Sandino

Augusto César Sandino (born 1895, died 1934) was a Nicaraguan revolutionary leader who organized a guerrilla war against the United States occupation of Nicaragua from 1927 to 1933. He commanded a peasant-based resistance, the Ejército Defensor de la Soberanía Nacional y la Libertad, with the aim of expelling foreign troops and restoring national sovereignty during a period of political instability and external intervention.

Sandino was born in Niquinohó, a small town near Masaya, to a family of farmers. He rose to prominence as a guerrilla commander amid the turmoil of the late 1920s, building a fighting force that used ambushes, raids, and mobile operations against U.S. Marines and the Nicaraguan forces allied with them. His movement attracted supporters among rural communities and became a focal point of anti-occupation sentiment.

He pursued both armed resistance and political legitimacy, seeking to force a negotiated settlement that would preserve Nicaragua’s sovereignty. Although his campaign continued as U.S. troops began withdrawing in the early 1930s, Sandino remained a potent symbol of nationalist resistance.

In 1934, Sandino was assassinated in Managua by agents of the National Guard under orders of Anastasio Somoza García, ending his direct leadership. The United States completed its troop withdrawal, but long-term political instability persisted in Nicaragua.

Sandino’s legacy endured through the Sandinista movement (FSLN), which adopted his name in 1961 and later led the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution. He is commonly regarded as a symbol of anti-imperialist national sovereignty, though assessments of his methods vary.