Arriving in Poneloya, I had felt disappointed by the depressing, deserted little town. By the second day I had realized just how unworkable this situation is and was considering my options. Now it is the third day and I am feeling pissed off. Getting blatantly hustled for a petty bribe by one of the local police was the cherry on the cake. Giving five bucks to the fat, grinning, cop with the bad teeth didn't bother me. What angered me was knowing that the local people, like Will and his family, have their entire lives circumscribed by men like him.
Corruption has been endemic to Latin America for so long and permeates every aspect of life to such a degree that people seem resigned to its presence. Holding any kind of public office is generally perceived primarily as an opportunity to line one's pockets. Even Daniel Ortega, the people's champion, has made himself, as well as his friends and family, extremely wealthy at the expense of his country and its people. Those photo ops with Fidel and Hugo sure help to maintain the illusion of solidarity with the masses, though.
Canadians are fortunate that our public servants lack the felonious initiative, or perhaps the imagination, to steal much. Sure, we have crooked politicians, but government corruption in Canada is having public works mow your lawn and rarely gets more ambitious. The sponsorship scandal that dominated the press for months not so long ago, sparked by the revelation that the Liberal party solicited under the table contributions in exchange for advertising contracts, was pathetically penny ante. George Bush doesn't even get out of bed for such small change.
At the local Yamaha shop I met a Nicaraguan named Richard who had immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty and joined the Marine Corp to gain his US citizenship. A year in Iraq dampened his enthusiasm for his adopted country and he returned to Nicaragua as soon as his hitch was done. Now he is frustrated with the situation here and his wife is pressuring him to move them back to the States and its modern conveniences. I felt sorry for the guy, caught between two countries, neither of which he wants to live in.
Sadly, the only way that things will ever change here is if a leader of true integrity arises to lift the publics expectations, or because a grass roots mass movement makes graft unacceptable, compelling government to enact tough laws and enforce them. The arrival of a Nicaraguan Tommy Douglas is largely a matter of luck and the other prospect most likely involves a couple of decades of selfless hard work on the part of a large group of people. Neither is a strong possibility.
At first light tomorrow I am loading up my motorcycle and leaving Poneloya. If my laundry had been dry I would have been gone today. I'll be heading for the island of Ometepe, in the centre of Lake Nicaragua, and hoping for a better experience that this one that will lift my spirits.
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