Onofre Gutierrez left Nicaragua in 1978, months before the communist Sandinistas took power. His family went from comfortable to nothing overnight: the properties his father owned back home were gone, and the teenager who had sat in on meetings with politicians was flipping burgers across the street from where the family lived.
He tells Jenny Beth Martin what came next. A job as a messenger. A job as a bank teller. Then a move to Long Beach, California, with $350 and a corner of his aunt's place to sleep in, because he wanted to fly. He took one job, then a second, then a third. An hour of flight time cost about $30, and every Friday night was the same choice: go out with his cousin, or put the money into one more hour in the air. His first Christmas on his own, he bought a one-dollar tree.
The clip opens with a story about his cousin's children, who arrived from Sandinista Nicaragua hating America. He told them this is the only country in the world where you can make money from trash, and sent them out to collect bottles and cans. Today both own small businesses here.
In this clip:
• "Show me that in Nicaragua"
• From everything to nothing in a day
• $350, an aunt's spare corner, and three jobs
• A night out, or one hour of flight time
• Would he do it again?
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00:00 — The only country where you can make money from trash
00:58 — Two small businesses today
01:09 — From everything to nothing
01:47 — Long Beach with $350 and three jobs
02:04 — $30 for one hour of flight time
02:50 — A mattress on the floor and a one-dollar Christmas tree
03:13 — Would he do it all over again?
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