The United States and the Nicaraguan Revolution
Uploaded by srheric on Apr 23, 2007
The United States and the Nicaraguan Revolution
By late 1978 the Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN) had began to rise against the opposition. A revolution was in its beginning. The Somoza dictatorship had been overthrown and the Sandinistas were coming into power. The Sandinistas were labeled communist because they received aid from Cuba and practiced guerilla warfare based on an interpretation of the Cuban revolution. The United States foreign policy against Nicaragua was unlawful and the degrading to our country. The way the United States handled this foreign situation was wrong and more people should have been prosecuted for these actions.
For more than 3 decades the Somoza family ruled over Nicaragua. They ruled under a brutal dictatorship. They owned 25% of industry and 40% of workable land. “The economic dictatorship of this Somoza monopoly antagonized other capitalist, who were prevented by its stranglehold from developing the economy to satisfy their own drive for profit.” (2 www.rwl-us.org). This shows that the Somoza family only cared about the Somoza’s well being. The Somoza family was put into place by US imperialism. In 1927, Augusto Cesar Sandino was a revolutionary who denounced the president because he was allowing the United States military to occupy their land. General Sandino would began to raise an army to support this cause. In 1932, with the United States approval, President Somoza -Garcia was elected into office. Sandino by now had international attention towards his cause so he was becoming a threat to Somoza’s government. Somoza would have to negotiate with Sandino. These negotiations led to Sandino being executed under Somoza’s orders. The Somoza’s would go onto rule without any more revolutionary uprisings for 4 decades.
In July if 1962 the Sandinista National Liberation Front(FSLN) was formed. They identified themselves “Marxist” and set itself the task of “national democratic revolution.”
The FSLN started as a small group of peasants but grew into an organization that became victorious over the Somoza dynasty. In 1979, after the FSLN won over Somoza(Daniel Ortega was the FSLN president) thing began to change and things looked better for the common citizen. Before 1978, Nicaragua had no public health care, no public education or social security. By 1983, Nicaragua was named “the model country in health care”, had social security and public health for all. By 1981, the Regan administration was worried about Marxism in this organization so...