by Richard Leonardi
It was a breezy January day in 1528. The ancient Nicaraguas settlement of Tecoatega bathed in golden light while the sun sank slowly behind its central square. The servants of Tecoatega’s elderly chief Agateyte quietly prepared the plaza for the coming night’s fiesta. Chief Agateyte, the powerful leader of 20,000 subjects and a standing army of 6,000 warriors, sat alone in his home, having just finished dinner. Agateyte drank tiste (ground cocoa and corn mixed with water) while contemplating the brilliant red sky, puffing slowly on a cigar.

Agateyte was sure the Chorotega people were inferior to his own Nicaraguas culture, “rustics”, he mused, “but creative, and damn good with their hands”. Agateyte smiled while gazing at the sunset, stroking his long white beard. Silently he thanked the Chorotegas for their finest invention: his carefully wrapped, smooth tobacco smoke.