The Nicaraguan Crisis and the Battle Over History

Myrna Santiago

Part of the Fall 2018 Bay Area Latin America Forum

November 1, 2018

Myrna Santiago: The Nicaraguan Crisis and the Battle Over History

Event Description

Professor Myrna Santiago argues that the crisis in Nicaragua is not only a conflict over the fate of the Ortega-Murillo presidency but also over the memory of the Sandinista Revolution and the country's political history. Nicaraguans’ perspectives on the presidential couple depend, at heart, on how they interpret the history and legacy of the Sandinista Revolution. In the process, various political actors are wittingly and unwittingly re-enacting that very history--and no one knows how the story will end.

Speakers

Myrna Santiago teaches Latin American history at Saint Mary's College. She is the author of the award-winning book, The Ecology of Oil:  Environment, Labor, and the Mexican Revolution, 1900-1938 and is currently working on a history of the 1972 earthquake that destroyed the city of Managua, Nicaragua.