Week 11—History of Latin America
Central America in the 1980s
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The Nicaraguan Revolution, 1979-1990 (with reference to El Salvador)
I. Nicaraguan v. Cuban revolutions
A. U.S. intervention
- William Walker (1856-57)
- Somoza family (1933-1979), Anastasio Somoza Debayle
- Pedro Joaquín Chamorro (d. 1978)
- Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), enters Managua July 20, 1979
B. Sandinista socialism
- mixed economy
- pro-church
- decentralized
II. Limits to the Revolution
A. Internal polarization
- Violeta Chamorro
- Daniel Ortega
B. Internal contradictions
C. U.S. intervention
- contras
- Iran-contra affair
- Oliver North
- John Negroponte1981-85, ambassador to Honduras
Military aid grows from $4 to 77 m.
Compare to El Salvador, $6 b.- Economic blockade and loan blocks
III. The Revolution's End?
- 1983, Contadora group (1983)
- 1984, Nicaraguan elections, 67% to Sandinistas
- 1985, Group of Eight
- 1987, Esquipulas Accords, (1987)Oscar Arias of Costa Rica
- Dec. 1989, Panama invasion
Manuel Noriega
- 1990, Nicaraguan elections, 55% to UNO/Violeta Chamorro
Indians, Guerrillas, and the Army: Guatemala vs. Peru
I. La Violencia in Guatemala, 1966-96
- ladinos vs. indígenas
- 1960s:Ladino guerrillas in southeast
Economic expansion and development in Maya highlands
Green Revolution
Central American Common Market
Acción Católica- 1970s:
Guerrillas move to western highlands
1977, CUC (Comité Unidad Campesina)
Vicente Menchú
1978, Panzos massacre- 1980s:
1980, Spanish embassy burned
1981-83, Gen. Efraín Rios Montt
1986, civilian president elected- 1990s:
1992, Rigoberta Menchú gets Nobel Peace Prize
1996, peace accords
1998, Bishop Juan Gerardi assassinated
II. Peru's Shining Path
- 1920s, José Carlos Mariátegui; ayllu
- 1968-9, Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado's “Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces”
- Abimaél Guzmán, the Shining Path
- 1983-84. military response, esp. around Ayacucho
- 1990-92, Alberto Fujimori
- rondas campesinas
