A moment of hope.the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua

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Why a revolution?Long history of repression and corruption under Somoza regimesExtreme povertyIncreasing alienation of the middle classes from the ruling regimeSuccessful organizing efforts by the Sandinistas

Latin America chile, cuba

Grenada - Operation Urgent Furywas a 1983United States-ledinvasionofGrenada, aCaribbeanisland nationwith a population of about 91,000 located 100 miles (160km) north ofVenezuela, that resulted in a U.S. victory within a matter of weeks. Triggered by the house arrest and murder of the leader of the coup which had brought a revolutionary government to power for the preceding four years, the invasion resulted in a restoration of the pre-revolutionary regime.Grenada gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1974. The leftistNew Jewel Movement, which was seen favorably by much of the Grenadan population, seized power in a coup in 1979, suspending the constitution. After a 1983 internal power struggle ended with thedepositionand murder of revolutionary prime ministerMaurice Bishop, the invasion began early on 25 October 1983, just two days after thebombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut(early 23 October Beirut time).

SirEric Gairyhad ledGrenadato independence from the United Kingdom in 1974. His term in office coincided with civil strife in Grenada. The political environment was highly charged and although Gairyhead of theGrenada United Labour Partyclaimed victory in the general election of 1976, the opposition did not accept the result as legitimate. The civil strife took the form of street violence between Gairy'sprivate army, theMongoose Gang, and gangs organized by theNew Jewel Movement. In the late 1970s the NJM began planning to overthrow the government. Party members began to receive military training outside of Grenada. On 13 March 1979, while Gairy was out of the country, the NJMled byMaurice Bishoplaunched an armed revolution and overthrew the government, establishing thePeople's Revolutionary Government.

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A long burning fuse

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William Walker in Nicaragua 1854-1857

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0E12F73C581B7493C2AA1789D95F438584F9

William Walker (May 8, 1824 September 12, 1860) was an American lawyer, journalist and adventurer, who organized several private military expeditions into Latin America, with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known as "filibustering." Walker became president of the Republic of Nicaragua in 1856 and ruled until 1857, when he was defeated by a coalition of Central American armies, principally Costa Rica's army. He was executed by the government of Honduras in 1860.

Walker took up residence in Granada and set himself up as President of Nicaragua, after conducting a fraudulent election. He was inaugurated on July 12, 1856, and soon launched an Americanization program, reinstating slavery, declaring English an official language and reorganizing currency and fiscal policy to encourage immigration from the United States. Realizing that his position was becoming precarious, he sought support from the Southerners in the U.S. by recasting his campaign as a fight to spread the institution of black slavery, which many American Southern businessmen saw as the basis of their agrarian economy. With this in mind, Walker revoked Nicaragua's emancipation edict of 1824. This move did increase Walker's popularity in the South and attracted the attention of Pierre Soul, an influential New Orleans politician, who campaigned to raise support for Walker's war. Nevertheless, Walker's army, weakened by an epidemic of cholera and massive defections, was no match for the Central American coalition. On December 14, 1856 as Granada was surrounded by 4,000 Honduran, Salvadoran and Guatemalan troops, Charles Frederick Henningsen, one of Walker's generals, ordered his men to set the city ablaze before escaping and fighting their way to Lake Nicaragua. An inscription on a lance reading Aqu fue Granada ("Here was Granada") was left behind at the smoking ruin of the ancient capital city.[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_%28filibuster%294

1927-1934 Sandino V. U.S. Marines

U.S. Marines in Nicaragua 1927Sandino and staff

Sandino- http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/sandino.htmMarines- http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/marines-nicaragua-1.htm

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Assassination and ascension

February 1934 Sandino negotiates settlement with Nicaragua President Sacasa

February 21, 1934 Sandino assassinated by National Guard under direct supervision of General Anastasio Somoza Garcia

1937 Somoza assumes presidency of Nicaragua

On February 21, 1934, Sandino was ambushed by the National Guard, together with his father, brother Socrates, two of his favorite generals, Estranda and Umanzor; and the poet Sofonas Salvatierra (who was Sacasa's Minister of Agriculture), while leaving a new round of talks with Sacasa.[25] Leaving Sacasa's Presidential Palace, the six men were stopped in their car at the main gate by local National Guardsmen and ordered to leave their car.[25] The Guardsmen brushed aside Sandino's father and Salvatierra. They took Sandino, his brother Socrates, and his two generals to a crossroads section in La Reynaga and executed them.[25] Sandino's remains were buried in the Larreynaga neighborhood of Managua by a detachment of National Guard troops under the command of Maj. Rigoberto Duarte, one of Gen. Somoza Garcia's confidantes. (He was the father of Roberto Duarte Solis, Minister of Social Communication during President Arnoldo Aleman's tenure.)The following day the National Guard attacked Sandino's army in force and, over a month, destroyed it.[3] Two years later, General Somoza Garca forced Sacasa to resign and declared himself President of Nicaragua. He established a dictatorship and dynasty that dominated Nicaragua for the next four decades.The full details of Sandino's assassination and what became of his remains are among Nicaragua's most enduring mysteries.[1] After he was executed, witnesses later claimed to have seen the Guardsmen prod Sandino and the other three captives with him to the ground and fire a number of shots into their bodies before burying them.[25] Sandino's followers are said to have located his body and moved it, reburying him.[25] His body was never found again. According to Sandinista lore, Gen. Somoza's assassins decapitated and dismembered Sandino before delivering his head to the U.S. government as a token of loyalty.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_C%C3%A9sar_Sandino

During peace talks, Somoza ordered the assassination of General Sandino on February 21, 1934 in violation of a safe-conduct agreement. Sandino's assassination was followed by the murder of former Sandino supporters by the National Guard. In June 1936, Somoza forced Sacasa to resign.

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1936-1979 The Somoza regime

Bloodbanks, casinos, corruption, etc7

Sandinistas and sandinismo

Through the media and the works of FSLN leaders such as Carlos Fonseca, the life and times of Augusto Csar Sandino became the unique symbol of this revolutionary force in Nicaragua. The ideology of Sandinismo gained momentum in 1974, when a Sandinista initiated hostage situation resulted in the Somoza government adhering to FSLN demands and publicly printing and airing work on Sandino in well known newspapers and media outlets.During the long struggle against Somoza, the FSLN leaders' internal disagreements over strategy and tactics were reflected in three main factions:The guerra popular prolongada (GPP, "prolonged popular war") faction was rural-based and sought long-term "silent accumulation of forces" within the country's large peasant population, which it saw as the main social base for the revolution.The tendencia proletaria (TP, "proletarian tendency"), led by Jaime Wheelock, reflected an orthodox Marxist approach that sought to organize urban workers.The tercerista/insurrecctionista (TI, "third way/insurrectionist") faction, led by Humberto and Daniel Ortega, was ideologically eclectic, favoring a more rapid insurrectional strategy in alliance with diverse sectors of the country, including business owners, churches, students, the middle class, unemployed youth and the inhabitants of shantytowns. The terceristas also helped attract popular and international support by organizing a group of prominent Nicaraguan professionals, business leaders, and clergymen (known as "the Twelve"), who called for Somoza's removal and sought to organize a provisional government from Costa Rica.Nevertheless, while ideologies varied between FSLN leaders, all leaders essentially agreed that Sandino provided a path for the Nicaragua masses to take charge, and the FSLN would act as the legitimate vanguard. The extreme end of the ideology links Sandino to Roman Catholicism and portrays him as descending from the mountains in Nicaragua knowing he would be betrayed and killed. Generally however, most Sandinistas associated Sandino on a more practical level, as a heroic and honest person who tried to combat the evil forces of imperialist national and international governments that existed in Nicaragua's history.

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2 triggers 1972, 1978

Earthquake 12/23/1972 Two-thirds of Managua's 1 000 000 residents were displaced and faced food shortage and disease and dry-season winds worsened the problem with fires created by the disaster.[3] Because of the damaging effects of the earthquake many of the emergency services in the city were operating at a seriously lower level than normal. The earthquake destroyed all the fire-fighting equipment available and fires were prevalent in some areas for several days. All four main hospitals which before the disaster had 1650 beds were unserviceable.

It was later revealed that Somoza and his cronies had indeed plundered much of the foreign aid in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the people and of those businessmen who didn't support Somoza. Opposition to the regime, which had begun to surface before the earthquake, increased quickly among the lower classes and even among members of the upper and middle classes fed up with Somoza's corruption. This grew into a revolt that became the Nicaraguan Revolution, in which Somoza was overthrown in 1979. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Nicaragua_earthquake

Chamorro Assassinated 1/10/1978 Censoring Chamorro and La Prensa became the norm and included a daily afternoon approval process of the next days paper with a front and last page (wrap) being checked on the day of publication. Censorship was performed by Officers from the National Guard.As if predicting Somozas plan for his demise, Chamorro wrote a letter to him in 1975 in which he said; I am waiting, with a clear conscience, and a soul at peace, for the blow you are to deliver.It took three more years, but on January the 10th 1978, Chamorro was killed by unknown gunmen who opened fire with machine guns when he was in his car. Somoza blamed Pedro Ramos, a Cuban-American businessman who had been the subject of a La Prensa story. However, in the court of public opinion, the verdict was that Somoza had ordered him killed.The murder of this unyielding character, Pedro Joaqun Chamorro Cardenal, fanned the coals of a smoldering anti government movement and ignited the people, resulting in 30,000 people rioting in the streets of Managua, a general strike being called and general disorder in a number of areas of the country. La Prensa was now being run by Chamorros widow, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. She also went on to be part of the FSLN-based junta from 1979 to 1980 and became President of Nicaragua from 1990-1996. http://www.nicaliving.com/node/20870

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July 19, 1979 Sandinistas Victorious

Many other events and factors leading to triumph10

Nicaragua July 20, 1979$1.6 billion dollar debtRuined economic infrastructure30,000 50,000 war deathsLow to no access to healthcare in rural regionsHigh illiteracy rate (50.3% overall)

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Sandinista responseLand reformLiteracy and health campaignsPrice fixing of commoditiesEquality for women (in theory)Right to unionize

Honored debt obligation12

1980 Literacy Crusade

The goals of the literacy campaign were of a social-political, strategic and educational nature:(a) to eradicate illiteracy; (b) to encourage an integration and understanding betweenNicaraguans of different classes and backgrounds; (c) to increase political awareness; (d) tonurture attitudes and skills related to creativity, production, co-operation, discipline andanalytical thinking; (e) to support national cohesion and consensus; (f) and to strengthen thechannels for economic and political participation (Cardenal, F./ Miller, V., 1982:205).

In prerevolutionaryNicaragua a comprehensive conception of adult literacy and educationpractically did not exist. A complete neglect of this field was typical for the Somozadictatorshipwhich governed during more than four decades (Tnnermann, C., 1980:30). ForSomocism, literacy for the majority of the population was unnecessary, inappropriate andimpossible (Armas, L., 1981:86). Somocism was not interested in promoting massiveliteracy for political reasons. Literacy would have empowered people for democraticparticipation. Economical reasons did not play a major role, thus the exploitation model of theSomoza dynasty was based on uneducated agricultural workers.

Hanemann, Ulrike. "Nicaraguas literacy campaign". UNESCO.

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Health Crusades Popular Health campaigns

Page scans The Nicaragua Revolution in Health John M. Donahue 1986Queremos crecer sanos health campaign poster BBC

10% of the population mobilized as health volunteers. Garfield and Taboada 1984

Community participation in health The Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, over the years, has encouraged community participation community leaders brigades voluntary collaborators midwives and youth.

Popular HealthCampaigns National VaccinationCampaigns Popular VaccinationCampaigns Fight against epidemics

Volunteer brigades, community members 14

Health education Materials

Page scans The Nicaragua Revolution in Health John M. Donahue 1986

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Land reform

Confiscation and re-distribution of land previously held by Somoza and croniesLand titles were given to individuals and cooperatives for agricultural developmentSome private property transitioned to state property

"Article 1 of the Agrarian Reform Law says that property is guaranteed if it laboured efficiently and that there could bedifferent forms of property:state property(with the confiscated land from somocists)cooperative property(part of confiscated land, but without individual certificates of ownership, to be laboured efficiently)communal propertyin response to reinvindication from people and communities fromMiskitoregions in theAtlanticindividual property(as long as this is efficiently exploited and integrated to national plans of development)[24]The principles that presided Agrarian Reform were the same ones for the Revolution: pluralism, national unity and economic democracy."[24]The Nicaraguan Agrarian Reform developed into four phasesFirst phase (1979): confiscation of property owned by Somocists and its adeptsSecond phase (1981): Agrarian Reform Law of July 19, 1981Third phase (198485): massive cession of land individually, responding to demands from peasantryFourth phase (1986): Agrarian Reform Law of 1986, or "reform to the 1981 Law

In 1985, the Agrarian Reform distributed 235,000 acres (950km2) of land to the peasantry. This represented about 75 percent of all land distributed to peasants since 1980. According to Project, the agrarian reform had the twofold purpose of increasing the support for the government among the campesinos, and guaranteeing ample food delivery into the cities. During 1985, ceremonies were held throughout the countryside in which Daniel Ortega would give each peasant a title to the land and a rifle to defend it.

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Yankee SandinistasVolunteer brigades in support of the revolutionNot just yankee brigadistas came from across the globeContinued through the contra war

Second Brigade Coffee Harvesters "Zumbi Dos Palmares"

http://brigadasennicaragua.blogspot.com/

US Nicaragua solidarity movement17

Ben Linder

U.S. Volunteer in the north of Nicaragua.Engineer working on small scale hydro for rural communityKilled in a contra attack.

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Conflicts and contras

Contras, Reagan, iran contra Ollie north cocaine, us mining harbours19