Nature of the Nicaraguan Revolution By Victoria Price and Colin Kingsbury

What was the Nicaraguan Revolution The Nicaraguan Revolution (Civil War) was an affair that officially began in 1974 with the Sandinista Revolution and continued with the Contra War from 1979 to Began due to the long era of violent dictatorships that led to an extreme inequality of income in the country along with other economic problems. The Somoza dictatorship was overthrown by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). The Reagan Administration backed the Contras in overthrowing the FSLN Was one of the major proxy wars of the Cold War era.

Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua This was created by the U.S. Marines to stabilize the country so it could be used as a inter- oceanic canal. The U.S. Marines created and commanded the Guardia, but all of the soldiers were Nicaraguan. Almost every officer and soldier of the Guardia received some direct training from U.S. sources. This training was not to prepare the Guardia to defend Nicaragua from foreign attacks but to defend Nicaragua from internal threats. Taught Guardia anti-communism This became the doctrine to rationalize any and every act since all challenges to the Somoza regime were seen as subversive. These "subversives" were to be eliminated by any means necessary, consequently encouraging the use of torture.

The Use of Torture Execution, torture, and arbitrary arrests became common, almost routine, in Nicaragua. In 1977 Amnesty International reported that 7 out of 10 prisoners captured by the Somoza regime had been tortured. The most common form of torture by the Guardia and the Marines were beatings. Prisoners also suffered waterboarding, electric shocks, and mutilation. Peasant women were raped. Some Nicaraguan prisoners were decapitated. Psychological torture was also used since the prisoners were continually threatened with beatings and executions.

Continued The International Commission of Jurists' report stated that: “Torture was regularly used in the interrogation of political prisoners. Common practices included blows, hanging from the wrists, electric shocks, immersion of the head in water, hooding or blindfolding, exhausting physical exercises, keeping naked detainees in air-conditioned rooms at very low temperatures, and food and drink deprivation.... The nails and eyes of some victims were pulled out while others had their tongues cut off”.

U.S. Army School of the Americas This was a special training facility for Latin American soldiers. From 1947 until 2000 over 60,000 Latin American soldiers were trained at the facility. The School of Americas offered a variety of courses that went from radio repair and auto mechanics, to counter-insurgency, jungle warfare, urban warfare, and military intelligence interrogation. Most of the courses had some class time devoted to discussing the threat of communism. In 1976 Father Fernando Cardenal, in testimony before the U. S. House of Representatives, accused 26 specific Guardia officers of human rights violations including tortures such as electric shocks, beatings, and rape. All of them had received training from the U.S., 25 at the School of the Americas.

U.S. Support of The Use of Torture The Guardia Nacional was a creation of the United States, and the abuse of human rights that they initiated continued unabated after the Marines were withdrawn. Constant U.S. aid made it possible for the Somoza regime and the Guardia to function. U.S. training gave the skills and rationales that facilitated torture. Thus the United States government approved the ongoing repression and torture of the Nicaraguan people. Even when the administration of Jimmy Carter finally raised the question of human rights violations, direct aid was not ended until the very end.

Guerilla Warfare “A form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars use military tactics instead of a traditional military.” Tactics can include: ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run, child soldiers, and extended mobility The Contras relied heavily on Guerilla Warfare tactics Again, the United States backed the Contras until Congress banned them. However, the Reagan Administration covertly aided the Contras even after they were banned, culminating in the Iran-Contra affair.

Guerilla Warfare cont. Some of the specific examples of Guerilla Warfare used by the Sandinistas would be: The assassination of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, the leader of the Democratic Union of Liberation The hostage crisis in the Nicaraguan Congress Building, where over 1,000 hostages were held. The attack on the capital of Managua, which left over 50,000 dead.

Contra’s Guerilla Warfare The U.S. backed Contras carried out constant attacks on schools, health centers, and the rural population in order to “disrupt” all of the Sandinista’s social and cultural reformation efforts Murder, rape, and torture were used as terror tactics and were considered necessary measures by the CIA and the United States White Propaganda: A type of propaganda that truthfully states its origin. It was used by the Reagan Administration to seemingly cover up the violent tactics used by the Contras.

The Sandinista’s Cultural Reform ●The most important cultural change brought about by the Sandinista’s rule was the revitalization of the Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign. ○The illiteracy rate was reduced from over 50%, to just under 13%, in just over 5 months time. ○The Ministry of Culture was formed and started to print cheap books that were previously unavailable to Nicaraguans. ●The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded Nicaragua with the “Nadezhda Krupskaya” award for their very successful literacy campaign.

Economic Impact: Agrarian Reform All three sectors of the economy were restructured by the Sandinistas after the Somocista regime fell. The Agrarian Reform was the largest reform, as agriculture was and is Nicaragua’s largest sector, and introduced into Nicaragua the idea of different forms of property: ○state property: any land confiscated from the Somocista government ○cooperative property: confiscated land that was to be “efficiently labored” ○communal property: property owned within a community ○individual property: individually owned, but only if it is used with the “nation’s interests in mind”

Social Impact Violeta Chamorro, the wife of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal, was the first female president elected democratically in the Americas. The peasantry fully supported the rule of the FSLN and Daniel Ortega Ortega would hold ceremonies in which he gave the peasantry the titles to their land, and a rifle to defend it. The Communist tendencies of Ortega and the FSLN worried democratic nations such as the United States yet also inspired surrounding third-world countries.

Historiography Historian Richard Grossman believed that the evidence of torture was well documented by U.S. officials and available to anyone who looked for it. He believes that the United States’ claim that “there is no reason to believe that torture has been resorted to in any widespread or concerted fashion” completely disregards the humanity aspect of the war in order to stop the spread of communism. Grossman believes that the general public of the United States was largely unresponsive to the ideas of unethical practices by the U.S. because of their own fear of communism during the Cold War.

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Review Questions How did the U.S. encourage the use of torture during the war? Give an example of guerrilla warfare during the Nicaraguan Revolution. What was one impact of the war?

Works Cited "HOA Year 2." Humanities with Mr. Shepard. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec "Inventory of Conflict and Environment (ICE), Nicaraguan Civil War." Inventory of Conflict and Environment (ICE), Nicaraguan Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec "Torture, American Style." NICARAGUA: A TORTURED NATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec