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of US-Nicaragua Sister Cities (PDF format)
History
In the 1980s, many citizens in Madison, Wisconsin opposed the Reagan
administration's military interventions in Central America, including
the US-backed Contra war against the Nicaragua. Working closely
with WCCN, the Madison City Council formally ratified the Madison-Managua
Sister City Project on July 7, 1987.
Both WCCN and the Sister City Project provided a way for people
in Wisconsin and Nicaragua to connect at the grassroots level to
protest US governmental policy and promote people-to-people connections
between our countries.
In Managua, the sister-city relationship was formally adopted by
then-mayor Moises Hassan. One of his successors as mayor, Arnoldo
Aleman, declined to participate in sister-city activities for political
and financial reasons during the early 1990s, but current mayor
Herty Lewites has renewed the relationship.
The strongest aspect of the sister-city relationship, however,
has been the grassroots, people-to-people ties forged between cities.
Following a WCCN-led study tour in 1990, WCCN's US-Nicaragua Women's
Empowerment Project established a strong working relationship with
the Managua Inter-Collective of Women. Numerous other connections
between Madison and Managua have been established and continue to
flourish.
Exchanges
Each year WCCN sponsors two study tours
that enable people from Madison and other parts of the United States
to visit Managua and learn about Nicaragua. WCCN has also sponsored
many visits by Nicaraguans to the US. These visits are critical
to maintain and strengthen the "citizen diplomacy" that
is the foundation of our relationship.
Managuans who have visited Madison as the guests of WCCN have included:
- Coordinators of the Managua Inter-Collective of Women
- The Ocho de Marzo Women's Theater Project (three visits)
- "Popular defenders" from the Managua Inter-Collective
- Doris Tijerino, elected FSLN member of the Nicaraguan National
Assembly
- Pedro Ortega, union organizer in the Free Trade Zone maquilas
- Vilma Nuñez, founder and director of a prominent national
human rights organization
- Gilberto Aguirre, Executive Director of the Nicaraguan Council
of Protestant Churches (CEPAD)
- Herenia Amaya, trainer of "popular defenders" for
the Xochitl women's collective
- Alejandro Bendaña
- Violeta Delgado
