in the congo thousands upon thousands for that cell phone, they die in the congo. >> suarez: ernesto cardenal was born and raised in nicaragua. he left the country in the 1950s to study in kentucky with the famed poet-priest thomas merton. when cardenal later returned home, he was ordained a catholic priest, and quickly resumed his political activism. a committed marxist, cardenal championed the sandinista revolution in nicaragua. when the revolution seized power in the late 1970s, cardenal became that government's first cultural minister. it was that post which famously drew condemnation from pope john paul ii, who publicly scolded cardenal when he visited nicaragua. the confrontation resulted in cardenal losing his privileges as a catholic priest. later, cardenal left the government and the sandinista party, opposing the leadership of daniel ortega. we recently spoke with ernesto cardenal while he was visiting the u.s. at the poet's house in new york. we spoke about his life and work, looking back to the early days of augusto sandino's rebellion against the united states in the early 20th c