The
price of corruption
By:
Cristiana Guevara-Mena
Corruption is a social disease
that has worn out Nicaragua for many years. Therefore, it’s to suppose that the
people are sick of so much generalized corruption. Leaders of all currents that
have been in power in turn haven’t done anything else but to enrich themselves,
forget about the people and the promises made in election season. This causes
such destruction of the country that it’s hard to believe that Nicaragua will
be reborn from the ashes.
What we
haven’t perceived for being too busy with our everyday lives is that all this
corruption has a price. This ironically good but dangerous part of corruption
generates a state of profound resentment and anger of the people caused by
misery, economic estrangement, and the continuous unaccomplished promises of
the governments. To the point that there will be a moment where this feeling
will be unbearable and it will rebel itself against everything that has been
done, and against all the guilty parties.
There has been a
complicity of the government with different sectors of the private enterprise,
that without considering the responsibility that they have, have showed that
they care more about the fattening of their bank accounts than the benefit of
the nation, that is where their money comes from. They have bet in favor of a
government over the citizen rights and needs of the great majority.
An evident example: in
Nicaragua fuel is imported at a privileged price, how it is shipped to us by
Venezuela, and it is sold to the citizens at an international market price.
This is squandered on year round Christmas trees turned on in every roundabout
of the country. Meanwhile, the citizens receive altered bills for a lousy
service, and, if this were little, are as well threatened to take to prison for
violation of the law. As consequence, this forces the poorest of the people to
put their lives at risk by illegally connecting themselves to high tension
cables that cross the enormous and very poor neighborhood extensions that round
the capital. Even so, nor the government of the great capital are interested in
replacing the imported oil that causes so much harm, for the rich natural
resources that the sun, wind, water, and volcanoes can offer.
Let’s remember as well the
bankruptcies’ of the banks caused by the corrupt politicians and entrepreneur’s
bad administration that took advantage of the power to leave the people with a
huge and offensively unpayable internal debt. Since there is no justice that
has anything to say, the responsible parties continue with their bowties
happily in the streets, and that money has been replaced with funds of the
people. To that effect, there are existing documents of internal debt in hands
of foreign creditors that at any moment will be able to demand the payment of
the disappeared money.
These facts, product of
the responsible people frantic race for money and power, brings a social time
bomb about to explode that will not leave any of the guilty parties standing,
and will bring more advance of poverty. On the other hand, the bright side of
this is that it will give space for the upcoming young new leaderships with
enough education to drive Nicaragua towards a new horizon of progress. It is
there where the political youth of any color, with citizen responsibility and
knowledge of their reality will generate new changes, since it is called to
replace the old leading class generation that has been evidently unable until
this moment to produce positive results for the nation.