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Women and the Sandinistas

Women have played key roles in many twentieth century revolutionary movements. A prime example is Nicaragua, whose Sandinista rebels, both men and women, forced President Anatasio Somoza to resign and flee the country in 1979. With the removal of Somoza, the Sandinistas were faced with organizing a government that would continue to have the support of most Nicaraguans, while fighting small, well-armed forces that remained loyal to Somoza. Eventually, the Sandinistas were ousted from power. The inability of the Sandinista regime to develop a feminist agenda was a leading factor that led to the failure of this post-revolutionary government.

Women were represented in large numbers in the Sandinista guerrilla movement partly because of economic conditions in Nicaragua under Somoza. By the late 1970s, the country had been ruled by the Somoza family for more than 40 years. Members of the family merely re-elected themselves to the presidency when their terms of office ended or perpetrated gross electoral fraud when elections were held. Anastasio Somoza took over the presidency in 1967. As president and head of the National Guard, Somoza increased his family's wealth substantially. Somoza's associates, supporters, and corporate leaders profited from this unethical economic regime, but the rest of the population became increasingly poor. Women bore the brunt of the poverty: "The extensive involvement of women in the revolutionary process was in part the result of their integration into the national economy" (Randall, 1995, p. xiv).

Because Nicaragua has a long history of male supremacy, machismo defined the power structure between women and men, and exacerbated the conditions of poverty. Women in several different households had children fathered by the same man. When economic pressure was exerted because of the abuses of the Somoza government, many men simply abandoned these families. As one Nicaraguan activist explained...

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Women and the Sandinistas. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:48, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1707633.html