Sandinismo
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Carlos Fonseca is considered the principle ideologue of the Sandinistas because he established the fundamental ideas of Sandinism. It was revolutionaries like David Nolan and Hugo Cancino Troncoso who provided the sophisticated proponents of Sandinista ideology: Sandinisimo, but it was Fonseca who popularized the Sandinista’s political thought.
Many aspects of Sandinismo are similar to tendencies in other forms of political thought in Latin America like its appeal to the largest mass of the population and its anti-imperialist rhetoric. The most important attributes of the ideology make it solely a Nicaraguan creation. In Sandinismo there is an emphasis that revolution begins in rural regions among Nicaragua’s oppressed peasantry, Sandinista ideas are rooted in the symbols of Augusto Cesar Sandino and there is an effort to develop conscious growth through education.
Carlos Fonseca adopted many of the Sandinis military goals from the Cuban Revolutionary experience led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in 1959. Just as Guevara had implemented his Guerilla foco in the Sierra Maestra mountains of the Oriente province, Fonseca believed Nicaragua’s Revolution would begin with mass insurgence in the countryside.
Fonseca’s ideological tendency was entitled the “Prolonged Popular War” because of its mass support among the peasantry and its reliance on guerilla tactics. The gradualist approach in the countryside involved isolating portions of the superiorly armed and trained National Guard into weaker portions, and eliminating these smaller segments one by one. Popular support from the rural masses was needed to take on the Somoza forces. These peasants that were taking part in guerilla activities had to have developed a new revolutionary consciousness for them to risk their lives to attain freedom.
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[edit] Symbolism
Fonseca was highly influenced by Nicaraguan hero Augusto Sandino; Sadino led a peasant insurgence against the first Somoza government in the 1930s.
When the Somoza dictatorship was in power they had tarnished the education system and falsified Nicaraguan history. In school classes Sandino was described as a bandit and an enemy of good government. In the 1970s Fonseca brought the true tales of Sandino to the rural masses: his quest to attain the sovereign-independence of Nicaragua had not been accomplished generations after his assassination. Sandino wished to remove the foreign influences that were dominant in the country and prevented the government from conducting business for the well being of the Nicaraguan people. Fonseca used the untold history of Nicaragua to unite the rural peasants: among the masses there was a greater sense of pride, men wanted to take part in the anti-imperial struggle and learning their history created greater solidarity among the people.
Sandino was not a Marxist and neither was Fonseca. The Nicaraguan people’s struggle against William Walker and Sandino’s struggle against the Somoza forces were not directed at a socialist telos. Like Sandino, Fonseca wished to ignite the consciousness of the peasantry, they were a collective force that was shown they could be in control of their futures.(Zwerling; 67) Fonseca believed that the first liberty that the masses should have was their ownership of the land that they laboured. Economic sovereignty in the majority of Nicaragua’s economic sectors would allow growth to remain in the state and reward the people who rightfully deserved some profit.
In some ways Sandino’s mission had been a failure since he did not remove the dictator that was in power, but Fonseca was able to retain the strong legacy of Sandino’s spirit in his contemporary military approach. Sandino’s guerilla experience showed Fonseca that revolutionary processes could be developed among the peasantry. Fonseca also learned understood from Sandino’s endeavors that: revolutionaries had to learn from experience/past errors, there was a need for theory to guide action and the collective sharing of knowledge was essential.(Arnove; 7)
While rejecting teleological visions, Fonseca still believed that the formation of revolutionary consciousness was making peasants into “complete human beings.” This should not be taken as Sandinista brainwashing. In truth the idea of consciousness was borrowed from Sandino and also from the Cuban revolutionaries. As the peasants were taught to read and write they developed conscious awareness of their reality, and were able to see the exploitation they endured under the Samoza regime.
The message from Fonseca and Sandino left was to teach the peasants to read and write; that did not occur too often in the 1930s. But for Sandinistas, education was a major function of the movement. Conscious people were committed to the Revolution even with the fatal risks involved.
[edit] Education
Education is a manifestation of the beliefs of the ruling government so the regime’s ideological tendencies are passed down to the youth. Under the Samozas there was a lack of properly funded schools in the countryside, most peasant children received no lessons and their parents were illiterate as well. In Samoza’s state, he wanted: “… uneducated people, little more than beasts of burden.”(Zwerling; 67) When assessing the democratic practices in Costa Rica, Samoza stated: “I want oxen, not men in my country.”(ibid)
Fonseca’s Sandinistas were bent on freeing the minds of the peasantry. By showing them the their true history including the ongoing struggle against imperialism and the abundance of the national heroes the peasants gradually became aware of the unnecessary conditions of their own reality. Nationalism and class solidarity were developed through the growth of consciousness and with time, the realization that the use arms would be required was also fostered.
In Sandinismo, nationalism and sovereign independence are key motivators. The sometimes mythic tales of Sandino tapped into the artistic imaginations of the peasants that needed to be convinced, and political passion was given a more concrete from.(Palmer,92) As with any populist movement, to go along with its abstract ideas and excellent leader was required to march in front of the masses.
[edit] Modern Caudillo
Fonseca made himself a modern Sandino, at times he over looked the importance of obtaining support from the urban revolutionaries (Humberto_Ortega), at the same time his loyalty to the peasantry could not be questioned. Fonseca was a patriot of the true indigenous Nicaragua; he was a respectful leader, inspirational, imaginative, determined, self-confidant, displayed personal-magnetism and had absolute integrity. Where Fonseca distinguished himself from Sandino was in his emphasis on education for the peasantry. When Sandino was assassinated his revolutionary thought died with him. In the case of Fonseca he had put so much work into making a “collective will” and consciousness among the peasantry that the Sandinista Revolution was able to survive and thrive after Fonseca’s death in battle. The Sandinista political thought was so deeply enshrined in the peasants that the Samoza forces could not bring an end to the revolt by simply killing revolutionary leaders.
[edit] See also
[edit] Embedded Citations
- Arnove, Robert E. Education and Revolution in Nicaragua. Praeger Publishers. New York; 1986.
- Palmer, Steven. Carlos Fonseca and the Construction of Sandinismo in Nicaragua. Latin American Research Review; 1988, 23(1), 91-109.
- Philip Zwerling and Connie Martin. Nicaragua - A New Kind of Revolution. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago; 1985.
[edit] Other References
- Gambone, Michael D. Capturing the Revolution: the United States, Central America and Nicaragua, 1961–1972. Praeger Publishers. New York; 2001.
- Macaulay, Neil. The Sandino Affair. Quandrangle Books. USA; 1967.
- Walker, Thomas. Nicaragua, the Land of Sandino. Westview Press. USA; 1991.
