Side-trip to mysterious Nicaragua

This won't take you long, and you'll be glad you visited the Laguna del Vuelo in the Bluefields region of Nicaragua. Which may or may not exist, you decide.
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Mermaids

My first publication in Scribd, to try it out. If you are interested in Latin America and its literature, you may enjoy this essay. Mermaids and Other Fetishes: Images of Latin America

Meanwhile, in Central America...

The news from Nicaragua has been disheartening: a multi-voiced liberation movement we could believe in, and in whose 1979 victory we rejoiced, now transformed into a machine for the personal power of Daniel Ortega, excluding the best and brightest and most generous of his erstwhile comrades. So it is with relief I turn to look north from Managua to its smaller neighbor, El Salvador. There too a multi-voiced, valient force of guerrillas waged a long war. It ended not in total triumph for the FMLN, but in a negotiated settlement that at least created a wide opening for the Left to operate politically and far more safely than before. And if Mark Engler is right, the goals of liberation and greater equality of opportunity are still driving forces in the movement. Check out Mark's article on the coming elections, the FMLN's candidate Mauricio Funes, and his chances of victory. (I hope Mark isn't responsible for the cliché of the headline -- his analysis is more original than the title would suggest.)

If you understand spoken Spanish, check out Mauricio Funes's noisy website Mauricio Funes Tv. The current video is devoted to the problems of the overworked and underappreciated peasant women. Sounds promising. He's not a warrior, but a TV journalist, so video is his medium.