Nicaraguan Gringa. John Keith

      Author’s Notes

      Although real political figures in both Nicaragua and the United States are mentioned in the novel, all of the characters that actually speak and appear in the narrative are fictional. Places that are mentioned in the novel pose a more complicated mixture of real locations and imagined settings. Quinta Louisa, the coffee factory, and the village are all fictional. Although the names of actual barrios in Managua are used, the descriptions of them may be somewhat fanciful composites of several areas of the city.

      The time-line that follows these notes offers a context for the larger national and international events within which the story is set. Some of these events are noted in the narrative so that the reader is reminded of the historical time and situation. Other events are included in the time-line as a general historical background.

      Italics are used to indicate the dialogue in Spanish, and regular type is used when English is being spoken. On occasions the actual Spanish word or phrase is printed when no English translation seems adequate for its meaning at that point in the story. In conversations where English predominates but a Spanish word is “thrown in,” the actual Spanish word is printed in the text followed by its translation in parenthesis. Bilingual characters often use “Spanglish,” a mixture of the languages within a single sentence or phrase. A suggestion of the syntax and rhetoric of the Spanish conversation is attempted in the English italicized translation, such as the omission of contractions and possessive nouns, although a strict word-for-word translation would render the dialogue too stilted. Italics are also used on occasion in the usual manner for emphasis.

      In all these matters the reader’s discernment and judgment will be needed.

      Time Line

      of Nicaraguan Events

      1912–37 U.S. Marines intermittently occupy Nicaragua.

      1934 Augusto César Sandino assassinated.

      1936 Anastasio Somoza “Tacho” García takes control of the country with complicity of U.S. Marines

      1937-56 Somoza elected president in 1937, serving effectively as dictator until his death in 1956. His sons, Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza “Tachito” Debayle, follow him as presidents/dictators.

      1961 National Liberation Front is founded at the University of León by Carlo Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, and Tomás Borge.

      1962 National Liberation Front name is changed to Frente Sandinista Liberación (FSLN).

      1967 January 22: A coup is attempted in Managua.

      April 13: Luis Somoza dies of a heart attack.

      August 27: Silvio Mayorga is assassinated in Matagalpa.

      1968 October 23: Volcano Cerro Negro begins erupting near León.

      1972 December 23: Managua is destroyed by an earthquake.

      1973 President Anastasio Somoza embezzles money from relief funds provided by the United States. It is later revealed that he controls 40 percent of the economy.

      1974 U.S. Marines are again sent to support Somoza’s regime.

      November 8: Carlos Fonseca dies in combat in the mountains.

      1978 April 30: Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, editor of La Prensa, is assassinated.

      1979 FSLN intensifies the uprising against Somoza.

      July 17: Anastasio Somoza flees Nicaragua.

      July 19: Commandante Cero (Edén Pastora) leads FSLN troops into Managua, and the city falls to the Sandinistas.

      1980 March 24: Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated in El Savador.

      September 17: Anastasio Somoza is assassinated in Paraguay.

      1981 Ronald Reagan is inaugurated President of U.S.A.

      1982 Boland Amendment in U.S. Congress prohibits U.S. funds to be used for overthrow of Nicaraguan government.

      1983 “Iran Contra Affair”:

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