Sandinistas Speak: Speeches, Writings, and Interviews with Leaders of Nicaragua's Revolution

by Tomás Borge, Carlos Fonseca, Daniel Ortega

The best selection in English of historic documents of the FSLN and speeches and interviews from the opening years of the 1979 Sandinista revolution.

Photos, maps, index.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

About the author

Tomás Borge Martínez (often spelled as Thomas Borge in United States newspapers) was a cofounder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua and was Interior Minister of Nicaragua during one of the administrations of Daniel Ortega. He was also a renowned statesman, writer, and politician. Tomás Borge also held the titles of "Vice-Secretary and President of the FSLN", member of the Nicaraguan Parliament and National Congress, and Ambassador to Peru. Considered a hardliner, he led the "prolonged people's war" tendency within the FSLN until his death.

Borge was the author of several works of poetry, essays, and an autobiography. The Cuban poet Roberto Fernandez Retamar believes that Borge's book "Carlos, el amanecer no es sólo un sueño", which he wrote in prison, is comparable in literary merit to the documentary prose of Gabriel García Márquez.

Some of his published titles are "The Patient Impatience", "A Grain of Corn", and "The Anticipated Ceremony".

Reviews

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nicaraguan Revolution appeared to be the great hope, but it wound up as a tragedy. After defeating the "contras" in war, the Sandinistas decided to put an end to further land reform, and to not carry out any more nationalizations. All that suffering, and for what? But we can and must learn from defeats as well as victories. This book and a sequel, 'The Sandinistas People's Revolution' were put together by the reporting team of the 'Militant' newspaper, which had a Managua Bureau for quite a few years. Today I strongly suggest reading these books in conjunction with "The Rise and Fall of the Nicaraguan Revolution" which is the entire contents of 'New International no. 9.' For any who have doubts about what the Sandinistas program really was, its included in that volume. I also recommend Matilde Zimmermann's 'Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution,' which has been published in Cuba and Nicaragua, in addition to this country.

[Guillermo Galvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hardly knew anything about the Contra conflict from back in the 80's until I read Noam Chomsky's "Latin America." When I found out about the American supported atrocities in El Salvador, I was shocked and wanted to know more. "Saninistas Speak" is a straight forward account of the bloody revolution by the people who spearheaded it. Usually anyone who doesn't have a lot of money is marginalized to the point where their voice doesn't exist in the world scope, so these people remain somewhat of a mystery to us. That's why I truly enjoyed "Sandinistas Speak. It humanized their struggle and let them explain it in their own words. 5 stars.