Three Revolutions

Three Revolutions in the Equatorial Americas.<br /> <br />A volume of three feature pieces treating revolutions in each of Panama, Nicaragua and the building of tensions in Haiti.<br /> <br />1. In Panama, a Pantomime.<br />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.<br /> <br />GENERAL NORIEGA&apos;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.<br /> <br />2. The Play of Children.<br />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.<br /> <br />We were all eyes, in this dusk. Mme Du Paix said, &apos;The Voodoo has taken over the Naive in our culture. No artistry speaks without voodoo.&apos;<br /> <br />3. The Fall of Old Managua.<br />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.