Nicaragua
This collection features materials describing the
broad and complex history of Nicaragua’s political struggle. The history of Nicaragua
includes years of colonialism, dictatorships, revolutions, and rebellions. The
majority of our materials focus on the Sandinista National Liberation Front
(FSLN) and their struggle for national liberation. The Sandinistas took their
name from Augusto Cesar Sandino who led resistance against the U.S occupation
of Nicaragua in the 1930s. The FSLN was formed by students, workers and
peasants in the early 1960s and pushed for political change during Anastasio
Somoza’s Debayle regime. As the 1960s progressed, the FSLN stepped up guerilla
warfare and succeeded in overthrowing the Debayle regime in 1979.
Beginning in 1981, opponents of the Sandinista government began to attack Nicaragua with the financial support and training of the U.S government. These forces were known as Contras. Contras included people who fought for Somoza and had a hatred for the Sandinistas, but also included indigenous peoples of Nicaragua that the U.S had convinced to oppose the Sandinistas’ vision for the future of Nicaragua. The U.S was involved in Nicaragua for two main reasons, including, private and corporate interest and the fear of the spread of communism and Marxism. This fear was reinforced when Cuba and Soviet Russia became Nicaragua’s main contributors and allies and after the Sandinista victory.
Documents
3 Documents Found
Poetry reading by Ernesto Cardenal
Poetry reading followed by a short question and answer dialogue from Father Ernesto Cardenal of Nicaragua. Poems, including "The Big Bang", "Wall and Water Street" and other pieces, are read in Spanish with English translation. Cardenal is known as one of the greatest living Latin American poets today. He wrote during the Samoza dictatorship and the Sandanista overthrow of Samoza in 1979. Through his poems, Cardenal brings together science and poetry, science and mysticism, mysticism and revolution, and poetry and politics. He speaks out against oppression and searches to preserve the unity of creation through spiritual insight. In a short question and answer period at the end of the reading, Cardenal discusses how Nicaraguan culture and revolution are entertwined and how poetry is an expression of the revolution. Cardenal also talks about his priesthood as a lifelong commitment and of poetry as a religious practice.
Interview with Robin Singer
Date: 6/8/1990Call Number: LA 170BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Nicaragua
An interview with Robin Singer of the Atlanta Committee on Latin America and the Nicaragua Network discusses the 1990 agreement between the Nicaraguan Contras and the new Chamorro government of Nicaragua to demobilize the Contras by June 10 of that year.
Deputy Prosecutor John Keker Speaks on Iran Contra Affair
Remarks and Q&A with John Keker after the prosecution of Oliver North, including Keker’s thoughts on US foreign policy, executive v. judicial power and especially how the Reagan administration illegally sold weapons to Iran to provide support to the Contras in Nicaragua. Future implications of this prosecution and investigation are also discussed.
3 Documents Found
