Another building in the history of the 20th century. The National Palace of Managua was assaulted in 1978 by a guerrilla group under Commander Zero. The beginning of the end for the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza, which was defeated a year later.

Managua, Nicaragua 22 / J / 18 Km 5,753

San Salvador on arrival reminded me of the atmosphere of Miami, high and luxurious buildings, omnipresent American franchises on the streets, the dollar that is used as currency and the transactions that are agreed in Spanish. Honduras welcomed me with a long fall by road bike, just like the country's name to wait. Nicaragua received me on the border with the bureaucracy, the paperwork and questions of a regime anchored decades ago, and which distrust visitors.

The three countries have many things in common, not just the colors of their flags and the brevity with which they go. When I arrived I thought that being developing countries would be cheap. Wrong. It is true that you can eat on the street for a euro, but no one will wait for that price to eat in a restaurant with waiters and tables with tablecloth. There is a large rural and urban population that subsists as it can, and a high class that has money and spends it without any repair. The large shopping centers are their shrines, with prices that are the same or more expensive than any other shopping center in the US. It can be eaten on the street or in the mall, but the differences are abysmal, even more so if we compare the differences in wages with the Western countries.

A separate mention deserves Nicaragua for the current tense political situation. When I arrived the 'trits' or roadblocks had already been lifted and the atmosphere was apparently quiet... in the morning. At four o'clock in the afternoon, still with the sun very high, the shops and the businesses threw out the blinds leaving the streets empty and a sense of curfew (and of patronal closure). It all started with popular demands in relation to the social security system and the education system brutally repressed by the Sandinista government, and that have been skilfully channelled by the most conservative right to demand the repetition of general elections. Of course, the allegations of murder and fraud are mutual, and there is a social climate of complete rupture in two groups that will be difficult to overcome.