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To combat the threat posed by Pastora and the other contras, the Sandinista government is continuing the military buildup that has given Nicaragua the largest army in Central America. Last March it also declared a state of emergency in order to crack down on internal dissent. So far, according to a human rights organization, 300 people have been arrested for counterrevolutionary activities, and some 300 people have been detained and interrogated about their political activities. Many of them are campesinos, who are picked up in groups of 15 or 20 and may be held for more than a month. The Sandinistas are also increasing pressure on members of independent labor unions, the Roman Catholic Church and opposition political parties. Says a Social Christian politician: "We can't have meetings. Members are threatened with death regularly. Their houses are painted with skulls and crossbones and the legend A CONTRA LIVES HERE. "
Adding to the disillusionment of many Nicaraguans is the worsening state of the economy, which has never recovered from the war's devastation. Fluctuating commodity prices, ever higher inflation (now 30%) and food shortages caused by recent floods have aggravated the situation. An acute shortage of foreign exchange for the private sector, which still accounts for about 60% of the gross domestic product, has crippled industrial production and driven up unemployment.
The Sandinistas blame many of their problems on the U.S. Government, which discontinued most economic aid early in 1981 because it was convinced Nicaragua was abetting the leftist insurgency in El Salvador. Washington has pressured international lenders not to loan Nicaragua money. The U.S. says it wants to improve relations with the Sandinistas, but talks have repeatedly foundered over the question of aid to the Salvadoran guerrillas. Though State Department officials have denied that they are stalling, the U.S. doubts that negotiations with the Sandinistas would achieve anything. The U.S. may also be waiting to see what the contras, who may be receiving some of the $19 million in secret funds the Reagan Administration has earmarked for anti-Sandinista activities, can achieve.
For all its tribulations, the Sandinista regime has made some improvements. The literacy rate has risen from 50% to 87%. Thousands of campesinos have received title to confiscated farm land. But an increasing number of Nicaraguans are beginning to compare the Sandinistas to Somoza. Says a plump, fortyish food vendor, standing in her tin-and plastic-sided stall in Managua's Mercado Oriental: "This is the worst we have ever had it. Everyone is waiting for Edén Pastora." They may have to wait a while. But the spreading disillusionment should put the Sandinistas on notice that political legitimacy does not come from just overthrowing a corrupt regime. —By Sara Medina. Reported by James Willwerth/Managua