THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610280193
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY ANN EGERTON
LENGTH: 70 lines
DREAMS OF THE HEART
The Autobiography of President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro of Nicaragua
Simon & Schuster. 331 pp. $25.
If you made up the story of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and tried to peddle it, chances are there'd be no takers. Her story is too triumphant, and she is almost too good to be true. Her story, of how she rolled up her sleeves after the assassination of her husband, who was editor of the most influential newspaper in Nicaragua, and how she helped first to overthrow the Somozas, and then worked to drive out the Sandinistas, and then became president of Nicaragua, is the old-fashioned stuff of good-over-evil sagas.
But it happened. In the engaging and densely detailed Dreams of the Heart, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro describes her upper-class background and loving family life, then her schooling, including a year at a boarding school in Blackstone, Va., so that she could learn English. (She says she never really did; the translation and construction of the book are by Sonia Cruz Baltodano and Guido Fernandez).
She also describes her marriage to Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal, editor of La Prensa in Managua, the births of their four children, his time in prison and in exile during the Somoza years, and finally, his assassination in 1978.
Senora de Chamorro got involved in the overthrow of the Somozas several months later, and then found herself, as one of the five-person junta temporarily ruling the country, being used as window-dressing by Daniel and Umberto Ortega, leaders of the Sandinistas.
She recounts her growing awareness of the Sandinistas' communist aims and connections, of their nationalization of businesses and their stranglehold of free speech and free markets. She tells of the heart-breaking political rupture among her children, but her insistence on mutual civility during their visits. This small maternal command later became a cornerstone of her presidency and set a tone for free exchange of ideas and tolerance in a nation inured to decades of suppression.
Most of us know about U.S. involvement in Nicaragua's affairs, about our controversial support of the Contras, the group that eventually overthrew the Sandinistas. Both presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter (after he left office) were instrumental in their expulsion and in funneling huge gifts and loans of American aid to the struggling country. The United States has been intervening in Nicaraguan affairs since the Central American colonies declared their independence from Spain in 1821.
In 1989, Senora de Chamorro ran for president against Daniel Ortega in the first free elections in Nicaragua since 1934. Since she had fractured her knee-cap in a fall, she campaigned in a wheelchair and a four-wheel drive pickup, dubbed the Violeta Mobile. After her victory, Jimmy Carter helped set up transition teams on both sides, and the new Madame President worked hard to instill a spirit of reconciliation among conflicting parties. She even retained Humberto Ortega as head of the army, whose numbers were then reduced by 80 percent. She and others drafted a new constitution, which was approved in 1995, with some Sandinista support. Ironically, La Prensa is now in other hands.
Nicaragua's economy has grown, exports have increased, property has been returned to private hands, peace is restored and both inflation and violence are dramatically reduced. Violeta Chamorro's presidency is in its sixth year, and it seems miraculous that so much has been done under the guidance of a woman who had never held public office before and who is as comfortable reporting the personalities of her grandchildren as the components of Nicaragua's growth index. MEMO: Ann Egerton is a free-lance writer who lives in Baltimore. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was elected president of Nicaragua. by CNB