speciallyn heapitalManagua,utwitheryittle anufacturingndustry.Geography1987


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354 GEOGRAPHYSuch n4agro-exporfconomyives countryeryit-tlebargainingowernworldmarkets,speciallys theprice fprimaryroductsends ofall ver heong ermin relation o thepriceofmanufacturedoods. InNicaragua'saseonebaleof otton ill oday uy nlyabout ne-sixthf hemanufacturedoods t ouldbuyevenn1980). hismeans hat heres a constanthort-ageofforeignxchange,ndgettingnthe xport-cropharvestscoffee,otton ndsugar)s a majornationalpriority.or nthat ependshe ountry'sbilityobuyeverythingrom edicalupplies,obus nd ruckarts,tofertilisersor he xportropshemselves,omanufac-turedonsumeroods. nNicaragua'sase this ind fdependenceasfurthereightenedy he eographicalconcentrationf ts nternationalrade: y ar heargestmarketor ts xportsnd ource f ts mportsastheUSA. This struefmost ountriesnCentral merica.Thiseconomy hich heSandinistasnheritedlsoneededobe re-fashionedocially. uch f thad uitesimplyeenunder he ontrolf he omoza amilynearlyne fifthf otalgriculturalroduction,or n-stance, asowned y hem. therargeandownerseftmuch f heiranddle ndunproductive;heyaw andownershipore s the asis f ocial restigendpowerthans the asisfor roduction.eanwhilehousandsof andless ural eople acked he asicmeans f ur-vival ndroamedhe ountrynsearch ftemporaryjobs onbigestates. heywereoined ttimes n thiswanderingabour orce ymanyhousands orewhoowned ome and,butnot nough oprovide or ullsubsistence.hus twas,bynot ivingway heirdleland,that hebigfarmersnsured permanentndcheap upplyf abour. inally,n he ountryside,hefarmers hodid ryo nvestndproducen theirandcameunder he ontrol f the ommercialperators,based nManaguand broad,who uppliedredit utonlyonextortionateonditions.

The attempto reducedependenceTotryo scape t east littleromhe ependencewhich theireconomicposition mplied, he newNicaraguan overnmentmbarkedn threetrategies.First, heywouldproducemore ood, ndtry o cutdown herebynthemportillfor oodstuffs.roduc-ingmore oodwas alsopart ftheir ocial trategysimplyhat eople hould scapefrom hehungerndmalnutritionfthepast. n this hey ave hadcon-siderableuccessweshall eturnrieflyo thisater),but thas lsosometimeseen difficultnd ontradic-tory olicyopursue.While roducing ore ood er-

tainlyeduceshe mportill,the ocialcommitment

toenabling eople o eat more lso means hat omefoodwhichwasonce xporteds nowkeptn he oun-tryforthepeoplethemselves whichof course,reducesxportarnings. second olicy hich he an-dinistas ave doptedotry nd reduce heir nterna-tional ependence as been todiversifyheir xportmarkets.Indeed here s now n economic lockadebytheUSA,whichmakes his mperative). ttemptshave eenmade o ncreasexportsoWesternurope,the asternlock,nd he hirdWtorld,speciallyatinAmerica. hird,he andinistasretryingoprocesstheirxportsmore, o thatheyre essdependentnprimaryroductxports.hey retryingo manufac-ture hread ndcloth, ornstance,atherhan xpor-ting aw otton.Social changes n agriculture

But swell s tryingoreducehe ependencef heireconomy ithinhenternationalystem,heNicaraguangovernmentsalsocommittedomakinghatconomyfunctionna waywhichsmore ociallyust.One ofthemainmeasuresn his asbeen grarianeform.m-mediatelyfterhensurrectionhe andinistasook verall the and fSomoza nd his ssociates,nd aterna second tage ll the andwhichwas yingdle.Theyorganisedhis and ntoStatefarms, ith mprovedwages ndwelfareonditionsnd free ccessfor radeunions,nd nto o-ops.Mostof this andwas ntheform fbigestates hichwere evotedogrowingx-port rops; nd his heGovernmentontinuedt first.Morerecently,owever,hey ave witchedheir m-phasisfromxportrops o food rops.The reasonsfor his ie ina combinationf the xport ifficultiesin an internationalecessionndthe ffectsf heUS-financedggressiony hecontra'errorists.his at-terhaseffectivelyorced heNicaraguansnto siegeeconomy. he optimismmplied ythe title f theeconomictrategyf he irstew ears 'TheStrategyofReconstruction'has had togiveway o thegrimdeterminationf oday'sStrategyor urvival'.y Sur-vival' heNicaraguans ean implyeing ble tofeedthemselvesor s long s thewargoeson. However,while xportrops reon thewholegrownn largeestates,ood rops, articularlyaize ndbeanswhichare the staples, re mainly rown y peasants nsmallholdings.In recognitionfthis, hemost ecenttage ntheagrarianeformasconcentratedngivingand o n-dividualeasants,atherhannformingig tatearms.(TheSandinistas ould lso like o see more easantsorganisednco-ops, ut o-operativesrea particularGeography 1987


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GEOGRAPHY 355target f the contrawho burn hem ut,killthepeopleand destroy hecrops. So that lementof policymayhave towait until hewar is over). Moreover, t is notonly private statesbut Statefarms oo whichare nowbeingbroken pand distributedopeasants, o that heycan producebasic foods,for themselves nd forsaleto others.The balanceofproduction etween ifferentypes fownerships shown n Table 1. The differenceetweenexport griculturendagricultureor he nternalmarketshowsup clearly.These figures re for 1982, so thatit is likelythat he importance f 'small private'pro-ducers, including co-operatives,will have increasedsince then.To makeall thiswork,the Sandinistashave also na-tionalised he banksand credit nstitutionsnd foreigntrade,thustaking hemout of thehands of the com-mercialcapitalistswho in thedaysof Somoza exercis-ed such stifling ontrolover agricultural roduction.Agricultural roducers n Nicaragua now have mucheasierand moreequal access tomoneyfor nvestment.

Some interregional mplicationsAll these things have changed the social andgeographicalface of the country.Gone are the land-scapes of idle estatesnextto settlements f poverty-

stricken andless peasants. The countryside oday isricher although till xtraordinarilyoorby Europeanstandards).The importance ffoodproductionmeansthathighprioritys givento thepeasantry.Malnutri-tion, which was widespread under Somoza, is nowalmost nknown. veragemoneywageshavefallen incethe nsurrectionbecause of themilitarynd economicwarbeingwaged againstthecountry),but the socialwage' has increased,for nstance, hrough heprovi-sion of basic healthand educationforeverybody.All these measures have contributed o a gradualequalisation in living standards,certainly n someaspects,betweendifferentegionsof thecountry,ndbetween town and countryside.The gap, even an-tagonism, etween own nd country ad been a majorissue in Somoza's Nicaragua. ndeed t s often aid thatit was consciouslyfostereds a wayofdividingpoten-tialopposition otheregime.Healingthatwound s animportantimofthe Sandinistas. he literacyampaignof the firstyear of the revolutionary overnment,nwhichhundreds f thousandsof Nicaraguans learnedforthefirst imeto read and write which is in itselfa basic condition orfullparticipationn a democraticsociety) ida lot ohelp, s better-offoung eoplefromthe cities earnedfor hefirst imeabout the ives and

Table 1Significancef differentocio-economicectorsnNicaragua, 982. figs,re% of otal alueofproduction).AreafpeoplesLargeMedium mallpropertyrivate rivate rivate otal

Export griculture 24.0 37.3 21.7 17.0 100Agricultureorinternal arket 15.7 14.7 8.1 61.5 100Cattle 24.7 11.0 30.4 33.9 100Agro-industry 28.0 63.9 5.7 2.4 100Fishing 71.9 - - 28.1 100Manufacturingindustry 31.3 32.5 22.0 14.2 100Mines, nergyandwater 100 - - - 100Total ofproductivesectors) 37 25 18 20 100Source Barricada, 8thNovember 983.

living conditions of the peasants who were theircompatriots.Further lementsof geographicalequalisationhavebeen brought bout through he distributionystem,which ensuresthat veryhouseholdhas access, at ex-tremelyow prices,to a rangeof basic goods througha government and popularly sponsoredand rundistributionystem.Atthe moment here re fivebasicgoods distributedn thisway: cooking oil, rice, soapforwashingclothes, sugar and salt.

WarTherearemany ther spectsofNicaragua'sdevelop-mentstrategywhich deserve discussion, but lack ofspace herepreventsonsideration fthem ll. One ele-ment n thepicturehas to be discussed, however, nd

that s war.The SandinistagovernmentnNicaragua is tryingoimplementts social and economic policies while thecountry s under constantmilitary lert.Nicaragua isnot alone in this,of course. Most small ThirdWorldcountrieswhich ry o establish ndependent,ndmoresocially ust, societiesfaceexternalggression:Angola,Mozambique and Vietnam re other xamples.This isnot an exceptional phenomenon, therefore,but asystematicne. Moreover uchaggression as enormouseffectsothon national conomicdevelopmenttrategy,and also on thegeography f thecountry oncerned.In thecase ofNicaragua,defendingtself gainst theGeography 1987


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356 GEOGRAPHYcontra'scurrentlyosting0-55per ent f he oun-try'snnual overnmentxpenditure.t s alsousing pone-quarterfthe nnual ationalroductfrom oodto clothes ndshoes, s well s arms).Theenormouspressuref his,ogetherith he act hatmuch f hewar s directedgainstconomicargets,s what orc-edtheNicaraguansoretrenchnto heirtrategyf ur-vival.But ven his s affectedythewar.Producingfoods abour-intensive.ut nNicaragua,00,000eo-pleareout fthe abour orce tany netime, nabletobe involvednproductionecause hey ave obein he rmyefendinghe ountry.ontrattacksn hecountrysideake roductionifficultnsomeregions(we have alreadymentioned heir ttacks n co-operatives).omitigatehe ffectsf his,he andinistasarebuildingew ettlements,hich remore lusteredthan heprevioussolated armsteads,ndthus asierto defend. hiswill nvolven the nd about tenthof thepopulation a hugelyxpensive rogramme,withmajor eographicalffects.inallyhewar nthe

countrysidesprovokingn ncreasenmigrationo heprotectionfthe ity. utmigration,venwithouthewar, s already problemecause heres a shortageof abourn he ountrysidemadeworse y hewar,bothbecauseso many re involvedn fightingndbecause fthe ncreasedmphasisn abour-intensivefood roduction.n this ndmanytherways,hewarisdisruptinghe ttemptsfNicaraguansnd heir ewgovernmentoestablishmorendependentndmoresocially-justociety. hat, ndeed,s its ntention.KeyreferencesHarris,R. and Vilas, C. (eds) (1985) Nicaragua: a RevolutionunderSeise, London: Zed Press.Massey, D. (1987) Nicaragua: Some Urban and RegionalIssues in a Society in Transition,MiltonKeynes: Open

Universityress,Contemporaryssues in Social Sciences 1.Slater, D. (1986) Socialism, democracyand the territorialimperative: lementsfora companion of the Cuba andNicaraguanexperiences .Antipode,18(2), pp. 155-185.Open University Doreen Massey

Guyana:a countryncrisisRankedmongheworld's0poorestations,uyanais somewhatf ananomaly. formerritisholony,

it s the nly vowedlyocialist ndthe nlyEnglish-speakingcountry n South America. However,historically,ocially, oliticallyndeconomically,tslinks re with heCaribbean.Demographynd politics

Unlike ome ountriesnthis egion, uyana'sma-jor demographicroblemsrenot ssociated ithver-populationndrapid ates furbanisation,ut nsteadwith apid epopulationndthehighlykewedpatialdistributionf ts opulation.lthoughuyanaovers83,000km2 a similarize toBritain,tspopulations

lessthan 00,000which s less than per ent fBri-tain's. fthese, ome90 per ent re concentratedna narrowoastal elt nly 70miles ong Fig. 1),put-tingnormousressuren and or ood roductionndleading o food hortagesnd malnutrition.Only1.1per ent ftotal and s nowunderultiva-tion.Guyana,whichwas oncecalled hebread asketoftheCaribbean,anno longer eed tsownpopula-tion.People re eavingndroves, oing oSurinam,Venezuela, anada, the United tates nd Britain.Nowherelse s this rocessfdepopulationakinglaceso quicklynthe bsence fwarornatural isasters.AllcurrentroblemsnGuyana ave istoricaloots.Themain actorseadingo he resentpatial onfigura-tion fpopulationnd ettlementsn he ountryelateGeography 1987

Massey Nicaragua

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