NIU students will be able to hear a firsthand account of the state of Nicaragua Monday.

Former Foreign Minister for Nicaragua Miguel D’Escoto will be on campus Monday to discuss “Nicaragua on the Brink—Peace or Civil War?”

The discussion is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. in the Caven Auditorium of Gable Hall. A reception also is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Art Museum in Altgeld Hall honoring D’Escoto and his achievements.

D’Escoto was born in Hollywood, but his family moved to Nicaragua soon after. He returned to the United States at age 14 to study and moved back to Nicaragua 30 years later to accept a position with the Sandinista government.

D’Escoto earned a degree in philosophy from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn and also has a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. He founded Orbis Books, which publishes numerous works concerning liberation theology.

Cele Meyer, who is on the committee sponsoring D’Escoto’s visit, said one reason Nicaragua is having problems is because of the refusal of the United States to provide aid.

Meyer said the Nicaraguans were promised aid if they would comply with some U.S. demands. When the Nicaraguans did what the government asked, the aid still never arrived.

Because of the lack of money in Nicaragua, people are starving, many are unemployed and sick, but there are no jobs and the hospitals lack the medicine to take care of the citizens, she said.

Meyer said 11-year-old girls are selling their bodies as a means of support. She also said schoolbooks were burned so if people want an education they now have to pay for their own books. This leaves many children wandering the streets, unable to get an education because they cannot afford the books, she said.

There is no relief in sight for these people, at least not from the U.S. government, Meyer said. The U.S. government believes there are terrorists in Nicaragua, and until Nicaragua can prove there are no terrorists they will receive no aid, she said.

One source of hope is D’Escoto and organizations like DeKalb’s Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice. The network has sent $80,000 to $100,000 to Nicaragua in the past eight or nine years.

Meyer compared D’Escoto to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi. She said he believes in participatory democracy and tries to promote peaceful demonstrations and constructive development.

One of the programs D’Escoto is involved with helps feed 7,000 children five days a week. This year alone the network has sent $4,000 in aid to Nicaragua and it plans to send more.

The network also has helped open a pre-school in San Judas Barrio in Managus which supports 110 Nicaraguan children.

“I would encourage anyone interested in political science to go (to D’Escoto’s speech), because what’s happening in Nicaragua is typical of the role the U.S. plays all over,” Meyer said. “This man is historical.”