Interview with Reinaldo A Téfel- Nicaraguan Minister of Social Welfare

The following interview was recorded in September 1987 during a visit by Minister Reinaldo Téfel to London. The Central American Peace Agreement had just been signed: there was a mood of optimism in Nicaragua about the prospects for peace in the region and for a respite from the contra war. Since then, however, there has been little alleviation from the war, even on the military front. More people have died each day in the months following the Peace Agreement than before. The contextualisation of Nicaragua's social policy within the overall battle for survival of the revolution, underlines the degree to which social welfare provision in a peripheral country is conditioned by external factors and by the political complexion of the state.