We explain what the Sandinista revolution was in Nicaragua and who were its main protagonists. In addition, its development and consequences.
What was the Sandinista revolution?
The Sandinista revolution was a revolutionary process that crossed Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s. In this revolution, The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) overthrew the dictatorship of the Somoza family.
It is known by the name of Sandinista Revolution both the armed insurrection period against the Somoza regime (from 1974 to 1979) as to the two FSLN governments that were installed with the triumph of the revolution: the first revolutionary government (1979-1984) and the first democratic government of the FSLN (1984-1990).
Since 1937, the Nicaragua government was controlled by the different generations of the Somoza family. During this period, The power of the oligarchy was consolidated through a state economic administration that benefited the circle of power and harmed the majority of the population. To stay in power, the Government persecuted the opposition and censored the media.
During the 1970s, FSLN's guerrilla activity took force as the main opposition organ. The different corruption actions of the Anastasio Somoza Debayle government generated that the support of the middle and low classes to the FSLN grew.
In 1979, the widespread insurrection led to President Somoza Debayle escape from the country and The National Reconstruction Government Board will be installedmade up of members of the FSLN and other independents. Since then, Nicaragua recovered democracyrestructured the economy and improved the social life standards of the population.
See also: Latin America in the twentieth century
The historical context of the Sandinista Revolution
Since the 1930s, Nicaragua was governed by a dictatorship supported by the United States. In 1937, Anastacio Somoza García (leader of the National Guard) organized a blow against President Juan Bautista Sacasa and took the government. His family remained in power for 42 years, sometimes governing through presidents “puppet” (that is, they obeyed the family) to hide the dictatorial regime.
The family dictatorship was supported by the National Guard and the United States, which celebrated the fervent anti -communism of the Somoza government. The United States provided political, military and economic assistance, even in knowledge of corruption and the continuous abuse of the human rights that the Nicaraguan population lived under the regime of the Somoza.
For more than forty years, National economic policies were aimed at benefiting the owners of the great plantations Already the businesses of the loyal elite to the Somoza family. The majority of the Nicaraguan population lived from traditional agriculture, whose production was neglected by government policies.
The long -term consequences of these policies were the impoverishment of the Nicaraguan population, the decrease in their quality of life and the increase in illiteracy. There were no policies aimed at improving the mass situation. To maintain power, the government repressed the opposition.
The Somoza regime is known for murders, torture and continuous abuse of human rights committed during their government.
The background of the Sandinista Revolution
In 1961, different guerrilla groups of the opposition to the Somoza regime joined and founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). The name of the organization was in honor of Augusto César Sandino, a revolutionary who had led the resistance against the United States, when Nicaragua was occupied by US troops between 1912 and 1933. Sandino had been killed by order of Anastasio Somoza García, founder of the Somocista dictatorship.
The FSLN was a political and military organization, of left-wing ideology (Marxist-Leninist)nationalist and anti -imperialist. His main leaders were Carlos Fonseca Amador, Santos López and Tomás Borge, among others, and his main objective was to overthrow the Somoza family regime and establish a popular government. The organization was inspired by the Cuban Revolution of Fidel Castro that in 1959 had overthrown the regime of the pronorteamerican dictatorship of Batista.
During the 1960s, the FSLN dedicated himself to clandestinely promoting the revolution and focused on the rural population. At the end of the decade, The organization began the direct armed struggle against government forces but suffered several defeats. The most important were those of Pancasán (1967) and that of the house of “Las Thermopilas” (1969), which was televised by the government for the general public.
Since then, the repression of the government against the opposition was accentuated. In that context, the FSLN decided to enter a “stage of silence”: stop their public actions, concentrate on generating forces and strengthening the organization.
It was only in 1972 when they began to gain great support from the population. On December 23 of that year, an earthquake destroyed the city of Managua (one of the main cities of the country) and took the lives of more than 10,000 people.
President Somoza Debayle took advantage of the national emergency and used for their own benefit the assistance that different international organizations offered to face the crisis. This level of corruption generated a deep indignation of the middle class and part of the upper class.
In addition to the increase in unemployment and the global economic crisis that began in 1973, This prepared the conditions for the FSLN to lead the revolution.
The development of the Sandinista Revolution
After the humanitarian crisis by the Managua earthquake and the economic crisis of 1973, The conditions in Nicaragua changed and the FSLN prepared to enter a new stage of armed struggle. In December 1974, the organization resumed public actions. Eduardo Contreras directed an offensive against the government and broke into a party organized by the United States ambassador.
The objective was to contain Nicaraguan hostages (foreign diplomats were immediately released) to achieve the release of 18 political prisoners. In turn, This allowed to show international conflicts that the country was going throughwhich were silenced by the media controlled by the government.
In January 1975, another FSLN guerrilla cell led by Commander Rodrigo (one of the Sandinista leaders) attacked the Waslala antiguerrille barracks. With these actions A wave of guerrilla attacks began that crossed the entire country.
Between 1976 and 1978, the FSLN was divided into three different lines of action, differentiated by its ideological tendency (Maoist, Marxist-Leninist and “third party”). The Third They were looking for allies of all social classes and any ideology with the aim of overthrowing the government. His speech focused against social injustice and received great support from the movement of liberation theology (a branch of the Latin American Christian Church that defended the rights of the poor). One of the main thirdist was Daniel Ortega (who later managed to consolidate his power as leader of the FSLN).
Beyond this separation, the three lines of action of the FSLN carried out different offensives against the government. Between 1976 and 1979, Sandinista successes multiplied. In 1977, the Operation “October 77” brought the armed struggle to the cities. Since then, the insurrection was generalized throughout Nicaragua.
In 1978, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, the owner of one of the most important newspapers in the country and recognized opponent of the Somocista government, was killed. The murder was attributed to the government and the urban middle class began to join the demonstrations against the regime. A few months later, a guerrilla command led by Eden Pastora (another of the Sandinista leaders) took the National Palace with the deputies in full session. Without generating dead, he achieved the release of sixty comrades and enormous popular support.
Since then, The Sandinista revolution became a mass rebellion. The three lines of action of the FSLN gathered and the attacks against the government throughout the country began to be coordinated. By the end of 1978, Cuba, Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica supported the FSLN military and economically. In turn, The rest of the Latin American countries began to show their sympathy with Sandinismoespecially those who had suffered military dictatorships in the previous decades.
Finally, the Government could not contain the general insurrection and on July 17, 1979 President Anastasio Somoza Debayle escaped to the United States. The National Guard was disorganized and its leaders hid or exiled. Two days, the Sandinista forces marched triumphant over Managua before popular acclamation.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SANDINIST REVOLUTION
With the taking of power on July 19, 1979, The Sandinistas established the National Reconstruction Government Board. It was made up of five members: three Sandinistas (Daniel Ortega as president) and two independents. In addition, a State Council was created with representation of different political and social groups.
While the ideology of the FSLN was from the left, the Sandinistas understood the importance of keeping the different groups of the Somocista opposition within the new regime, even the conservative entrepreneurs. They understood that they were not going to be able to carry out good governance without the assistance of the different parts of the population. With that in mind, they declared that the new regime would remain within the capitalist markets and pay the external debt accumulated by the successive Somocist governments.
On the other hand, The first measures of the government were oriented to the restructuring of the economy and the improvement of the quality of life of the populationn. Regarding the economy, the Sandinista government promoted the creation of a mixed economy with a strong presence of the State. The objective was that industrial production and agricultural production were shared between the State, small producers and the capitalist business sector.
The Government expropriated all the properties of the Somoza family and from his political circle: with that he obtained 20 % of the fertile lands of the country. These lands became state farms, whose production allowed the Government for an important income to reinvest in other management areas. However, many entrepreneurs distrusted this system, which led to a great escape of capital of the country.
Regarding social reforms, immediately, the revolutionary government invested in public health and education services for the Nicaraguan population. Human rights and social conditions improved exponentially with the revolutionary government.
However, since 1981, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, The United States government began to finance the counterrevolutionary movement. Paramilitary antisandinist commands settled in some rural areas and organized the movement known as “cons”. This led to the Sandinista government to maintain actions of violence and repression.
On the other hand, the United States began a series of economic sanctions and sought to isolate Nicaragua from the international market. In response, The Sandinista government sought the support of Cuba and signed with the Soviet Union an Economic Cooperation Treaty.
The consequences of the Sandinista Revolution
It is estimated that the Sandinista revolution took the lives of 35,000 people. Among them, 25,000 civilians and 10,000 combatants. In addition, with the counterrevolution (the “cons” revolution) another 30,000 died, of which half were civil and the other half combatants.
In 1984, free elections were held in Nicaragua for the first time since 1930. In them, Daniel Ortega obtained 67 % of the votes and the FSLN also became the majority political party within Parliament. However, in the general elections of 1990 the FSLN lost to a new political group led by Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (widow of the murdered Pedro Joaquín Chamorro and member of the First Government Board of National Reconstruction). This moment is usually identified as the end of the Sandinista revolution.
The Sandinista revolution led to the disintegration of the oligarchy and of the political and economic structure that kept it in power. Since then, the quality of life, the political participation and economy of the Nicaraguan population improved extraordinarily. Education levels grew and a democratic government was established in which successive governments pass power in a peaceful way.
During the 1990s, post -revolutionary governments of liberal ideology reorient the Nicaraguan economy and moved away from the ideals of the left of the Sandinista revolution. However, the deep restructuring of the Nicaraguan economy during the revolutionary government generated a series of changes that are maintained over time. A large part of the peasant population obtained land to work and different sectors of the economy are still handled with a mixed productive system with strong state intervention.
Anastasio Somoza Debayle (1925-1980)
Anastasio Somoza Debayle was the last ruler of the Somoza family, the clan that remained in political power in Nicaragua for 44 years. The first member of the Somoza family who agreed to power was his grandfather, Anastasio Somoza García, a military who gave a coup d'etat in 1937.
The Somoza were characterized by establishing a corrupt and obedient dictatorship to the United States designs. After the death of the founder of the “dynasty” and after a period of government of his older brother Luis, Anastasio Somoza Debayle came to power in 1967 and continued to rule the brutal and corrupt form that characterized his predecessors.
The Guerrillas of the Sandinista National Liberation Front managed to overthrow him after a bloody revolution in 1978-1979. In July 1979 he renounced power and abandoned the country. He died in an attack in Asunción, Paraguay, in 1980.
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References
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- Palmowski, J. (2000). “Nicaragua”. To Dictionary of Twentieth-Century World History. Oxford University Press.
- Van Dijk, R., Gray, WG, Savranskaya, S., Suri, J., & Zhai, Q. (eds.). (2013). “Nicaragua”. Encyclopedia of the Cold War. Routledge.
- Walker, Thomas W., Nietschmann, Bernard, Parker, Franklin D., Arguello, Rosendo and Orozco, Manuel S. (2023). “Nicaragua”. Britannica Encyclopedia.
https://britannica.com/
