Sunday, April 12, 2015

SANDINO!


Augusto Nicolás Sandino (May 18, 1895–February 21, 1934), also known as Augusto César Sandino was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua. He was referred to as a "bandit" by the United States government; his exploits made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to United States' domination. He drew units of the United States Marine Corps into an undeclared guerrilla war.

When the U.S. military asked Sandino for his ceasefire conditions, he listed three points:
1) the immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Nicaraguan territory
2) removal of the current Nicaraguan President who was pro-U.S.
3) supervision of free and fair elections by Latin American representatives and not by the U.S. Marines.



These demands were rejected by the U.S. government and the struggle continued. Sandino named his troops the Defending Army of National Sovereignty, adopted a flag with red and black bands, and a motto: “motherland and liberty” (patria y libertad).


The United States troops withdrew from the country in 1933 after overseeing the election and inauguration of President Juan Bautista Sacasa, who had returned from exile. The re-call of the Marines was largely due to the Great Depression.
Sandino was assassinated in 1934 by National Guard forces of Gen. Anastasio Somoza García, who went on to seize power in a coup d'état two years later. After being elected by an overwhelming vote as president in 1936, Somoza Garcia resumed control of the National Guard and established a dictatorship and family dynasty that would rule Nicaragua for more than 40 years. Sandino's political legacy was claimed by the Sandinista National Liberation Front(FSLN), which finally overthrew the Somoza government in 1979.
Source for text and image: Wikipedia

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