León was my favorite city in Nicaragua. This place gave birth to the
Sandinista movement in the 50´s...thanks to those pesky commie
university students. Like everywhere in Nicaragua, there´s horrible
poverty anywhere you care to use your eyeballs (remember half the
population "gets by" on less than $2.00 a day), but you can also see and
feel the vestiges of a real revolutionary movement. Most murals I´ve
seen in any city, all with amazing social/political messages or
commemorating important historical events. More museums and monuments
than anywhere else, dedicated to the revolution that managed to topple
the 50-year dictatorial Somoza dynasty, raise the literacy rate 50%, and
try to overturn the elitist economic structure.
...
First dinner in town
Post dinner skies, right next to the main church.
It really looked just like that.
El Parque Central with its main
Catholic Church, the largest in Central America. Mel took this picture
from the roof of the Museum of the Revolution, just across the park.
The outside walls of the Museum of the Revolution.
Oof
Intense Iconography. The sandino outlines are just stuffed with
symbolism. The dogs being stepped on are Somoza and Uncle Sam, respectively.
"Nature is the source of life"
"Emo causes hemorrhoids"
The city was also full of colonial churches
This mural, just outside the university, was put up to protest the government plans to reduce the educational budget to below 6% of the national budget. Beautifully brutal.
Possibly my favorite tag in the city.
Entitled "Labor Creates Wealth"
Augusto Sandino, Nicaragua´s original anti-American, the leader of resistance to
the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua from 1911 to 1933. Made martyr, he was
assassinated by Somoza in 1934, after a supposed peace conference.
Why is Nicaragua no better off today than before the Sandinista Revolution? This asshole, President Ronald Reagan, Mr. Counter-revolutionary. Actually...it´s likely not so much his fault (the best thing you can say about Reagan is that he had no idea what his policies meant or did, he was just a great actor after all, a perfect figure head) but rather those of his administration pulling the strings.
The above piece, plus the Reagan and Sandino paintings, were all in the
Casa de Cultura, a reclaimed mansion of a former Somoza official. It´s
absolutely an amazing place and YOU should see it. The best thing is
shown below. A whole swimming pool is reclaimed and broadcasts the most
intense anti - industrialcapitalist - materialistimperialist -
mindsuckingideology - conformism - hateviolencestateviolence -
racismslavesystem....artwork I perhaps have ever seen. It all linked
circularly. Click the images for a closer look or, better yet, get your
ass down to León and see what the United States of America means to
Nicaraguans.
Aside from taking in the sights, street art, and food,
I got to skate with some locals!
Me and Meli, after a fun evening with fellow foreigners playing silly games in the central park
I will miss this city.
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