Anthropology Brown Bag Event: Inside Nicaragua, Marking History Making History
Fine Arts, Room 525
1-2 p.m.
Bring your lunch!
Dr. James Quesada’s primary area of research is the social and psychological effects of violence in Central and North America. He has conducted research in Nicaragua for over 25 years. During 2018, he was present both before and after the momentous April 19th event. A day that which originally began as a student protest was soon met with deadly force, which turned into a national civic uprising, placing manned barricades and human blockades. A month after the incident, President Ortega unleashed the police and paramilitary forces which has resulted in over 400 deaths, over 3,000 wounded, and thousands seeking refuge in and out of the country. Now Nicaraguan’s must face the irony that President Ortega, a man who once led their 1979 revolution and symbolized the insurrectional spirit of the nation, had become the same dictatorship Nicaraguans worked so hard to overthrow nearly forty years ago. “Somoza, Ortega, son la misma cosa,” is a popular chant that reflects this conundrum. Dr. Quesada will be discussing what this portends for Nicaraguan society and modern popular revolutionary movements we be explored in this presentation.