More about El Lagartillo

Bairon milking the cow

Monument to the fallen of 1986

Community Cistern, to be filled by the new pump

Swimming at the waterfall

El Lagartillo was founded as a cooperative in 1982, where the land was held in common by the members of the community. This was a very unique time in Nicaraguan history. Since the time of the Spanish conquest, land had been divided and held in the hands of the wealthiest families. In 1979, the hated dictator Anastasio Somoza fled the country in a wave of public outrage that had been rising over the previous years. The Sandinistas (FSLN) stepped in and began to support land reform, purchasing (and confiscating) land from the wealthy owners who had either not been paying taxes on the land or claiming very deflated prices. The land was then offered to cooperatives such as those in El Lagartillo.

Life was good initially for the community, and it began with a handful of families who all held the idea of holding property in common. However, the US, believing that its empire was threatened, financed and armed the Contras who targeted cooperatives (and literacy teachers) in particular, fearing that they were the harbinger of full communism. The contras attacked El Lagartillo in 1984 and six members of the community were killed by the Contras. There is a monument to the fallen. When 1990 came and the Nicaraguans, tired of fighting the US embargo and the Contras, elected Violeta Chamorro, she began a reversal of land reform and passed laws to remove support for cooperatives. El Lagartillo held a vote and decided to let anyone who did not wish to be part of the cooperative, to opt out and receive a share of land. When 1996 came and Arnoldo Alemán was elected (he is now under house arrest for embezzlement), he passed laws making it even harder to financially sustain as a cooperative and the community decided to apportion the remaining land.

Currently there are a few things held in common: the water system, a small forest, the library. There are about 150 people that live in the town. There is a primary school, taught by members of the community and a couple of teachers from Achuapa, a nearby town. There is also a secondary school that serves the region, although they are in need of an English teacher and a science teacher. There is a medical clinic, where once a week a resident physician from a nearby town comes for half a
day. The school, Hijos del Maíz, began in 2004 as a way to support the community. There are 8 teachers, who all underwent an extensive training in teaching Spanish. Most houses use a solar panel and a car battery to supply basic electric needs such as lighting. There are no flush toilets, just outhouses. There is one Clear modem which is shared by the community, and to use it, you have to walk about 10 minutes to where there is a radio tower in sight.

Yesterday, the water system (see previous post) was tested and proved to be quite sufficient. Using 8 solar panels, the pump moved 16,000 liters (about 4000 gallons) from the well in about 2 hours.  To celebrate this, we took a 30 minute hike to a nearby waterfall to take a swim and relax. There were natural rock slides diving spots. We are winding down our week here and there will be a lot to miss.