Recently we presented on movies that we have been watching for our class related in some way to Nicaragua. My group presented on two separate films: The World is Watching and The World Stopped Watching. These movies have to do with the Contra War in Nicaragua during and then after the war. For the purpose of this blog I would like to focus on The World is Watching. This movie really touched me. In class we have discussed the Contra War and many of its aspects on several occasions but watching this movie allowed me to put a face to the Nicaraguan people specifically their experiences during the Contra War.

To begin with, this movie addresses the burden of scrutiny that Nicaragua faced in the media. They were one of 5 Central American countries that signed a supposed peace treaty but Nicaragua was the only country that was actually held to the standard of the peace treaty. Journalists that were sent to Nicaragua to document the war were only out to document conflict in order to please their editors back home. They ignored positive aspects of Nicaraguans because that wouldn’t attract as much attention as conflict. This is something that can be seen even in current times. Take the Iraq or Afghanistan war as examples. Think about the last time you heard about something positive occurring in those countries. It’s truly an abomination that we overemphasize the bad to the point where it becomes expected. Another point that was brought up was that editors in U.S. corporate offices are the ones who decide what is or what isn’t news. That was a much bigger problem in the 80s simply because the only source of information was the newspaper or TV, but now that isn’t as big of a problem with the internet. Nonetheless, very few sources provide unbiased reports of the news and by consequence control what the public thinks. During the Contra War, the media was brainwashing the public and convincing them that the Sandinistas were the enemies when in reality they wanted peace and the U.S. funded Contras were the ones wreaking havoc. Foreign Minister Miguel D’Escoto said in regards to Ronald Reagan, “You throw enough mud on the wall and then you hope that some would stick.” Thus, he was expressing the idea that the media and others including the President just say whatever negative things come to mind and eventually the public will believe something.

As the movie transitioned to specific stories of different Nicaraguans, I was amazed to see the actual damage done by the Contras. The first Nicaraguan interviewed was a young Sandinista soldier. He recounts losing is wife, brothers in law, mother in law and son just prior to the interview. They were not only killed but they were mutilated. It was a horrible story to hear. The soldier remarked that Regan is responsible for the war and all the Sandinistas want is peace. He responded with an unreal stoicism and it’s not that he didn’t care, but I believe that Nicaraguans were already so accustomed to this type of brutality occurring on a daily basis. The second story is of an elderly campesina woman and her community who had recently been raided by the Contras. They had no possessions to their name and this woman didn’t know where to go on from here. She comments that the sandinistas simply want to provide for the poor and the wealthy do not like this so they declare a war on communism when a communism doesn’t exist. Despite her circumstances, this woman had an eerie determination to move forward and not give up. I believe that this is the identity of Nicaraguans even up to this day. A couple of blog posts ago I commented on how the Nicaraguans that came to Dartmouth to visit us were so joyous and proud despite their poverty. This is what make them a unique people. What angers me though is that these stories were not included in the media, rather false lies of rebellious and communist country were spread in order to incite anger against the sandinistas when in reality they just wanted to live in peace.

I just briefly talked about this movie but what I took from it is that media has such a grand impact on history. The media can literally incite wars or end them and one can only imagine how many lives could have been saved and how much suffering could have been prevented if only the media portrayed the truth and not what was beneficial to their corporations. Even worse, is that the world eventually stopped watching Nicaragua and when the war was over these people were just forgotten.