Rain and More Rain

RAIN
Tuesday morning here in Managua.  Temperature is in the mid 70's, primarily because it has been raining since 10 last night - a real torrential downpour.  The news on the local radio reports lots of flooding, and THE highway to the north is blocked by a large truck which turned over in the roadway - with some flammable cargo.  According to the radio, the storm covers virtually all of Nicaragua.  I can't find a weather radar, but it does not appear that it is going to stop anytime soon.

Most of the team here travel by public transit, and 2 have motorcycles.  All are delayed in a major way by the storm and flooding.  The power was also out last night in parts of the city.

Situation normal for here, I think, at this time of year.

The Farm
I had an opportunity to visit the Farm here yesterday.  For most of you, this will not be something you are familiar with.  The group I am staying with - and trying to be of some use - is called AKF.  They have a web site, if you want to look it up.  They currently describe themselves as a "farm school".
     http://escuelaakf.org/Programs.html

This farm, a couple of hundred acres, is "nearby", but the unpaved roads are nearly impassable, with large portions with major challenges for even these "off the road" vehicles.  They use the property to teach better methods of production, and more ecologically sound approaches to agriculture.  Most of the communities they deal with are agrarian, and they depend on their crops for their livelihood.  Increasing that production, in sustainable ways, increases their standard of living.  Simple enough.

The problem with the farm has been that it has been occupied by squatters for a long time - more than a year.  There are laws about this, to protect bona fide squatters, so there are some protections.  Land records here are very complicated.  At various periods, the government or some connected person has claimed any parcel with real value!  This group of squatters has apparently made a deal with a local magistrate - similar to our common pleas court - that they will share some of the proceeds of their occupation with him.  He has put off and delayed, and procrastinated with this thing forever.  The police will not evict them without a court order, and the order has been delayed interminably.  It would seem that he is looking for a payoff from one side or the other.  It would clearly be illegal to offer him a payment - and AKF is not about to do that in any event.  So it continues.

Lawyers
They did take a very creative step - they hired another lawyer.  Like anyone needs more than one!  They have a learned and capable gentleman who is guiding them through the normal processes.  They also hired a connected young lady, who knows members of the Supreme Court.  This seems to be a more fruitful approach, as those folks are amenable more to influence than payment.  It's all in who you know!  We are primarily social beings!

The Election
But there is an election coming up in November.  And the "ruling party", the Sandanistas, do NOT want anything that looks like an offense to the common man to appear in the newspaper just prior to the election.  So there is an official hiatus on all enforcement actions.  Besides, 90% of the police are tied up in the political circus that is going on, so they are not available anyway.  And if you think our elections methods are crazy, you should see these.  I think our practice of lawn signs is silly - who would vote for someone because they have more lawn signs?!  But here, the winning candidate may be the one with the most billboards, the most caravans through the city, the most sound trucks blasting their campaign songs, the most rallies with people bused in from elsewhere - etc.  The bishop's conference has published a voter guide - which is not half bad. They listed a bunch of characteristics - honesty, integrity,commitment to the nation, etc.  It reads pretty well. Of course, it also includes a ban on abortion and gay marriage - but that is at the end.  They could not publish one without that.  I am not sure, but I think NONE of the candidates meet their criteria, although all would agree with the last two requirements.  One of the leading party candidates is Aleman who was arrested for corruption after his last term as president.

This is a Developing Country
More reasons why this is a "developing country".  Amartya Sen has that part right - people will naturally generate wealth - it's called greed - but to make it work, we need some basic protections, or rights.  Ownership and a legal system that will protect it is one of them.  Ah, as always, es complicado!

OK - enough of that.  It is very different reading about this stuff than it is sitting in a farm building with a group of people trying to make something work in the middle of this.  The infrastructure to support wealth creation is one small part of the problem - but it is as essential as the culture or world view.  Power, roads, courts, police, education, elections, news reporting - that actually work - are essential to development.  Where does one begin?

Once when I was here, I was reading Howard Zinn - The People's History of the U.S.  It gave me a better perspective.  When the US was founded, the nation was in pretty bad shape as far as basic rights.  Even basic things like free speech were seriously curtailed by the government until well after the Second World War.  Sweat shops, political corruption, police brutality, discrimination and oppression are part of the US history.  But we survived, and prospered - more or less.  I still think that basic sense that "we are in charge of this" is the key.  If people feel that they have the power, they have the power.  And what is with that occupation of Wall Street, anyway?

Get back to work!  One of the first Spanish words I learned was, "jubilado" - it means "retired", but what a wonderful way to say it - joyfully.  You can also say "retirado", or "pensionado" - but I love being "jubilado".