Highlights of book tour, Nicaragua, July 16-24, 2003

Matilde Zimmermann, Carlos Fonseca y la revolución nicaragüense, translated by Erick Blandón, published by URACCAN, Managua, Nicaragua, July 2003, with support from Sarah Lawrence College

Translation of: Matilde Zimmermann, Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution (Duke University Press, 2000)

Meetings (with attendance)
Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas), July 17 (90 people),
Bluefields, July 18 (100)
Managua, July 21 (160)
Matagalpa, July 22 (130)

Some quotes from panelists:

"As a woman, as an indigenous person, I feel that I am living this book. I feel I am part of this book." Sandra Davis, Professor of Anthropology, Bilwi

"This book represents a great and unusual accomplishment by Matilde and her translator Erick Blandón - a book of extraordinary academic rigor that reads like a work of fiction." Douglas Stuart, President of the National University in Matagalpa, distinguished writer and historian, Matagalpa

"Just the announcement that this book was going to be published caused excitement, speculation, and some trepidation." Aldo Diaz, historian, Managua

TV coverage:

1. "Esta Semana" July 20 (the "60 Minutes" of Nicaragua, the most-watched news and analysis program), 15-minute feature on book and response to it, video on www.estasemanatv.com
2. "Primera Hora," Channel 2, live interview with Zimmermann and Blandón, July 17.
3. "Buenos Dias," Channel 12, did 30-minute feature on book July 10, with editor Margarita Antonio and Carlos Fonseca's sister Estela. [These are the two most-watched morning TV programs in Nicaragua.]

Radio coverage:
live interviews on Radio Pensamiento (Managua), Radio U (Bluefields), news items and listener call-ins about book on other radio stations. The main radio station in Matagalpa (Radio Estereo YES) broadcast the entire 2-hour program, reaching villages and farmhouses around north-central Nicaragua.

Press coverage in the two daily newspapers, El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa, including two columns in El Nuevo Diario defending the Nicaraguan Socialist Party against alleged slighting in the book

Carlos Fonseca Amador (1936-1976), the subject of this biography, was the central leader of the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front), the organization that led the Nicaraguan revolution of 1979. Fonseca's two children, Carlos, 36, and Tania, 34, attended the Managua meeting and praised the book. In a personal message to the author, Carlos Fonseca's widow, María Haydée Terán, said, "I want to thank you for this wonderful book, not only as Carlos's wife but also as a citizen of Nicaragua."

The publisher, URACCAN, Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense. This university grew out of the struggles of Indigenous (Miskitu, Sumu) and Creole (English-speaking Black) Nicaraguans for cultural rights and autonomy.

For information on how to order the Spanish translation outside Nicaragua, contact Margarita Antonio at comunicacion.uraccan@ifxnw.com. The English-language original is available from www.dukeupress.edu and many bookstores.

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