Sandinista National Liberation Front

:Sandinista! is also the name of a popular music album by The Clash.

Opposition (since 1990)

On February 26, 1990, Nicaragua held its second national election following the 1979 revolution, and this time the Sandinistas lost to the United Nicaraguan Opposition, an alliance of 14 opposition parties ranging from the conservative business organisation COSEP to Nicaraguan communists (see Nicaraguan Socialist Party. UNO's candidate, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, replaced Daniel Ortega as president of Nicaragua.

Related Topics:
February 26 - 1990 - United Nicaraguan Opposition - Nicaraguan Socialist Party - Violeta Barrios de Chamorro

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reasons for the Sandinista loss in 1990 are disputed. Defenders of the defeated government assert that Nicaraguans voted for the opposition due to the continuing U.S. economic embargo and potential Contra threat. Opponents claim that Contra warfare had largely died down, and that the Sandinistas had grown increasingly unpopular, particularly due to forced conscription and crackdowns on political freedoms. They also point out that the Sandinistas lost both the 1996 and 2001 elections with no Contra threat or outside pressures from the U.S.

Related Topics:
1996 - 2001

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After their loss, some of the Sandinista leaders held part of the property that had been nationalised by the FSLN government. This process became known as the piñata and was tolerated by the new government. Prominent Sandinistas also created a number of nongovernmental organisations to promote their ideas and social goals, such as the Augusto César Sandino Foundation (FACS).

Related Topics:
Piñata - Augusto César Sandino Foundation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Daniel Ortega remained the head of the FSLN, but his brother Humberto resigned from the party and remained at the head of the Sandinista Army, becoming a close confidante and supporter of Chamorro. The party also experienced a number of internal divisions, with prominent Sandinistas such as Ernesto Cardenal and Sergio Ramírez resigning to protest what they described as heavy-handed domination of the party by Daniel Ortega. Ramírez also founded a separate political party, the Movement for the Renovation of Sandinismo (MRS); his faction came to be known as the renovistas, who favor a more social democratic approach than the orthodoxos, or hardliners. In the 1996 Nicaraguan election, Ortega and Ramírez both campaigned unsuccessfully as presidential candidates on behalf of their respective parties, with Ortega receiving 43 percent of the vote while Arnoldo Alemán of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party received 51 percent.

Related Topics:
Ernesto Cardenal - Sergio Ramírez - Movement for the Renovation of Sandinismo - Social democratic - Arnoldo Alemán

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Daniel Ortega was re-elected as leader of the Sandinistas in 1998. Municipal elections in November 2000 saw a strong Sandinista vote, especially in urban areas, and former Tourism Minister Herty Lewites was elected mayor of Managua. This significant result led to expectations of a close race in the presidential elections scheduled for November 2001. Daniel Ortega and Enrique Bolaños of the Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC) ran neck and neck in the polls for much of the campaign, but in the end the PLC won a clear victory. At these elections, 4 November 2001, the party won 42.1 % of the popular vote and 43 out of 90 seats. The same day, José Daniel Ortega Saavedra was defeated by the Enrique Bolaños Geyer of the Constitutional Liberal Party, winning only 42.3 %.

Related Topics:
Enrique Bolaños - Elections - José Daniel Ortega Saavedra - Enrique Bolaños Geyer - Constitutional Liberal Party

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Daniel Ortega was once again re-elected as leader of the Sandinistas in March 2002.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~