My personal revenge will be to make you see
The goodness in my people’s eyes,
implacable in combat always
generous and firm in victory

My personal revenge will be to greet you
‘Good Morning!’ in streets with no beggars,
when instead of locking you inside
they say ‘Don’t look so sad’.
When you the torturer,
daren’t lift your head,
My personal Revenge will be to give you
these hands you once ill-treated
with all their tenderness intact.

Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy
translated from Spanish by Dinah Livingstone

Nicaraguan singer/songwriter Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy wrote this song, using the words of the Sandinista freedom fighter Tomás Borge.
People like Borge gave the lie to Washington’s propaganda of the Sandinistas as militant despots. Borge underwent seven years of imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Somoza dictatorship’s National Guard; his wife was also tortured, sexually abused and eventually died at the hands of her tormentors.
After the Sandinista Revolution in 1979 Tomás Borge became Nicaragua’s Justice Minister. Many of the former National Guard were now prisoners from whom he was responsible. Under Borge’s direction the prison system was completely overhauled. Prisoners received progressively more humane treatment for good behavior until they could visit home at weekends and guard themselves. The story goes that Borge came face to face with his torturer and responded by saying “For your punishment, I forgive you.” When the man was freed, he went to Miami and became a leader of the counter-revolutionary contras. Borge reflected that the man didn’t understood forgiveness.
On a larger scale Sandinistas ‘revenge’ was a vision of an inclusive, humane society for a country they all too briefly governed. In 2006, the Sandinistas again achieved power in Nicaragua when Daniel Ortega was re-elected president with nearly 40% of votes.

(article taken from the 400th issue of the new internationalist)

I asked if I could speak to him about Nicaragua and its position on whaling. Well it happens that the Consulate of Nicaragua was no longer there!! That is only the residence of his family and because they lived in Nicaragua for a long time and had connections with the government, his father was asked to be the consul in Portugal. They are not Nicaraguans even, they are British. We delivered the letter we had prepared to his father and he said that since his father still has connections with the government, he will ask him to convey our message to Managua.
Well, Nicholas the son of the supposed Consul told me that he personally is against whaling and he thought the idea of making the action in 14 different countries would help to change Nicaragua’s position (and apparently it did http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2007/04/10/nacionales/45840 – it says that Nicaragua will no longer vote for whaling!) after a chat, and some exchange of ideias, he invited us for a tea, but we were running late, so we politely said no.
We got his contact and of his father to send him some news of the actions around the world and its repercussions, what I’ll do after finishing this text, that is right about now…

Congratulations to Milko Schvartzman from Greenpeace and everyone involved. I’m looking forward to know that Nicaragua voted NO when Japan voted YES :-) also many thanks to Catarina a friend of mine that helped me to manufacture the whale tails.

Click here to read about the government change of position regarding whaling.