Nevertheless, this new art necessitated political autonomy and economic independence to be sustained and eventually was systematically censored and muted. As Margaret Randall (author on women and revolution) explains memory is identity.
Since the 1850's, the U.S. government has intervened in Nicaragua numerous times, creating puppet governments to protect its economic and political interests. Heavily supported by the U.S., Nicaraguan autocrat Anastasio Somoza, founded a brutal dictatorship in 1936, which was passed from father to son to brother for 43 years. One example of this dynasty's corruption was siphoning money from international relief funds sent to Managua after a devastating earthquake struck in 1972.
After years of torture and bloodshed, the Somoza dictatorship was toppled on July 19,1979 by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). On July 20th, Sandinista soldiers entered Managua amid the fervent cheers and celebration of hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans. For the first time in Nicaraguan history, newly elected Sandinista officials implemented successful social programs that fostered self-determination. These initiatives achieved international recognition and included gains in the areas of literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions and land reform.
As Nicaraguans worked towards greater self-sufficiency, the Reagan administration started funding the Contra War to undermine the Sandinista government in the early 1980's. This disastrous ten-year war cost 60,000 lives and destroyed the country's infrastructure and economy with estimated losses of U.S. $178 billion dollars.
In 1990, Nicaragua held its second democratically-governed presidential elections. After suffering the brunt of war and a U.S. trade embargo, many Nicaraguans f the general public voted for the US.- backed UNO Coalition candidate Violeta de Chamorro. Many Nicaraguans felt pushed against the wall by their dire conditions and saw no other way to end the US's aggression. Yet, despite this coercion, the Sandinista Party still received 41% of total votes. Today, the FSLN is still the largest, most popular party in the nation.
Political parties
Nicaragua's traditional two parties were the National Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Nacionalista—PLN) and the Nicaraguan Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Nicaragüense—PCN). The PLN favored separation of church and state, some social legislation, no foreign interference in the political process, and limited land reform. It was supported by government employees, the National Guard, and large segments of the middle and lower classes. The PCN desired government cooperation with the Catholic Church (but also advocated freedom of religion), less government interference in private business, and a regressive tax structure.
When the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which was founded in 1962, came to power in July 1979, all political parties except those favoring a return to Somoza rule were permitted. Since the Somozas had all been liberals, the PLN was specifically banned.
Under the Sandinistas, Nicaragua's governing political coalition, the Patriotic Front for the Revolution (Frente Patriótico para la Revolución—FPR), formed in 1980, consisted of the FSLN, the Independent Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Independiente—PLI), the Popular Social Christian Party (Partido Popular Social Cristiano—PPSC), and the Moscow-oriented Nicaraguan Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Nicaragüense—PSN). Opposition parties included the Conservative Democratic Party (Partido Conservador Demócrata—PCD), the Nicaraguan Social Christian Party (Partido Social Cristiano Nicaragüense—PSCN), and the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Demócrata—PSD).
The National Opposition Union (UNO), under which Violeta Chamorro was elected president in 1990, was a 10-party coalition that included both the Conservatives and the Liberals, as well as several parties formerly aligned with the Sandinistas, including the PLI and the PSD. The PLI was also the party of Vice President Virgilio Godoy. Others included the Christian Democratic Union (UDC), the National Democratic Movement (MDN), the National Action Party (PAN), and the Neo-Liberal Party (PALI).
By the mid-1990s, the UNO coalition had disbanded. Nicaragua had numerous parties ranging across the political spectrum, although the country was dominated by two principal opposed groups, the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC), a right-wing successor to the traditional liberal party, and, on the left, the still-active FSLN. In the October 1996 presidential election, Arnoldo Alemán, former mayor of Managua and leader of the PLC, was elected with 51% of the vote, supported by a coalition of parties and factions called the Liberal Alliance (AL). Daniel Ortega, the FSLN candidate, won 38% of the vote, with the rest going to candidates from smaller parties. In the legislative elections, 42 of the 93 seats in the National Assembly were won by the National Alliance, with the FSLN winning 36, and the remaining 15 going to candidates from nine other parties. These included the Christian Way (Camino Cristiano), the Conservative Party of Nicaragua (PCN), the center-right Nicaraguan Resistance Party (PRN), the center-left Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), and the center-right Independent Liberal party (PLI). Altogether, 24 political parties and popular organizations participated in the 1996 elections.
In the 2001 parliamentary elections, held concurrently with the presidential election, the PLC won 53.7% of the vote, clinching 47 seats in the 93-member Assembly. The Sandinistas gained 43 seats and the remaining seats went to the Conservative Party of Nicaragua. The 2001 elections witnessed the consolidation of Nicaragua as a two-party system, with an overwhelming majority of votes going to the rightwing PCN and the leftwing Sandinistas.