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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal
Byline: Doreen Hemlock
MANAGUA, Nicaragua _ The turning point came for biology professor Maria Gabriela Berrios when college students told her they were studying hard, so they could leave Nicaragua, land a good job somewhere else and never come back.
Born into a generation when students dreamed and fought for a better future for their country, the 37-year-old Berrios seethed that today's youth could be so disaffected. Though never active in politics before, late last year she joined a new civic group, Movement for Nicaragua, which has mobilized tens of thousands of people in unprecedented marches.
The movement's aim: to take back Nicaragua from an alliance of right- and left-wing party bosses holding the nation "hostage" and to bring the rule of law and morality to the country's young democracy, now just 15 years old.
"I see us as permanent conscientious objectors, watchdogs for clean government," Berrios said from the movement's headquarters, as she helped organize the group's third major street march, set for this weekend. "We're a wake-up call to politicians."
In a nation where the past three decades have...
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