Ok, so, this has nothing to do with familia or my Nicaragua trip. But I was looking at stuff on YouTube. I spent a good hour watching videos of Tom Waits. Then I decide to look up Carlos Mejia Godoy (Nicaraguan Folk Musician),and watched some old and new footage of him. And then I saw stuff about the Nicaraguan revolution. And then, then I decided to look up something. I had thought for a while now, that I needed to write a scene with Leti's family watching the news during the Sandinista Revolution. My idea has to do with the fact that when I was a kid, we watched the news on a little black and white TV set in the kitchen, while we ate dinner. And as the revolution unfolded, we watched it every evening on that set. So I have this distinct memory of watching an American reporter getting shot by a Nicaraguan National Guardsman. I remember seeing that, remember the three of us watching and feeling glued to the TV and already having a heavy feeling in my body that the man was going to die, all the while my father was mumbling under his breath something like, "lo van a dejar ir." They're going to let him go. Only they didn't let him go. And then hearing the "pop" of the gunshot. And then feeling the awful sensation of knowing we'd just watched someone get shot and killed. That incident pushed Somosa out of the country, and sped the end of the war. But I thought it would be interesting to write about it with Mark at the dinner table too. He wouldn't understand it the same way that Leti's family does. I think it would be a way to show the dual feeling of identity: American/Nicaraguan. The ability to hold onto two contrary values at the same time. Anyway, I know this is incredibly morbid, but I wanted to see that footage again. I had looked for it before and couldn't find it. But now it is up. I saw it.
The "pop" still jarred me. It's grainy footage. The cameraman was allowed to leave.
I remember feeling that this was a horrible moment, but that there were many horrible moments but that this one was special because it had been caught on film. No, I guess what I'm trying to say, is that this incident reinforced the idea that has already formed in my mind that people are capable of brutal and dumb acts. And it's strange to think now, that I was just shy of ten years old at the time, yet that was my perception. And I want to get something like that in the scene...maybe from Jimmie's pov. (Because I think Leti would be too young--she'd be 8) And besides, Jimmie's the cynnical one.
So, YouTube is great.
Journalists don't get enough credit.
The reporter's name was Bill Stewart from ABC.
Here's a statement by President Jimmy Carter about the incident.
The murder of American newsman Bill Stewart in Nicaragua was an act of barbarism that all civilized people condemn.
Journalists seeking to report the news and inform the public are soldiers in no nation's army. When. they are made innocent victims of violence and war, all people who cherish the truth and believe in free debate pay a terrible price.
I know the American people share my sense of outrage and loss at the death of this gifted, dedicated young man. On behalf of all Americans, I want to express my deepest sympathy to Bill Stewart's wife and family for their suffering and
loss.
Note: The correspondent was killed by a member of the National Guard after he approached a government maintained street barricade in Managua. He was in Nicaragua to cover the fighting between the government forces and members of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters,The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=32505.
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