MikeDunnAuthor<p>Today in Labor History July 19, 1979: Sandinista rebels overthrew the Somoza government in Nicaragua, ending the authoritarian 43-year Somoza family dynasty and replacing it with a revolutionary government. They instituted a program of mass literacy, gender equality and access to medical care. However, they also committed many human rights abuses, including the oppression and mass execution of indigenous people. The Sandinistas are named after Augusto Sandino, who led the rebellion against the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s. He was murdered by Somoza senior in 1934, launching the decades-long dictatorship. In the 1920s, Sandino lived in exile, in Mexico, where he was influenced by anti-imperialist, anarchist and communist revolutionaries, including the IWW. The original and modern Sandinista flags were influenced by the IWW’s anarcho-syndicalist red and black colors.</p><p>The CIA orchestrated a Civil War between the Sandinistas and the right-wing Contras from 1984-1989. The Contras blew up rural schools and hospitals and routinely carried out rape and torture. In 1983, U.S. Congress passed the Boland Amendment, banning further aid to the Contrals. And in 1984, the International Court of Justice ruled that the U.S. prior support had been in violation of International law. However, even after the Boland Amendment, the Reagan administration continued to back the Contras by raising money from allies and covertly selling arms to Iran (then engaged in a war with Iraq), and funneling the proceeds to the Contras. In later Congressional hearings, when questioned for 8 hours, Reagan responded that he couldn’t remember at least 124 times, which was sufficient for Congress to absolve him of violating their own law, while National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North took much of the blame.</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/workingclass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>workingclass</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LaborHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LaborHistory</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/nicaragua" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>nicaragua</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/sandinista" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>sandinista</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/reagan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>reagan</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/imperialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>imperialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/civilwar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>civilwar</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/contras" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>contras</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/cia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cia</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IWW" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>IWW</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rebellion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>rebellion</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/uprising" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>uprising</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Revolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Revolution</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/internationallaw" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>internationallaw</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rape" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>rape</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/torture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>torture</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/anarchism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>anarchism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/communism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>communism</span></a></p>