sion and in the movies. The piece concluded by. quoting the Archbishop of Asuncion, Paraguay stating, “ Rock and Roll perverts young people and makes them rebel.” Several days later, a different opinion was expressed in a lengthy letter to the With a legacy o f underdevelopment, in the midst o f war and a deep economic crisis, the Sandinistas and artists supportive o f the revolution have been unable to produce enough work to replace or even compete with imported U.S. culture. editor of El Nuevo Diario. Like Erick Aguirre in the earlier Ventana article, the writer claimed that many of the young people interested in “ the famous dance” were also “ integrated into the SMP [Ser- vicio Militar Patriotico, a two year mandatory military service].” The number of breakdancing aficionados who were members of juvenile gangs was miniscule, he pointed out. It should not be forgotten, he added, that when rock music first appeared in the United States in the 1950s, parents, religious leaders and government officials were mistakenly pointing to the new music and dance as the cause of juvenile delinquency. Midway through the breakdancing debate, reporters from the print and electronic media went out to the streets and interviewed young people waiting in line to see the much discussed film. La Pre- nsa, the currently prohibited opposition daily, stated that young people wanted to be able to breakdance wearing the appropriate clothing, and quoted one young person lamenting, “That doesn’t exist in the country, and when you can find it, it’s too expensive.” Barricada, too, sent out a reporter and published its findings under the title “ Breakdance in the Gonzalez—Fever Every Day, Through the Afternoon and Night,” a reference to Saturday Night Fever, which had played the previous month in a number of Managua theaters. The Sandinista daily reported that young people waiting in line to see Breakdance had caused hundreds of dollars damage to the theater and necessitated the presence of two police patrols throughout the three-week showing. A twenty-five year old leather tanner interviewed by Barricade said that the breakdancing outfit he was wearing cost the equivalent of more than a month’s salary at a professional job. Another young man who worked in a funeral parlor said that he liked to breakdance and did not feel the need to wear any special attire to do it. He also stated that movies such as Breakdance did not affect him in any negative way, because he was influenced by the revolution. In the next few weeks several more articles appeared which attempted to clarify the origins of breakdancing. Most made the argument that the majority of young people in Nicaragua had begun to adopt revolutionary attitudes and values and were able to resist the lure of such movies. O fficia ls i r t th e M inistry of Culture concluded that the teenage gangs had developed simply because young people had few opportunities to amuse themse lves, and what was needed were positive, healthy recreational alternatives. One evening several weeks after the film had come and gone, I returned to Managua by train from the colonial city of Granada, which lies along the shores of the great Lake of Nicaragua. A shaky, clattering collection of open-air cars with three narrow benches running the length of each, the train chugged through the lush countryside, stopping in tiny villages along the way. As we passed the humble homes of campesinos who farm small plots of land in this area, whole families would come out to wave to us. When the last of the day’s light hung low on the horizon, illuminating the long flat leaves of the banana trees and the red the roofs of the small houses, I noticeci a young man standing in a field moving his arms like the signalman for a train. Looking a little closer, it dawned on me—he was breakdancing. most artists and Sandin ista o f f ic ia ls w ith whom I spoke agreed that the influence of North American music, movies and television is harmful, regardless of whether it can be blamed for the rise in teenage violence. At the same time, they are aware that Nicaraguans need some type of entertainment and amusement, and the country will not be financially capable of producing much of its own television programming and films for the foreseeable future. Moreover, most Nicaraguans who have access to television, films and radio, predominantly those living in more urban areas, are accustomed to what comes from the United States and like it. Altering these preferences would entail great time and effort. Complicating matters further is a common characteristic of underdevelopment and dependency in which people in the developing nation assume something is good only if it comes from outside the country. Alan Bolt, Nicaragua’s former national theater director, told me that he and the members of his theater company, Nixtayalero, needed to become well- known outside Nicaragua before they could gain the respect of their countrymen. Many Nicaraguans are opposed to the policies of the Reagan administration and a growing number are not in favor of the capitalist economic system of the United States. Yet, they still evaluate quality, whether in clothing, music or films, by looking north. Nicaragua’s “ new song” musicians, who are attempting to combine traditional and contemporary musical styles with politically progressive lyrics, are hungry for popular music from the United States and elsewhere. Many groups adapt what they see on television for their own use. Pop stars, such as.Jackson Browne and Peter Gabriel, continue to visit Nicaragua. They often take time out to jam and ta lk w ith N ica raguan musicians. Connections with the United States hardly end with the media. Responding to the increasing repression during the later years of the strugg le against Somoza, many Nicaraguans fled northward. The majority returned to the country in 1979, but brought back new habits and aspects of North American culture with them. The Sandinista victory, the Contra war and the increasingly difficult economic situation in Nicaragua have caused successivb waves of emigration to the United States. Many Nicaraguans have either lived in the U.S. or have relatives residing here. When the last o f the day’s light hung low on the horizon, I noticed a young man standing in a field moving his arms like the signalman fo r a train. Looking a little closer, it dawned on m e—he was breakdancing. Faced with the perhaps unavoidable penetration of U.S. culture, values and consumer goods, is it possible for the Sandinistas to promote attitudes of generosity and sacrifice necessary for the creation of what Che Guevara termed “ the new man” ? Will the Sandinistas be able to continue asking the Nicaraguan people to forego even the most basic consumer goods, a necessity for the country to survive, while the latest U.S. fashions are paraded before them in films and on television? Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal says they are doing just that. Films, music and television programming from the United States do not have much influence on Nicaraguans, he claims. Other officials, artists and intellectuals, as the breakdancing debate demonstrates, disagree. Clearly, among urban, better-off Nicaraguans, there is an effect. Middle and upper class Nicaraguans have historically had a strong identification with the United States. Certainly, as consumer goods have become difficult to come by and, when available, are prohibitively expensive, more and more economically privileged Nicaraguans have left or are making plans to leave for the United States. In the year since the breakdancing debate first surfaced, the number of youth gangs and the incidence of teenage street violence have increased. It is difficult to measure the percentage of young people involved. The increasing interest amopg teenagers In clothing and other consumer accoutrements associated with breakdancing and the inability of the country to import such items and make them available at anything close to affordable prices is clearly a growing problem. At the same time, the Sandinistas are finding ways to put the love of U.S. culture to their own use. A recruitment ad for the Sandinista Army currently being broadcast on government-owned television stations shows a young soldier breakdancing to a thumping beat and the clear high voice of Michael Jackson. In the absence of an effective participatory political and cultural movement to counter the messages transmitted by U.S. movies, television programs and music, North American culture can have an overwhelming effect on values and behavior. Those Nicaraguans integrated into the revolutionary process, a majority at this time, have begun to participate in the political and cultural life of their country, and are thus better able to analyze, rather thap simply swallow whole, the lures of North American mass culture. But what about those young people whose values are shaped by U.S. media who have not bought into the revolution? Can the government find ways to combat the enticing lure of consumerism inherent in U.S. movies, television and music without banning it completely? These are complex questions without simple solutions. In the past year, the Nicaraguan government has devoted considerable resources to studying the problem. With a predominantly young population increasingly relied upon to defend the country, Nicaragua must incorporate teenagers into the revolutionary process. Up to now, the Sandinistas have managed to keep a watchful eye on the potentially harmful effects of U.S. culture, while permitting the television and radio airwaves to remain open to it. But only time will tell if revolutionary attitudes and values can coexist with M ichae l Ja ckson , M adonna and breakdancing. Patty Somlo, an Associate Editor for Pacific News Service, lives in San Francisco. A frequent visitor to Central America, she has written previously for CSQ on the evolution of life in Nicaragua. 26 Clinton St. Quarterly— Winter, 1987
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