Augusto César Sandino
Augusto César SandinoPan-Latin American anti-imperialist hero who waged guerrilla war against US occupation of Nicaragua
“Let it not be permitted that the hands of traitors or invaders shall profane his remains.” — Sandino, 1927
Nicaraguan revolutionary and guerrilla leader. From 1927 to 1933, he led the Army in Defense of National Sovereignty (EDSN) against the US military occupation, becoming a symbol of anti-imperialist resistance throughout Latin America. Assassinated in 1934 by the US-trained National Guard under Anastasio Somoza, his legacy inspired the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), founded in 1961, which overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in 1979.
Career timeline
- 1912Witnessed US intervention and General Zeledón's death — anti-imperialist consciousness formed
- 1921–1926Exile in Mexico — worked at Standard Oil refinery, exposed to Mexican revolutionary ideas
- 1926–1927Returned to Nicaragua — raised a militia of gold miners, joined the Constitutionalist War
- 1927.7Rejected the Espino Negro accord — launched guerrilla war against the US with the San Albino Manifesto
- 1927–1933Generalissimo of the EDSN — led six-year guerrilla campaign against US Marines
- 1929–1930Exile in Mexico — joined the EMECU spiritualist commune, sought Pan-American anti-imperialist solidarity
- 1933Peace accord with President Sacasa after US withdrawal — agreed to disarm
- 1934.2.21Arrested and executed by the National Guard after presidential palace talks — body never found