Hurricane Mitch, Aleman, and Other Disasters for Women in Nicaragua

Abstract

Hurricane Mitch caused unprecedented destruction when it swept through Nicaragua and Honduras in October 1998. Official reports estimated that 3,332 were reported killed or missing and an estimated $1.5 billion damages were caused in Nicaragua alone. Though Mitch did not cause Nicaragua’s impoverishment, the severity of its destruction revealed a deeper crisis that has been troubling Nicaragua’s economy for over a decade—an economic crisis aggravated by heavy external debts and structural adjustment policies. Using feminist analysis, the case of Nicaragua is explored to consider the effects of natural disasters from a global perspective and to rethink the long‐term merits of structural adjustment and foreign aid.