Revolution Revisited, Part II

In 1979 a group of young rebels, calling themselves the Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrew a brutal dictatorship in Nicaragua. 40 years later, Nicaraguans are again living under an oppressive authoritarian regime. The current leader? Sandinista Daniel Ortega. In the Spring of 2019, the Watson Institute held an unprecedented conference exploring the history and legacy of this unfinished revolution. Out of that conference came this four-part special series from Trending Globally, telling the story of the Sandinista Revolution from the people who lived it. Part II: Trouble in Paradise. In July 1979, with widespread support at home and abroad, the Sandinista-led Junta of National Reconstruction took over Nicaragua's government. Within a few short years the Junta would crumble, a Civil War would begin, and Nicaragua would find itself the newest front in the Cold War. On this episode we hear from people who led Nicaragua during this transition, as well as from a US diplomat who tried to convince President Reagan to hold off on funding the Contras(spoiler: he didn't succeed). For more information about the conference this podcast was based on, including recorded lectures and a short film featuring many of the voices from this podcast, visit [watson.brown.edu/nicaragua].