Three Revolutions

Three Revolutions in the Equatorial Americas. A volume of three feature pieces treating revolutions in each of Panama, Nicaragua and the building of tensions in Haiti. 1. In Panama, a Pantomime. Billed as support for a rebellion against General Noriega, the US invaded Panama for Christmas 1989. A year later Western expatriates in their clubs and enclaves were still divided. GENERAL NORIEGA'S portrait stood on the hotel bar, his cap crusted with laurels, stars the length of his epaulets, his cheeks pocked and grainy. The camera had caught him reviewing a parade. 2. The Play of Children. In Port o Prince, Haiti, waiting for the elections, tension builds, as does the heat. Here, we sit in a restaurant, speaking of Haitian artistries, during a power failure. We were all eyes, in this dusk. Mme Du Paix said, 'The Voodoo has taken over the Naive in our culture. No artistry speaks without voodoo.' 3. The Fall of Old Managua. The Nicaraguan revolution split families, none more than the Reyes, in which two brothers each became prominent leaders of opposing factions. In the first free elections in a decade, during the period in which President Reagan was still denying collaboration with the Contras, the US backed faction lead by Violetta Chamorro took government.