ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the political ecology of tourism development in Managua, Nicaragua and the aesthetic, infrastructural and ecological dynamics of the project of remaking the face of the city. It focuses on a recent national development campaign launched in 2013 by President Daniel Ortega and the Frente Sandinista de Liberacin Nacional (FSLN) party, titled Vivir Limpio, Vivir Sano, Vivir Bonito, Vivir Bien (Live Clean, Live Healthy, Live Beautiful, Live Well). The Live Clean, Live Healthy campaign, the sake of brevity, is a permanent national campaign that connects the Ministries of Health (MINSA), Environment (MARENA) and Education (MINED) with the Nicaraguan Institute for Tourism (INTUR) and as such, explicitly links environmental stewardship with a range of issues such as health, well-being, community, national identity and tourism development. Although the campaign is framed by co-investments in clean energy, public health, and education, the implications of Managuas garbage problem for tourism development are undoubtedly a main focal point.
