Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rising Opposition
In 1961 Carlos Fonseca Amador, a prominent figure in the student movement that had op-
posed the Somoza regime in the 1950s, joined forces with Colonel Santos López (an old
fighting partner of Sandino's) and other activists to form the Frente Sandinista de Libera-
ción Nacional (Sandinista National Liberation Front; FSLN). The FSLN's early guerrilla
efforts against Somoza's forces ended in disaster for the fledgling group, but over the years
it gained support and experience, turning it into a formidable opponent.
On December 23, 1972, at around midnight, an earthquake devastated Managua, leveling
over 250 city blocks. The
Guardian
newspaper reported that, as international aid poured in,
the money was diverted to Anastasio Somoza and his associates, while the people who
needed it suffered and died, which dramatically increased opposition to Somoza among all
classes of society.
By 1974 opposition was widespread. Two groups were widely recognized - the FSLN
(Sandinistas) and the Unión Democrática de Liberación, led by Pedro Joaquín Chamorro,
popular owner and editor of the Managua newspaper
La Prensa,
which had long printed
articles critical of the Somozas.
Sandino's Daughters
by Margaret Randall is a series of interviews that takes a look at the way
that feminism was incorporated into the Sandinista revolution.
In December 1974, the FSLN kidnapped several leading members of the Somoza re-
gime. The government responded with a brutal crackdown in which Carlos Fonseca was
killed in 1976.
