Essays About the Revolution In Nicaragua and a Psychological Profile of Ernesto Che Guevara

By Roberto Miguel Rodriguez

This e-book includes three essays, one is a comparison between the Cuban and the Nicaraguan revolutions. The second essay is about Augusto Cesar Sandino, the symbol of the Sandinista guerrilla which successfully overthrew the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza and the third essay is a psychological profile of the legendary figure of Ernesto Che Guevara, whose thoughts and actions probably inspired both the Cuban and the Nicaraguan revolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9781105127298

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Essays About the Revolution In Nicaragua and a Psychological Profile of Ernesto Che Guevara

Essays About the Revolution in Nicaragua and a Psychological Profile of Ernesto Che Guevara

Roberto M. Rodriguez

Copyright © 2011 Lulu Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

IBSN:  978-1-105-12729-8

Table of Contents

Essays About the Revolution in Nicaragua and a Psychological Profile of Ernesto Che Guevara

A brief analysis of the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions

Augusto Cesar Sandino -

The Symbol of the Sandinista Marxist Guerrilla Was Not a Communist

Profile of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara

World View and Its Origins

A brief analysis of the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions

The second half of the twentieth century witnessed two successful revolutions in Latin America, the Cuban and the Nicaraguan revolutions. Both the July 26th Movement and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) were successful in organizing armed struggles against oppressive dictators, Batista in Cuba and Somoza in Nicaragua, and both attempted to transform their societies. Both revolutionary movements succeeded despite strong opposition and great obstacles. In this paper, I will attempt to analyze the similarities and differences between the two revolutions as well as to speculate about the reasons why the Sandinistas were driven from power (temporarily) after eleven years while the Cuban Communist Party remains at the helm of the country after 47 years. My analysis, probably, like most analyses in the social sciences, is not completely neutral or unbiased. It is colored by my background, experiences, political philosophy and my strong desire to see Cuba respect human rights and embrace democracy.

Similarities

There were many similarities between the Cuban and the Nicaraguan revolutions. Both the July 26th Movement and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) were logical responses to many years of oppression and injustice by the Batista and Somoza dictatorships. Batista ruled in Cuba since he installed himself in power in a coup on March 10, 1952. Somoza was the third generation of dictators who ruled Nicaragua for over 40 years. Both dictatorial regimes were insensitive to the claims of their workers, peasants, students or middle classes. In the revolutionary struggle that threw them out of power, Batista's forces killed over 20,000 men and women. Somoza's National Guard did the same, with over 50,000 casualties during the struggle.

The leaders of both the 26th of July and the Sandinista were convinced that the only alternative open to them was an armed struggle, that no negotiated settlement could be pursued with the dictators. Both Batista and Somoza falsified the results of the national elections to remain in power. In Batista's last phony elections in 1958, even people who had been dead for several years cast their votes in favor of the dictatorship. Under those difficult conditions, only a continued, well-organized armed effort could succeed in overthrowing them. Both revolutionary movements used guerrilla war in the mountains, and both established alliances in the cities with unions and student organizations. In the case of the Sandinistas, they called those intermediate organizations (1). In addition, both movements established urban groups or cells to educate the population, organize sabotage, etc.

The Sandinistas triumphed because they were joined by almost the entire population in their war against Somoza who was totally isolated (2). The Cubans were also helped by a general opposition to the Batista dictatorship. Both movements incorporated heterogeneous elements while maintaining a revolutionary position (3). Once in power, both regimes substituted the regular army and police with the successful guerrillas and established a centralized and authoritarian party which operated with base, zonal and regional committees (4). The Cubans began with the ORI (Integration of Revolutionary Organizations), which later changed to PURSC (Unified Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba), and which finally became the PCC (Communist Party of Cuba). In Nicaragua, the FSLN acted like a party. Both