Not many people can remember the revolution more inspiring than the Sandinista revolution. Nevertheless, this historical event leaves some questions and encourages particular reflections. The main problem of the late Nicaraguan revolution comprised external factor, such as the pressure from the capitalistic U.S., and the internal one, namely, the fragmentation of social groups.
First and foremost, the Nicaraguan people demonstrated that when workers and poor rural people unite in the fight, the imperialism of the USA is weak to stop them. They wanted to create a country with justice and equal rights (Chasteen and Tulchin, 265-266). However, the tragedy happened in the following events despite the efforts of the Nicaraguan people. The firmness and courage of the Nicaraguan turned out to be insufficient to combat internal and external sabotage, terrorism, and government that occurred to be unable to protect the revolution from the U.S. intervention.
The Nicaraguan throwback to poverty had its pre-conditions. The concept of the so-called national bourgeois class that was believed by the FSLN (from Spanish ‘the Sandinista National Liberation Front’) leaders appeared quite late, together with the conditions ‘proposed’ by developed capitalistic countries to create the basis for counterrevolution by causing the economic and social mayhem in Nicaragua. This national bourgeois class became wealthy due to its moderating position between imperialists and peasants and workers (Gilbert 160-161). Thus, the exploitation proceeded, which could not give social and economic development.
As for the renewal of control by the reactionary government, it also had its pre-conditions. The main purpose after the turnover of the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the then President and the head of the National Guard, and avoiding the possibility that the Nicaraguans could save themselves from capitalism was the agreement about the nature of a new state. The National Guard was to coordinate the actions of the FSLN to ensure the bourgeois and bureaucratic structure of the new army and provide logistic assistance for a final attack of Sandinistas, the members of the FSLN. However, the corps of citizens in arms formed earlier were dissolved by the central Sandinista authority. The Sandinistas could not withstand the pressure of the national and international bourgeois class.
When one talks about the achievements and disadvantages of the revolution, one should mention that Sandino’s heroic endeavors were not enough for a final victory. He was fundamentally wrong, thinking that the liberation of the country from foreign military domination depended on the collaboration with the national bourgeois class without the necessity of any revolution. If the Socialist Party of Nicaragua had taken the right position regarding Sandino’s movement, the revolution would have had a chance to occur earlier. However, the opposite views of the Socialist Party members could help to push Sandino to the bourgeois class. In turn, his murder led to the coup planned by the National Guard and the further dictatorship of the Somoza family.
In 1979, it was the first time in the history of a country when U.S. imperialism could not undertake direct military intervention. After years of financing and arming the dictatorship, the administrations of Carter and Reagan could not do anything against the Nicaraguan revolution and had to allow it and, at the same time, organized the economic sabotage and supported contras (Gilbert 162-164). Moreover, these administrations financed the reaction with hundreds of millions of dollars.
In conclusion, one can emphasize the efforts that the Nicaraguans put into their way to freedom and development. However, there was a huge number of circumstances that prevented the Nicaraguan people from achieving their intentions. As a rule, much depends on those whose financial interests play a critical role instead of social and economic well-being. Thus, three possible questions emerge, namely “How did it occur that Nicaragua went back to poverty after the revolution?”, “How did the reactionary government manage to renew its control over Nicaragua?”, and “What are the achievements and disadvantages of the Nicaraguan revolution?”
Works Cited
Chasteen, John Charles, and Tulchin, Joseph S., editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: A Reader. Scholarly Resources Inc., 1994.
Gilbert, Dennis. Sandinistas: The Party and the Revolution. Wiley-Blackwell, 1988.