Since then the Sandinista have done so much good - rainforest conservation, literacy, elections, health care. Their relation with the Catholic church was variable. I have a friend who is an ex-priest. One of the reasons he left the church was that so-called 'Liberation Theology' which he was involved in, in Latin America, was stamped out by the church hierarchy. I think the Sandinista stayed the same, but the church changed, became less concerned with human rights, more concerned with hierarchy.
But now the Sandinista have changed (this story is a couple of weeks old, I didn't feel able to post about it before) Daniel Ortega has gone stupidly religious in his old age. He's gone over completely to the new un-liberation church. He has become rabidly anti-abortion. It is now illegal in Nicaragua to terminate any pregnancy, at any stage, even to save the woman's life, even for little girls, even for victims of rape or incest. The mother will go to prison for six years.
Imagine you are in that dilemma - die or be taken from your children.
Orlando Tardencilla, one of the members of the sub-committee which proposed the bill, said: "Unless abortion is made a crime, then people can simply come out and say: 'I have the right to an abortion, this is my body and I can decide.'
For instance, it is estimated that 400 women experience ectopic pregnancy in Nicaragua each year. All 400 will now be left to die. This nine year old would be forced to bear a child. It's bloody.