Where is Nicaragua ? [dumb title, good book] (Book Review)

"Where is Nicaragua?", 0671657208, c1988, 349 pages, by Peter Davis.

In the late 1980's, there was an endless stream of books on Central America, and Nicaragua in particular. So many in fact, publishers became leery of the manuscripts long before the Sandinistas were voted out of power. Given this fact, after about 1985 it was a long shot for a anyone not widely known and respected for expertise in the region, or having not already been living there for years, to secure a book contract from the big publishing outfits.

Peter Davis, a noted filmmaker, but clearly a novice when it came to Nicaragua, managed both, with his book being published by Simon & Schuster (and it is still in print, nearly 20 years later). One can assume it didn’t hurt to have handled one of the better documentaries on the Vietnam War (“Hearst & Minds” - which was later awarded an Oscar, and was recently elevated in status, now being offered as a “Criterion Edition” DVD). Davis agreed to leave behind his professional medium (film & video) for a purely literary effort, which in theory would not even include select portraits, nor photographs of any kind.

The work is based on two nearly month-long trips to Nicaragua, in 1983 & 1985, which admittedly is not much time. Davis wisely used his lack of scholarly expertise on the country to his advantage; he framed the entire book around an investigation into just where Nicaragua was ("is"), geographically, historically, politically, as a revolutionary experiment, in the international debate, and in the view of U.S. representatives and voters - as told by someone doing the looking, seriously, for the first time.

To his credit he located, and interviewed in depth, Nicaraguans from every level, class, and political stripe. His sweeping interview-based research plan led to a one of the better generalist books written on Nicaragua. Davis received wide praise for securing interviews with everyone from Daniel Ortega to Cardinal Obando, and special kudos in some circles for locating and interviewing the so-called, “Last Marine”, Lieutenant Stanley Atha - a U.S. soldier who stayed behind in Nicaragua after the failed hunts for illusive Sandino himself, and his subsequent training of Nicaraguan guardsman in 1927. Davis goes after all corners of debate and interest, from making a trip to the Honduran-Nicaraguan border (to hear first-hand accounts of atrocities, and see the alleged pro-Somoza graffiti trails) to the fact-finding mission of Henry Kissinger, which led to the early termination of U.S. Ambassador Anthony Quainton’s tenure in Managua.

One thing is obvious from the book is that either before going in, or after returning, Davis with or without a research crew or first-rate editor, did some homework, allowing him to weave all this first-hand information, general history, and culture, together so well. In life and certainly in the text, Davis goes off in all directions, but never leaves the reader feeling ignorant, lost, nor bored. Many people thought Davis might have made a career blunder, trying to become an author; his only real mistake -in my opinion- was the book title, which seemed more juvenile than intriguing (the later paperback edition dropped the giant question mark from the book jacket, replacing it with an even less interesting design and artwork).

Davis, like most visitors, is intrigued by the seemingly contradictory nature of many aspects of local culture and politics, not to mention that of U.S. policy regarding the poor country, and via conversations with everyday folks he reveals these finer points, and much more. In doing so, Davis offers what many former diplomats, academics, and newspaper journalists have failed to do - namely, a lengthy, clear, and intelligently assessment about what people really believed and how they came to believe it. Davis never pronounces judgment on the parties involved in the recent history of Nicaragua, though it is obvious he is no friend of the Contras, or at least no friend of those keen on giving them military aid (though this does not detract from the project).

One of the more intriguing parts of Davis’s account is his opening section on “Casa de Vampiros”, the plasmaphresis center owned by Cuban exile Pedro Ramos and an assortment of Somozacistas, (allegedly?) backing Somoza himself. The blood donation center was the subject of a famous “La Prensa” investigation, supervised by editor Pedro Chamorro. It is commonly believed that Somoza was, literally, bleeding the country dry, and these articles seemed to prove it. The expose, and particularly the subsequent assassination of Chamorro by a man who then claimed he was paid to kill him, on behalf of Ramos, who was by then living in Miami after having sued Chamorro following the end of his business venture, resulted in massive street protests including more than 30,000 Nicaraguans, later fueled one of the largest outpourings of empathy and political support the country had yet seen, when more than 60,000 people later attended Chamorro's funeral. This series of events, along with the embezzling of earthquake relief funds and President Jimmy Carter's later freeze on aid and arms, are often considered primary causes of Somoza’s ultimate downfall.

Davis maintains that 20,000 liters of plasma per month were destined for the U.S., resulting in a profit of 12 million U.S. dollars, annually. However, judging from his brief story, it is difficult to see what accounted for the outrage with the business practice - which was not illegal, and on most counts, certainly not immoral. There was a hefty 300% markup, but there was a similar markup from point of origin to consumer of many exported “products” (bananas, pineapples, and even Flor de Cana, today, can have such a mark-up, and it is not even news, no less an expose). Additionally, Davis claims it was arguably one of the most sanitary donation centers outside the continental U.S. (probably had to be to satisfy U.S. contracts), and that not only were donors fed real meals (they were not in most countries) following their donation, once adjusted for cost-of-living expenses, Nicaraguan contributors (poor people, mostly) were paid a fee comparable to donors in the U.S. If all that is true, then why was the “La Prensa” piece considered an “expose”? What was exposed, specifically, other than that Somoza was alleged to profit from the blood of Nicaraguans - which many people probably assumed anyway? No real harm is ever revealed or implied - beyond the fact that the newspaper gave Nicaraguans another reason to hate Somoza. Since Davis’s book is a generalist account, it is not exactly loaded with documentation or footnotes, but one can only assume his facts and figures used above are generally correct. This is the only part of the book which seemed incomplete (not poorly done, just unfinished, or lacking in sufficient detail).

Taken as a whole, it is a well-written, interesting look at Nicaragua - as it was (much of it is still as he describes). It was common in the 1980's for people to question why anyone lacking a former ambassadorship, or academic credentials, or possible prize-winning photographs should be venturing off to author yet another book on Nicaragua. Peter Davis does a decent job providing the exception to the rule, mostly because he did a better job than former diplomats, historians, and photographers. The unusual title aside, it is a very good read on Nicaragua.