The Nicaraguan revolution was a decades-long process aimed at freeing the small Central American country from both U.S. imperialism and the repressive Somoza dictatorship. It began in the early 1960s with the founding of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), but it didn't really intensify until the mid-1970s. It culminated in fighting between the Sandinista rebels and the National Guard between 1978 and 1979, when the FSLN succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship.
The Sandinistas governed from 1979 to 1990, which is considered to be the year the revolution ended. The Nicaraguan revolution led to the displacement of the Somoza regime in Nicaragua. During the 1980s, the Sandinistas replaced the Somozas, trying to improve the lives of Nicaraguans and, at the same time, committing acts of violence. The Sandinista revolution represented a hopeful shift towards democratization.
He tried to correct the enormous inequality and poverty in the country with a series of programs designed to improve the lives of the poor. However, democratization was held back by two key obstacles. First, soon after taking power, Sandinist leaders began to restrict certain freedoms and confiscate property. Secondly, the United States interpreted the Sandinista revolution as a possible shift towards communism and suspended economic aid to Nicaragua in the early 1980s.
In fact, the Sandinista government established close relations with Cuba and other countries of the Soviet Bloc. Over the decade, the FSLN and the state gradually merged into a single entity that represented the interests of the National Directorate, the leadership structure of the FSLN. The entire political opposition in the country weakened. In addition, the Sandinistas created several organizations that were responsible for indoctrinating Nicaraguans into the party's belief system with respect to the revolution and to denounce critics of the revolution as “counterrevolutionaries.” The Sandinistas Defense Committees (CDS), which were the “eyes and ears” of the revolution, represented the political and ideological reach of the government.
In 1981, the administration also enacted the Agrarian Reform Act, which formalized what could be done with Somoza's property. This included offering free land titles to peasants and state supporters in exchange for government services or the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. The Nicaraguan revolution was ultimately responsible for the death of 2% of the Nicaraguan population, that is, 50,000 people. Although the Nicaraguan Civil War would end in 1927, Sandino would continue to wage a war against Nicaraguans and against the United States.
The Nicaraguan revolution took place in the 1970s, following the misuse of aid funds by Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza. In this 1978 video, presenter Jim Lehrer pressures a commander of the Nicaraguan National Guard to confront allegations of human rights abuses by the Nicaraguan military.
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