The Foreign Service Journal, March 2008

E mbassy Managua moved into its new quarters at the end of 2007, replacing the “tempo- rary” building we bought after the chancery was destroyed 35 years before. Here is that story. There are four major fault lines under Managua. On Dec. 23, 1972, between 12:30 and 1:20 a.m., three violent tremors rocked the city. The first news was devastating: downtown Managua destroyed, over 10,000 dead, the U.S. embassy and adjacent staff apartments collapsed. One staffer, Rose Mary Orlich, lost her life, and it took extensive digging by frantic embassy personnel who converged on the scene to rescue several others trapped in the rubble. If the earthquake had occurred at noon instead of midnight, we would have lost hundreds of kids at the American School and at schools all over the city. Water and electricity were knocked out. Stores, offices and houses within a two-mile radius of the main shop- ping street were destroyed or suffered severe damage. Because of broken water mains and destroyed equip- ment, firefighters could only watch helplessly as whole city blocks burned. Hectic weeks followed. Embassy staff, both local and American, per- formed wonderfully. The world com- munity responded with medicine, food, tents, blankets and port- able hospitals. Nicaraguans themselves were incredibly resilient. Within a few days, the Singer Sewing Machine Co. representative had salvaged his inven- tory from the debris and set up sales in the driveway of his house. His exam- ple was emulated by many in Managua’s active private sector. In spite of the unabashed corrup- tion and cronyism in his handling of the relief effort, General Anastasio Somoza brought the country back to apparent normalcy. By early in the new year, various government offices had reopened, and services were being restored. The Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note informing us that it had relocated to a private house and asking us to respond with our new address. They knew it, of course, and we knew where they were, too. But diplomatic proprieties were main- tained throughout. Two weeks after the earthquake, the first reporting cable that looked beyond the immediate tragedy pre- dicted that unless Somoza changed his way of governing, he was headed for trouble. His autocratic rule may have been adequate for pre-earthquake Nicaragua, but it began to collapse under growing pressure for needed reforms. The lesson Somoza drew was that he had to tighten control even further. But Nicaragua’s vigorous civil society and private sector grew increasingly unwilling to accept this. In a real sense, the earthquake and the official looting of relief supplies was the first step that led to the Sandinistas’ vic- torious entry into Managua in 1979. We also had to replace the de- stroyed chancery. In 1973, the Butler Corporation sold us a prefab building that was guaranteed to last five years before beginning to deteriorate — by which time we confidently expected a new embassy would be ready. In- stead, the prefab was occupied by a long list of effective ambassadors, including Larry Pezzullo, John Maisto, Lino Gutierrez, O.P. Garza and Barbara Moore, all of whom must have been surprised to see the walls bend when leaned on. Asked about the 35-year-old building, Garza said: “It kept us cool in the summer and dry in the rainy season; thank God no one lobbed a hand grenade over the wall. It was functional, and no one thought the less of it. It was a great investment.” So it was. I am glad the building lasted longer than anybody expected. Congratulations to Butler; we certain- ly got our five years’ worth out of it. Good luck to those in the new chancery. Just watch out for those fault lines! Stuart Lippe was the Nicaragua desk officer in 1972. He is now retired and working as a consultant on Colombian issues at State. 84 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 8 R EFLECTIONS The Managua Earthquake of 1972 B Y S TUART L IPPE The first news was devastating: downtown Managua destroyed, over 10,000 dead.