Augusto César Sandino

The small man with the large hat is Nicaragua’s best known national hero. He was born in 1895 and murdered in 1934, by national guardsmen acting on the direct orders of Anastasio Somoza Garcia who later installed himself as president. Somoza admitted that he had done this “for the good of Nicaragua” with the backing of the US Ambassador.

From 1926 until his death Sandino defied the military might of the United States whose Marines had occupied the country since 1909; in 1933 the last contingent left Nicaragua. Six long years of combat by a handful of workers and campesinos had achieved that victory.

Sandino was not only a fighter but a prolific writer and gifted speaker. Throughout the long years of the US-backed Somoza dictatorships, and ever since, Sandinismo has become the rallying cry for freedom, self-determination, non-intervention and dignity for the Nicaraguan people.

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NB. If you can find them in a library or elsewhere these two books are excellent:
* 'Sandino in the Streets' by Joel Sheesley and Wayne Bragg (Indiana University Press). Packed with colour images of Sandino and excerpts from his letters and writings.
* 'Sandino Without Frontiers' edited by Karl Bermann. (Compita Publishing). Detailed introduction, writings by Sandino and essays by Carlos Fonseca and Sergio Ramirez.