Central America

Central America is defined as the isthmus of land from Mexico south to Colombia, and between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. All of the nations of Central America are small. By far the most populous is Guatemala, immediately south of Mexico, with around 18 million people.

Central America has a Spanish colonial heritage similar to that of Mexico and northern South America, but the cities of Central America are usually not as old as Mexico City or Lima.

To understand Central America it is necessary to understand the past involvement of American companies in the region. These countries have been profoundly affected by United Fruit and Standard Fruit. The descendants of both companies are still with us today. United Fruit is now known as Chiquita, and is especially known for bananas. Standard fruit is now known as Dole, and is especially known for pineapples.

According to critics, these companies turned Central America into nations whose reason for being was to supply American consumers with tropical fruit. One thing that is notable about the region is how small the countries are. Most of the nations of Latin America are much larger and it does seem that Central America could have been one country. But this could be the legacy of being divided up as national plantations for rival fruit companies.

When Communism came along this history of exploitation, at least according to the critics, it found ready converts in the region which ultimately led to conflicts like that between the Contras and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Although not part of Central America, the same could be said for Cuba which was the main supplier of sugar. The result was the rise of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the world to the brink of war.

This is not to say that that the fruit companies did not bring any good to the region, they certainly built infrastructure and communications networks, although the critics claim that it was for the companies' own benefit and was mainly the kind of "help" that hindered Central America from developing in it's own way.

Anyway, I'll let you form your own opinion about it. Let's move along and have a look at the region.

The following scenes of Guatemala City begin inside Metropolitan Cathedral. The cathedral faces the most important square of the city, the Plaza de la Constitucion. The National Palace of Culture is also on the square. The familiar pattern in cities of Latin America is the most important church facing the main square of a city. If it is a capital city, it will be the nation's main cathedral and there will be the president's residence or national palace, and possibly other government buildings facing the square as well.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.6415598,-90.5120736,3a,75y,88.52h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMXxd0vQIdSoAa-CqlFlI4d_CuhOHd7l-PlsPXp!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMXxd0vQIdSoAa-CqlFlI4d_CuhOHd7l-PlsPXp%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya27.698635-ro-0-fo100!7i11464!8i5732

Here is some more of the central part of Guatemala City.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.6345409,-90.5149814,2a,75y,103.26h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sj9gK7RPOBhf22yfrGtfwhA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dj9gK7RPOBhf22yfrGtfwhA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D103.68807%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

The way Guatemala City is organized into numbered zones is reminiscent of the arrondisements of Paris. The following scenes are in Zone 10, a modern business district.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.5906694,-90.5037906,3a,75y,162.29h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s6hkg2bijbj88gmGyIQTCbQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6hkg2bijbj88gmGyIQTCbQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D162.28775%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

The capital city of the neighboring nation of El Salvador is San Salvador. Like so many other cities in this part of the world, the center of the capital city is a square with the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace facing the square. These views of San Salvador begin in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6983334,-89.1911671,3a,75y,92.27h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMypHSs7S77nI0VRKtrvrpwlfTupvVibBYUp_65!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMypHSs7S77nI0VRKtrvrpwlfTupvVibBYUp_65%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya85.80976-ro-0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

This is the western part of San Salvador, beginning at the Monument of the Divine Savior. Oscar Romero, a priest who was known for "Liberation Theology", was a native of El Salvador. This was a form of socialism, maybe even Marxism, but that had serving God as the goal.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7012491,-89.2240379,3a,75y,76.04h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOn_xeek4XeCUo_KlIPiKgpaNEiAf9AYdeGN7F1!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOn_xeek4XeCUo_KlIPiKgpaNEiAf9AYdeGN7F1%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya155.74026-ro-0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, is one of those places whose name makes a good password. (Does anyone remember Bophuthatswana, a former "homeland" in South Africa from the 1970s)? It is a much older city that most of the capitals of Central America, dating from around the same time as Mexico City and Lima. It might have been the capital if Central America had become one country.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.0891555,-87.1815757,3a,75y,214.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPDXswIuWxH22Dxax4fvvtBa_uK0jvm8_SyBQYx!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPDXswIuWxH22Dxax4fvvtBa_uK0jvm8_SyBQYx%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya316.5-ro-0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

If you have ever wondered if nations have gone to war over soccer, called "football" outside North America, the answer is yes. El Salvador and Honduras went to war over qualifying for the 1970 World Cup.

The capital city of Nicaragua is Managua. I can remember from childhood seeing news reports of the devastating 1972 earthquake there. Then, when I was a teenager, the president of the country was overthrown in what would begin a long civil war. The president, Anastasio Somoza, was from the Somoza family which had dominated the country for decades.

He was overthrown by the Sandinistas, who were led by Daniel Ortega and took their name from a leftist revolutionary who had earlier fought against U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua (Remember the United Fruit Company, as described above), and had been killed by the forces of the Somoza family. The U.S. administration of Ronald Reagan helped to form the Contras, who undertook a civil war, against the backdrop of the Cold War, against the Sandinistas. I remember when Reagan publicly declared "I am a Contra".

The U.S. Congress banned further assistance to the Contras, but Reagan sought ways to help them anyway. This is what led to the 1980s "Iran-Contra Scandal", where American weapons were being sold to Iran, which was at war with Iraq, and the profits being used to help fund the Contras.

In the global shift against Communism toward the end of the 1980s, Daniel Ortega lost the 1990 presidential election to Violeta Chamorro, who was widely celebrated in America. But Ortega moved toward the political center from Communism, and came back to win the 2006 presidential election and is still the president of the country today.

The husband of Violeta Chamorro, Pedro, had operated a newspaper that had opposed the rule of the Somoza family, until he had been assassinated. Ironically, he had been a childhood classmate of Anastasio Somoza, the last of the Somoza rulers. At first, Violeta Chamorro sided with the Sandinistas after they overthrew the Somozas in 1979. But that did not last long because she became disillusioned with their Marxist leanings. She eventually defeated the Sandinistas in the 1990 election to become the president of Nicaragua.

Does all of this sound familiar? If it does it is because this is virtually a mirror image of Corazon Aquino winning the presidency of the Philippines four years before, in 1986. Her husband had been assassinated by the forces of Ferdinand Marcos, and she eventually led the "People Power" movement that had deposed Marcos. Ironically, Corazon Aquino's husband was told that he could return from exile, but was killed at the airport as soon as he landed just as Augusto Sandino, for whom the Sandinistas were named and who could be considered as Nicaragua's version of Che Guevara, was killed after the Somoza family had invited him to discuss a truce.

The situation in Nicaragua was more complex than that of the Philippines because it involved three parties, the Somozas, the Sandinistas and Violeta Chamorro, while the Philippines only involved two, Marcos and Corazon Aquino.

The overthrow of the Shah of Iran also bears a similarity to this story and it also took place in 1979, a few months before the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza. Like the Shah, Somoza sought exile in the U.S. President Jimmy Carter really did not want either one, but the Republicans insisted they an "old friend" like the Shah must not be abandoned. Anastasio Somoza had no such support in the U.S. and settled into exile in Paraguay.

I remember the news that the Sandinistas had finally caught up with Anastasio Somoza in his Paraguayan exile. He was killed when the assassination team fired a rocket at his car. There was a lot of speculation in the news about how much assistance they might have had from Communist Cuba.

Managua was rebuilt after the 1972 earthquake. There has long been discussion about building a canal across Nicaragua, which would rival the Panama Canal, but there seems to be a lot of opposition to it and it would inevitably mean salt water from the sea getting into Lake Managua. 

Here is a look at Managua.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.1184925,-86.2617141,3a,75y,220h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNtPKK1WCA1c0JjvkVBRBzagnqNwBRl-EoZvfFf!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNtPKK1WCA1c0JjvkVBRBzagnqNwBRl-EoZvfFf%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-7.305146-ya2.9631648-ro11.570669-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

This is San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.9329002,-84.0636649,3a,75y,259.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNuUbUnDPme4_btn2yOrJ2msFssqDo5ZFU0u740!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNuUbUnDPme4_btn2yOrJ2msFssqDo5ZFU0u740%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya159.82-ro-0-fo100!7i7776!8i3888

"San Jose" means "St. Joseph". Remember that English and Spanish names are often equivalent. A difference is that "Jesus" (pronounced "Hay-seus") is a common name in Spanish-speaking countries.
Jose = Joseph
Pablo = Paul
Juan = John
Maria = Mary
Jorge = George
Pedro = Peter
Miguel = Michael
Guillermo = William
I think Ramon = Raymond
I think Manuel = Samuel

Panama City, the capital of Panama and on the Pacific side of the country, is a very old city, from the Sixteenth Century. The first Panama City was destroyed in a pirate raid, and the ruins are still there. Piracy was common in the early days of this part of the world, but what exactly a pirate was depends on one's perspective.

My understanding is that a pirate is simply a robber. A pirate ship preys on other ships, especially those carrying gold, in the days when there were no radios to call on the navy or the coast guard for help.

But it is more complicated than that. Countries were often at war. When they were, "pirate" ships would be commissioned to raid ships, but only ships of nations with which their own country was at war. These ships operated independently, and were not part of the country's organized navy. "Pirates" who raided only ships of nations with which their country was at war were known as buccaneers or privateers or, in French terminology, corsairs.

A well-known pirate, or privateer depending on your point of view, was Henry Morgan. "Captain Morgan", as he was known, even has a popular brand of rum named after him today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Morgan#/media/File:Captain_Morgan_Black_Label.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Morgan#/media/File:Captainlogo_2005.PNG

This is the ruins of the original Panama City.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.0072148,-79.4859845,3a,75y,127.61h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMsMRL7VKQsPCFujK-JPzBneOaTXRGVe5l_n7PW!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMsMRL7VKQsPCFujK-JPzBneOaTXRGVe5l_n7PW%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi2.3866053-ya127.93231-ro1.9146585-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

This is the Old Quarter of the present Panama City.

https://www.google.com/maps/@8.9529266,-79.5368195,3a,75y,88.64h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO6DRvWV5Z8823A0JpWQzFbGskb7MnzTqv68SHT!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO6DRvWV5Z8823A0JpWQzFbGskb7MnzTqv68SHT%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya338.62393-ro0-fo100!7i9728!8i4864

Here is the central area of modern Panama City.

https://www.google.com/maps/@8.9775769,-79.5250739,3a,75y,136.23h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNtUoKXfzyVqAUW5APMj2W-MarNXNFap_lfWeSM!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNtUoKXfzyVqAUW5APMj2W-MarNXNFap_lfWeSM%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya238.58351-ro0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584