Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) is a democratic socialist political party in Nicaragua, originating as a guerrilla group in 1961 with the aim of overthrowing the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The group is named after Augusto César Sandino, a historical figure who opposed U.S. intervention in Nicaragua during the 1920s and inspired the Sandinistas' revolutionary efforts. Their successful revolution culminated in 1979, leading to a decade marked by political turmoil and conflict, particularly with U.S.-backed Contra forces. Despite their initial achievements in reducing poverty and illiteracy, the Sandinistas faced challenges in maintaining power, resulting in their loss during the 1990 elections.
After years in opposition, the FSLN returned to power in 2007 under Daniel Ortega, who has since been re-elected multiple times. However, the party's recent governance has drawn criticism for its suppression of dissent and alleged undemocratic practices, particularly in the wake of protests and controversial elections. As of 2023, the Sandinista regime has been accused of silencing opposition voices and manipulating the political landscape, raising concerns among various international observers regarding human rights and democracy in Nicaragua.
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front, otherwise known simply as the Sandinistas, is a democratic socialist political party in Nicaragua. It was formed in 1961 as a militant guerilla group devoted to overthrowing the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979 as part of the larger Nicaraguan Revolution.
The Sandinistas derived their name from Augusto Cesár Sandino, a Nicaraguan revolutionary who fought the government of President Adolfo Díaz and his American military supporters in the 1920s. While Sandino wanted only to free Nicaragua from US intervention, the Sandinistas sought to install their own brand of Marxist-Leninist politics in the country. Marxism-Leninism is a political ideology calling for the violent revolution of a state's low-income peasant class against the dictatorship of the ruling class. The intended result of such a revolution is socialism, a society in which everyone shares equally in labor and economic rewards.
The Sandinistas' successful deposition of Somoza in 1979 resulted in more than a decade of war and political instability, as the US-backed Contras waged guerilla war against the Sandinista government. The Contra war, as well as the broader Nicaraguan Revolution, ended in 1990 when the Sandinistas were defeated in national elections. The Sandinista National Liberation Front remains active in Nicaraguan politics in the twenty-first century.
Background
The Sandinista National Liberation Front, often abbreviated as FSLN after its Spanish name, was founded in 1961 by Silvio Mayorga, Carlos Fonseca, and Tomás Borge. Several sources inspired the three men to form this revolutionary guerilla army. Guerillas are independent soldiers who fight larger, more traditional forces using irregular tactics. One of these sources was Augusto Cesár Sandino, a Nicaraguan revolutionary who led an army of peasants against the United States–supported government of President Adolfo Díaz in the 1920s. Throughout his struggles, Sandino sought ultimately to raise up Nicaragua's low-income classes and rid his country of American political and military intervention.
The Sandinistas' second source of inspiration was the Cuban Revolution of the mid to late 1950s. This event saw the militants Fidel Castro and Che Guevara overthrow dictatorship in Cuba and install a Marxist-Leninist government in its place. Mayorga, Fonseca, and Borge were staunch Marxist-Leninists who applied the socialist ideology to their current conflict in Nicaragua. They saw themselves as a vanguard party, a force of working-class peasants who would rise against the oppression of Somoza and his American backers. After a successful revolution, the FSLN planned to refashion Nicaragua as a socialist country in which the disadvantaged were treated fairly.
Impact
Over the next decade and a half, the FSLN waged guerilla warfare on Somoza's government, but the small force of Sandinistas initially accomplished little. The political climate in Nicaragua began turning in the FSLN's favor in 1972, the year a catastrophic earthquake struck the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. Following the widespread destruction, Somoza's political allies and military authorities stole most of the relief funds sent from countries around the world. This led to widespread public outrage against the Somoza government.
By the mid to late 1970s, the Sandinistas' war against Somoza had begun to concern the administration of US President Jimmy Carter. The United States had been allies with Somoza and his predecessors for many years because they were strong enough to repel any Marxist or Communist revolutionaries from establishing a government in a country so close to the United States. Knowing Somoza was not a fair leader, however, Carter made sure to criticize the corruption of Somoza's dictatorship publicly while simultaneously discouraging the Sandinista movement.
The war between the Sandinistas and Somoza's forces reached its height in 1979. By this time, thousands of people had been killed in the fighting and hundreds of thousands had been displaced from their homes. Realizing that the Sandinistas were winning the war and would likely topple the government soon, the United States asked Somoza to step down as president of Nicaragua, and he and his political allies rapidly left the country. On July 19, 1979, the Sandinistas entered Managua in victory, enjoying the widespread favor of the Nicaraguan people.
The FSLN quickly implemented government reforms that lifted people out of poverty. It also took control of Nicaragua's banks and farms and created programs that greatly reduced Nicaraguan illiteracy rates. At the same time, the Sandinistas feared the return of Nicaragua's wealthy class and, therefore, took measures to shore up their power. They did this by repressing the Nicaraguan media and appropriating businesses that they believed threatened their rule.
Meanwhile, in the early 1980s, anti-Sandinista forces called Contras had formed in neighboring Honduras and Costa Rica. By this time, US President Ronald Reagan had become so concerned about the Sandinistas holding power in Central America that he began funding the Contras to help them take over Nicaragua. Reagan was so determined to subvert the Sandinistas that, in the mid-1980s, he illegally authorized the secret sale of weapons to Iran to generate finances for the Contras. Journalists eventually exposed Reagan's actions, and the situation came to be known as the Iran-Contra affair.
The United States' covert actions against the Sandinistas ultimately proved ineffective. The Sandinistas won Nicaragua's general election in 1984, making Daniel Ortega president of the country. However, continued fighting between the Sandinistas and Contras into the late 1980s eventually convinced the FSLN government to negotiate for peace with Contra leaders and the presidents of neighboring Central American countries. In 1989, Ortega agreed to hold a new national election in Nicaragua within a year.
In a stunning upset, the National Opposition Union defeated the FSLN in Nicaragua's 1990 election, ousting the Sandinistas from power after more than ten years. The Contras soon disbanded. The Sandinistas did not return to power in Nicaragua until 2007 when Ortega became president again after winning the previous year's election. He was elected to a second consecutive term in 2011 and a third in 2016. In 2018, the government killed over three hundred people as Nicaraguans began protesting and demanding democratic freedoms. In the 2021 quasi-election, the Sandinista Party held the majority in the country's congress and supreme court, allowing Ortega to amend laws and the country's constitution to jail his opponents and amend the constitution to remain president. Numerous governments and human rights organizations have criticized these elections as a "sham.” The Sandinistas had jailed or silenced nearly every opponent by 2023, including some who contributed to the 1979 revolution.
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