Nicaragua: Paradise in a Marxist Haven

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The site is postcard pretty: a turquoise ocean washes against a black sand beach rimmed by coconut trees. The perfect spot for a resort complex, complete with a 130-room hotel, bungalows, convention center and gambling casino. That planned capitalist paradise is on the Pacific coast of Marxist- led Nicaragua. The war-torn nation wants to build the resort to attract tourists from the U.S. and Canada and raise badly needed cash.

The Sandinista government's $40 million project has stirred critics at home and abroad. Scoffed a U.S. State Department official: "It's amazing that they propose to do something like this when they can't even keep food on the shelves." In Managua, pro-Sandinista Columnist Jose Lopez Callejas decried putting a "piece of Miami, Monaco or Switzerland" on land "consecrated by the blood of our heroes and martyrs." The Sandinistas responded to the criticism by imposing a blackout on all new information about the resort.