For anyone who has ever visited a coffee cooperative in Nicaragua, there is a small, caffeine-buzzy thrill to finding Nica beans on a shelf in mainstream America. Fortunately, this is not as rare an event as it used to be, as consumer demand for Fair Trade continues to rise even as coffee drinkers become aware of the high quality of Nicaraguan cafecita. Indeed, Smithsonian magazine reports that "Nicaragua has recently become the 'hot origin' for gourmet coffee, with its beans winning taste awards and its decent wages for many small farmers a hopeful beacon for a global coffee market under siege. 

It's one of the first questions we get asked when speaking about the possibility of living long-term in Nicaragua, and in a Nicaraguan election year the concern becomes even more portentious: "What would happen if Daniel Ortega won the presidency?"

In November 2006 Nicaragua will again vote for its president, and Daniel Ortega is again running, so the question is inevitable. Here's a recent Washington Post article about the subject, and a couple of comments.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Nicaragua written up in an unlikely place: Cigar Aficionado magazine. Then again, maybe it's not so unlikely. Nicaragua's been growing great quality tobacco for decades, and the cognoscenti have long admired the rich flavor and full-bodied aroma of Nicaraguan cigars. But it's just the latest in a growing body of literature that has forgotten about Nicaragua's dark years and is looking south with interest for business and for pleasure.

The article is "Under the Volcanoes" by David Savona, and you can find it on page 187 of the June 2006 issue.