News Article 2

Third World Country Struggles to Rebuild after Devastating Hurricane
By Alicia Conn

Nicaragua has never truly been a wealthy country. Between a civil war that began in the late 1970’s that overthrew a United States backed dictatorship, and two natural disasters occurring once in 1998, and again in early September of 2007. Hurricane Felix which occurred four months ago, wiped out the fields which Nicaragua needed to maintain a steady economy because most of their economic income is from agricultural exports such as coffee, meat, tobacco, and sugar cane.

The Somaza family ruled the country with the support of the United States between 1937 through the Sandinista revolution in 1979. The Sandinista’s were defeated in an election held in 1990 as per the peace agreements that were made to cease the fighting. Peace brought a little relief to the citizens of Nicaragua, the rate of inflation decreased, the amount unemployed also saw a significant drop in numbers, and some economic growth. But that didn’t last very long as Hurricane Mitch hit in 1998 and destroyed both homes and lives. According to BBC News, the storm killed thousands and left 20% of the population of Nicaragua homeless, as well as causing billions of dollars worth in damage.

Hurricane Felix struck in early September of 2007. More than 40, 000 people have been affected and 9,000 homes were destroyed either in the actual storm or the flooding that followed in its wake. Sandinista President Daniel Ortega promised to rebuild all of the houses that were demolished by the disaster and the U.N. called for $48 million dollars in aid to repair all of the damages caused by the rath of the Hurricane for the areas of the region that had been hit serevely, particularly Nicaragua. The United States and the European Union donated a combine total of $2.53 million (USD).

Over 160,000 people were suffering immediately after the storm because many communities were stranded. Of the total 133 deaths that occurred during the storm, 130 of the them took place in Nicaragua.

President Ortega has said that he wants to restore the damages to historical buildings in order to increase the amount of tourism to Nicaragua. Since the fields that have traditionally used to grow crops were destroyed in the flooding caused by Hurricane Felix, Nicaragua is choosing to rely on tourism to rebuild its economic status. Nicaragua needs more monitorial assistance to get back on their feet. They can do it but they need our help to do so.