Las Sandinistas! (2018)
This movie works for the first 75 minutes. It's a solid documentary about the great role that women played in the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua.
Sadly, the remainder of the film is propaganda for the Nicaraguan rightwing movement called the MRS. The MRS did, indeed, begin as a group that was going to push the Sandinistas from the left. As a political party, they never gained any traction. The highest percentage of votes they ever achieved was 5 percent.
Now, the MRS has allied itself with rightwing parties in Nicaragua, and with the U.S. right wing. They are counter-revolutionaries.
According to the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2017, Nicaragua is the highest ranked country in Latin America in terms of gender equality with sixth highest rank in the world. The UK is in 15th position. Countries are ranked according to economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment.
In Nicaragua, 46% of MPs are women. Nicaragua achieved gender parity in ministerial posts. The facts are that women are not excluded from the political process in Nicaragua.
Please note that no prominent pro-government Nicaraguan woman appears in the film. We get long interviews with MRS leaders, most of whom are highly educated, highly cultured, and highly respected in the U.S. They are like us, and we want to believe them.
Remember that in 2016, the Sandinista party won 72% of the vote. That's because the Sandinistas aren't the party of the intellectual elite. While clever and talented, the Sandinista women don't teach poetry at San Francisco State, they don't direct films, and they aren't brilliant novelists.
They are urban and rural workers, who know that the Sandinista government will give them access to health care, education, economic assistance, and an opportunity to hold public office.
My name appears at the end of the film as a GoFundMe donor. I regret that donation now. I thought the movie would pay tribute to the heroic women of the Sandinista revolution. It does, indeed, do this. However, the tribute was clearly meant as a way to lead up to the criticism of the present Sandinista government. I should have known better.
This movie works for the first 75 minutes. It's a solid documentary about the great role that women played in the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua.
Sadly, the remainder of the film is propaganda for the Nicaraguan rightwing movement called the MRS. The MRS did, indeed, begin as a group that was going to push the Sandinistas from the left. As a political party, they never gained any traction. The highest percentage of votes they ever achieved was 5 percent.
Now, the MRS has allied itself with rightwing parties in Nicaragua, and with the U.S. right wing. They are counter-revolutionaries.
According to the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2017, Nicaragua is the highest ranked country in Latin America in terms of gender equality with sixth highest rank in the world. The UK is in 15th position. Countries are ranked according to economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment.
In Nicaragua, 46% of MPs are women. Nicaragua achieved gender parity in ministerial posts. The facts are that women are not excluded from the political process in Nicaragua.
Please note that no prominent pro-government Nicaraguan woman appears in the film. We get long interviews with MRS leaders, most of whom are highly educated, highly cultured, and highly respected in the U.S. They are like us, and we want to believe them.
Remember that in 2016, the Sandinista party won 72% of the vote. That's because the Sandinistas aren't the party of the intellectual elite. While clever and talented, the Sandinista women don't teach poetry at San Francisco State, they don't direct films, and they aren't brilliant novelists.
They are urban and rural workers, who know that the Sandinista government will give them access to health care, education, economic assistance, and an opportunity to hold public office.
My name appears at the end of the film as a GoFundMe donor. I regret that donation now. I thought the movie would pay tribute to the heroic women of the Sandinista revolution. It does, indeed, do this. However, the tribute was clearly meant as a way to lead up to the criticism of the present Sandinista government. I should have known better.