Jorge Capelan, Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, February 22nd 2022
Many years ago Luis Chávez Delgadillo had to leave Nicaragua because neoliberalism offered him no prospects for survival. Abroad he learned a trade as a craftsman. Six years ago he returned for the same reasons that made him leave his country to discover that today, unlike the other countries where he has lived, in his home country "the government does support the artisan".
We interviewed Luis at the handicraft market organised by the Ministry of Family, Cooperative, Community and Associative Economy (Mefcca) in the centre of the city of León. The market is similar to those in many other municipalities throughout the country.
"I am originally from here in León. I produce leather goods such as bags, purses, handbags, wallets.... The special thing about my work is that it’s all handmade with raw materials that are produced here in León, in Masaya or in Granada, which also sometimes supply us with materials," explains Luis Chávez.
The artisan says that he has been working in leather goods for about 20 years in Mexico, Guatemala and, for the past six years, in Nicaragua.
He says that in Nicaragua "we have this great advantage, that Mefcca supports us in providing sales outlets and training, and that’s great because in other cities where I have been, in other countries, governments don’t support artisans".
He adds that in other countries "the artisan is relegated to a street seller Here, what I have seen that is exceptional, is that support given to people who really need it. We are not business people or anything like that. We are self-employed workers learning how to form a company and continue to progress."
Since 2018 Nicaragua has been facing a difficult period with the defeated coup of that year, the hurricanes of 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but he views the future with optimism. "Trusting in God and our leaders hopefully things will get better," he says.
He is not aware of the reestablishment of relations with China and the recent agreements signed by Nicaragua and the Asian giant – his optimism is based on what he has been able to ascertain from his own personal experience.
"Have you seen any improvement in the last six months?" we asked him:
" I noticed that when I started selling again in November surprisingly, more people were buying. Tourism has returned, less than before, but those who come are buying things. . we’ll see what level of activity this stimulates. Even if they don't buy from me, they buy from the vendor next door, so there is a flow of capital", he explains.