Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional-Sandinista National Liberation Front
By Brian
History about the people were staying with in Nicaragua
The beginnings- The Monroe Doctrine
The U.S. has a long history of intervention in Central America due to the Monroe Doctrine which was a doctrine of domination by the U.S. essentially saying to the European colonizers “Stay out of our backyard!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kInJWF5--jE
While many U.S. citizens consider the Monroe Doctrine as a blow against the monarchies of Europe, history has shown that it has meant the domination and exploitation of the people of the America’s.
?Do you know what the America’s is?
This is proven by the amount of U.S. military interventions in the America’s because of private economic and military strategic purposes.
Argentina
1890
Troops
Buenos Aires interests protected
Chile
1891
Troops
Marines clash with nationalist rebels
Haiti
1891
Troops
Black workers revolt on U.S.-claimed Navassa Island defeated
Nicaragua
1894
Troops
Month-long occupation of Bluefields
Panama
1895
Naval, troops
Marines land in Colombian province
Nicaragua
1896
Troops
Marines land in port of Corinto
Cuba
1898-
Naval, troops
Seized from Spain, U.S. still holds Navy base at Guantanamo
Puerto Rico
1898-
Naval, troops
Seized from Spain, occupation continues
Nicaragua
1898
Troops
Marines land at port of San Juan del Sur
Nicaragua
1899
Troops
Marines land at port of Bluefields
Honduras
1903
Troops
Marines intervene in revolution
Dominican Republic
1903-04
Troops
U.S. interests protected in Revolution
Cuba
1906-09
Troops
Marines land in democratic election
Nicaragua
1907
Troops
"Dollar Diplomacy" protectorate set up
Honduras
1907
Troops
Marines land during war with Nicaragua
Panama
1908
Troops
Marines intervene in election contest
Nicaragua
1910
Troops
Marines land in Bluefields and Corinto
Honduras
1911
Troops
U.S. interests protected in civil war
Cuba
1912
Troops
U.S. interests protected in Havana
Panama
1912
Troops
Marines land during heated election
Honduras
1912
Troops
Marines protect U.S. economic interests
Nicaragua
1912-33
Troops, bombing
20-year occupation, fought guerrillas
Mexico
1913
Naval
Americans evacuated during revolution
Dominican Republic
1914
Naval
Fight with rebels over Santo Domingo
Mexico
1914-18
Naval, troops
Series of interventions against nationalists
Haiti
1914-34
Troops, bombing
19-year occupation after revolts
Dominican Republic
1916-24
Troops
8-year Marine occupation
Cuba
1917-33
Troops
Military occupation, economic protectorate
Panama
1918-20
Troops
"Police duty" during unrest after elections
Honduras
1919
Troops
Marines land during election campaign
Guatemala
1920
Troops
2-week intervention against unionists
Costa Rica
1921
Troops
Panama
1921
Troops
Honduras
1924-25
Troops
Landed twice during election strife
Panama
1925
Troops
Marines suppress general strike
El Salvador
1932
Naval
Warships sent during Faribundo Marti revolt
Uruguay
1947
Nuclear threat
Bombers deployed as show of strength
Puerto Rico
1950
Command operation
Independence rebellion crushed in Ponce
Guatemala
1954-?
Command operation, bombing, nuclear threat
CIA directs exile invasion and coup d'Etat after newly elected government nationalizes unused U.S.'s United Fruit Company lands; bombers based in Nicaragua; long-term result: 200,000 murdered
Panama
1958
Troops
Flag protests erupt into confrontation
Cuba
1961
Command operation
CIA-directed exile invasion fails
Cuba
1962
Nuclear threat, naval
Blockade during missile crisis; near-war with Soviet Union
Panama
1964
Troops
Panamanians shot for urging canal's return
Dominican Republic
1965-66
Troops, bombing
Marines land during election campaign
Guatemala
1966-67
Command operation
Green Berets intervene against rebels
Chile
1973
Command operation
CIA-backed coup ousts democratically elected Marxist president
El Salvador
1981-92
Command operation, troops
Advisors, overflights aid anti-rebel war, soldiers briefly involved in hostage clash; long-term result: 75,000 murdered and destruction of popular movement
Nicaragua
1981-90
Command operation, naval
CIA directs exile (Contra) invasions, plants harbor mines against revolution; result: 50,000 murdered
Honduras
1982-90
Troops
Maneuvers help build bases near borders
Grenada
1983-84
Troops, bombing
Invasion four years after revolution
Bolivia
1987
Troops
Army assists raids on cocaine region
Panama
1989
Troops, bombing
Nationalist government ousted by 27,000 soldiers, leaders arrested, 2000+ killed
Haiti
1994-95
Troops, naval
Blockade against military government; troops restore President Aristide to office three years after coup
Venezuela
2002
Command operation
Failed coup attempt to remove left-populist president Hugo Chavez
Haiti
2004-
Troops
Removal of democratically elected President Aristide; troops occupy country
Augusto Sandino-
He was born in Nicaragua in 1895, as a young man he left Nicaragua and traveled Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico finally returning home in 1926. He worked in a mine owned by a U.S. company. Already well traveled and experienced in the suffering of the poor he started to organize the mine workers who were severally being oppressed, his organizing transpired into an army and he fought with the liberals against the conservative ruling government.
The liberals who had nearly overwhelmingly gained the support of the people were sure to win a 1926 election. Because of the threat of U.S. economic interests being challenged by the liberals the U.S. Marines were sent in. This was the start of a civil war between the liberals and conservatives.
Under U.S. guidance and supervision the conservative Nicaraguan bourgeoisie created the notorious Nicaraguan National Guard under Anastasio Somoza. Due to this pressure the liberals signed a peace treaty which disarmed their army, but Sandino refused to disarm and continued his guerilla campaign until the U.S. military left Nicaragua.
Finally in 1933 The U.S. Marines left after Sandino’s guerillas caused significant damage to U.S. corporate interests in Nicaragua. In 1934 the conservative Nicaraguan government offered Sandino peace with full amnesty for himself and his guerillas. But they were betrayed by Anastasio Somoza and he was assassinated. Then followed a vicious campaign of repression of his supporters and within a month Sandino’s guerillas all but disappeared leading to one of the longest and brutal dictatorships in the history of the Americas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpdbtLMamVs
The Somoza Family Reign of Terror
From 1930-1979 Nicaragua was controlled by the Somoza family. From 1936 to 1956 Garcia Somoza ruled Nicaragua. Such a long reign was possible due to owning much of the Nicaraguan economy as well as having (or controlling) the support of the countries military. He was also supported by powerful bourgeoisie in the U.S. which helped concretize his political will in Nicaragua.
When Garcia Somoza came to power he handed over important government positions to family members as well as placing his family and friends in judicial positions. This guaranteed that the law would bend to his will.
Various coups happened throughout this period in which Somoza was able to hold onto power, until 1956 when he was shot by a young 27 yr old poet named Rigoberto Lopez Perez. 8 days later he died in the Panama Canal Zone where he was sent for medical attention.
Garcia’s son succeeded him and due to his fathers assassination there was a suspension of civil liberties and wide spread torture of political opposition was documented. Throughout the Somoza family regimes they espoused anti-communist rhetoric which helped garner support of the U.S. The Somoza family even allowed the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba to be launched from Nicaragua.
In 1972 an earthquake killed nearly 10,000 people and left 80% of Managua’s (the capital) commercial centers in ruin. During this time the Somoza family amassed major wealth by wide spread corruption and theft of international aid organizations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnMawUCFHCc&feature=related
In 1979 Anastasio Somoza fled Nicaragua due to the increasing revolutionary front by the Sandinistas. This ended the Somoza family dominance of Nicaragua. He fled to Miami and then Paraguay where he was assassinated by the Sandinistas in 1980.
One of the Sandinista assassins was quoted saying "We cannot tolerate the existence of millionaire playboys while thousands of Latin Americans are dying of hunger. We are perfectly willing to give up our lives for this cause."
Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional
The FSLN was a Marxist group formed in the early 1960’s in response to the Somoza dictatorship. The founders were Carlos Fonseca, a teacher and a librarian who was killed in 1976, Tomas Borge who was the only founder who survived the war and others. By 1979 they had grown in power militarily, and popularly. They were able to take power in Managua on July 19, 1979. A rough estimate of 50,000-150,000 people died in the liberation war.
Throughout this time they implemented mass literacy campaigns and focused on better health care for the poor. 1980 nearly 6 months after the FSLN victory they initiated the National Literacy Crusade, the results were fast and amazing, Nicaragua went from 50% illiteracy to 12%. Also a national health care initiative was implemented with the help of the Cubans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRxG_j-sbrA
While these initiatives were great they had to deal with the Contra’s a U.S. backed and trained rebel group. Needless to say this put a damper on the progress of the people’s revolution. The rebels were made up of Somoza military loyalists and the dictator Ronald Reagan was quick to support these murderers.
In 1983 the U.S. government stopped funding the Contra’s officially. So the CIA took it on and in one of the worst crimes against humanity, started funding the Contra’s with the support of Ronald Reagan and the CIA by importing cocaine into the U.S. Thus began the crack era in the U.S.
The FSLN held Nicaragua’s first truly democratic election in 1984 and won by a landslide. In the 1990 election FSLN lost and their reign was ended. Throughout their rule they were denounced by Washington as being a dictatorship but yet free elections were held and power conceded when the people voted against them in 1990. More proof that the U.S. ruling class can only have democracy in its own country by making sure they have dictators around the world who are on their knees for them.
In 2006 Daniel Ortega former FSLN president of Nicaragua once again won the election. With this victory he joined ALBA. ALBA is an economic bloc established by Latin American countries to break away from the dehumanizing free trade hegemony of the U.S. While FSLN has lost much of its revolutionary fervor of the 20th century it seems to hold the publics support.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFt1BVMn_HE
Some Sources:
Blum, William. Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventionism Since World War II. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995.
Ege & Makhijani. "180 Landings by the U.S. Marine Corps" (History Division), Counterspy (July-Aug. 1982). Foreign Affairs Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Richard Grimmet, Instances of Use of Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2001. CRS Report for Congress, 2002.
Grossman, Zoltan. Over a Century of U.S. Military Interventions. Self-published, revised Jan. 1, 1995.
Sklar, Holly. "Who's Who: Invading 'Our' Hemisphere 1831-," Z Magazine (Feb. 1990).
U.S. Congress, Committee on Foreign Affairs' Report. Background Information on the Use of United States Armed Forces in Foreign Countries. Washington, D.C.: 91st Congress, 2nd Session, 1970.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Perennial Library, Harper & Row, 1980.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDsandino.htm
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