Nicaragua Fuel Strike and Democracy
May 15th, 2008 by Wes
The strike is still on. Very peaceful. We did notice today a few taxis out on the streets. I could not tell if they had paying customers or not. It is still very difficult to get around if you do not have your own car. The four surfers from the East Coast staying at Casa Del Soul had to walk yesterday from San Juan to the bed and breakfast. I would not want to walk the hour and half on a cool day, much less on one of the hottest days carrying surf boards. The strike is very peaceful. One thing Nicaraguans do well is sit and wait. The drivers spend the whole day on the corner just hanging out. By the end of the day they are even tired of checking the road to see if anyone is breaking the strike. Most of the road blocks have police stationed to keep peace and there seems to be no problems. I would not recommend getting into a taxi and driving through a road block, it could prove to be a bit uncomfortable and risky.
I am fascinated by the ability of the drivers to organize this type of strike. The communication in this country can be very difficult. It can be difficult to get the food you order here. I have no idea how the whole country can decide to implement a strike, communicate it to all the drivers, and get nearly full compliance country wide for the protest, It is remarkable. Imagine if the citizens of the US banded together to do this? I have seen emails once in a while which suggest we ban gasoline and strike countrywide. I do not think more than 6 people follow through with it. How is it that the people of this country can do this? There is a real pride and respect here for this movement.
The regular population is very supportive of the drivers. No one is complaining much. Life is just going along as if nothing unusual were happening, unless of course you need a ride somewhere. The unity of the people is amazing. I would suspect this is true democracy in action. I am not a political science person, so I do not know much about these things, however, I am very intrigued by the idea of how the people of this country could execute this type of movement.
So far all is very safe. From San Juan Del Sur I actually feel safer because I can walk the streets without traffic. Looked at some beautiful lands today, and sitting over the ocean watching the sun set into the deep blue. Nicaragua is a facinating country and the people are just wonderful. I hope none of the striking families go hungry and I wish them all well.
