Sandinista-turned-Contra-turned-Christian brings economic and spiritual hope to Nicaragua's poor.
Central America is still choking from the smoke of 9,000 forest fires. The international airport at Managua, Nicaragua, has been closed periodically due to skies heavy with 'the brown mist'. In this year's El Nino-driven climate, it is uncertain how long the parched summer will continue. For Mario Aviles, who endured decades of political drought and breathed the gun smoke of a hundred battles, this kind of waiting is nothing new.
For 26 years, Mr. Aviles carried a gun in his hand and vision in his heart for a free and democratic Nicaragua. He fought first with the Sandinista guerrilla army to topple the Somoza dictatorship. Unhappy with the Sandinistas' growing Marxist agenda, he switched allegiances, joining the Contra army and eventually rising to the rank of commander. The civil war claimed the lives of 150,000 Nicaraguans.
