Pablo Antonio Cuadra

Pablo Antonio Cuadra, a revered Nicaraguan poet, journalist and essayist whose career and art survived decades of harassment and censorship under opposing regimes, died of a respiratory ailment Jan. 2 in Managua. He was 89. Cuadra was a leading literary voice in a country where poets are so prized that some have risen to high government office, such as former president Daniel Ortega and his culture minister, Ernesto Cardenal.

Pablo Antonio Cuadra, a revered Nicaraguan poet, journalist and essayist whose career and art survived decades of harassment and censorship under opposing regimes, died of a respiratory ailment Jan. 2 in Managua. He was 89. Cuadra was a leading literary voice in a country where poets are so prized that some have risen to high government office, such as former president Daniel Ortega and his culture minister, Ernesto Cardenal.

A small wooden sentry stands guard near the front door of Pablo Antonio Cuadra's home in Managua's exclusive Las Colinas neighborhood. The statue, carved at the art commune of Solentiname, center of Nicaragua's cultural renaissance, depicts Jonah in the belly of a whale. "For me," Cuadra explains, "it represents the Resurrection of Christ." But for others, the statue is just as likely to symbolize the resurrection of Cuadra.

A small wooden sentry stands guard near the front door of Pablo Antonio Cuadra's home in Managua's exclusive Las Colinas neighborhood. The statue, carved at the art commune of Solentiname, center of Nicaragua's cultural renaissance, depicts Jonah in the belly of a whale. "For me," Cuadra explains, "it represents the Resurrection of Christ." But for others, the statue is just as likely to symbolize the resurrection of Cuadra.

FICTION INTERNATIONAL, 16.2: CENTRAL AMERICAN WRITING, edited by Harold Jaffee and Larry McCafferty (San Diego State University: $8, paperback; 224 pp. illustrated).

Pablo Antonio Cuadra, poet and editor of Managua's daily newspaper La Prensa, will offer "A Nicaraguan Poet-Journalist's View of Current Events in Central America" on Thursday night at Cal State Fullerton's University Center. The 7:30 p.m. talk in Titan Hall will highlight "La Terra Nova--New World Poets, New World Visions," a three-day poetry festival opening today. Additional events are: Today * Noon--Bilingual poetry recital, Cal State Fullerton Little Theatre. * 7:30 p.m.

Mariachi Uclatlan, a mariachi band based in Orange, has been added to the growing list of groups and artists from Orange County to participate in September's Los Angeles Festival of the arts. The 12-member band, which regularly performs at El Mariachi restaurant in Orange, is scheduled to play at a gathering "of the best mariachi in the greater Los Angeles area," said Judy Mitoma, festival co-curator.

La Terra Nova 1990--New World Poets, New World Visions continues today and Friday at Cal State Fullerton. The three-day program, designed to promote the spirit of global awareness and understanding, was organized by Cal State Fullerton in cooperation with 1990-1992 Orange County Festival of Discovery and the Orange County Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission.

But the lords of darkness (the censors) said, "Let no one approach this tree. Let no one dare pick this fruit." And a girl whose name was Blood Girl knew this history. The maiden bravely asked, 'Why can't I know this tree's miracle?' And she jumped over the oppressor's words of warning and approached the tree. She approached the tree so that the myth could bring us together in its image. Because the woman is the freedom that provokes action. And the hero is the unhindered will."

President Daniel Ortega, preparing to move into the political opposition, announced Tuesday that his government will abolish a controversial media law that gave the state exclusive rights to operate a television station. The move would open the way for the Sandinista National Liberation Front to set up a television channel before Ortega turns the government over to President-elect Violeta Barrios de Chamorro on April 25.

FICTION INTERNATIONAL, 16.2: CENTRAL AMERICAN WRITING, edited by Harold Jaffee and Larry McCafferty (San Diego State University: $8, paperback; 224 pp. illustrated).

Art will clash with politics today when Los Angeles Festival organizers meet with representatives of Los Angeles' Salvadoran community, who are concerned that a Salvadoran poet with links to that Central American nation's government may be the only poet speaking for El Salvador at the festival.

For Sergio Ramirez, poet, author and vice president of Nicaragua's revolutionary government, the mixing of art and politics is first and foremost a question of logistics. Every day, between an early-morning jog and arrival at his Managua office, the Sandinista leader spends 2 1/2 hours at his personal computer tapping out novels.