Today in labor history April 29, 1895: The U.S. sent warships to Nicaragua to "protect" US interests. This was the first of many military interventions in that country. President Taft ordered the overthrow of President Zelaya in 1909. The U.S. later invaded in 1910 and occupied the country in 1912. However, the original Sandinistas defeated that occupation in 1933. But Sandino’s victory was short-lived because Anastasio Somoza assassinated him in 1934. Somoza brutally ruled Nicaragua for the next forty years, until the new Sandinistas overthrew him in 1979. And then, again, the U.S. intervened. This time, by funding the right-wing Contras. Later, when Congress blocked aid to the Contras, Reagan secretly funded them with illegal arms shipments to Iran.
Today in Labor History March 11, 1833: The U.S. invaded Nicaragua to “protect U.S. business interests.” The U.S. invaded again in 1853, 1854, 1867, 1894, 1896, 1898, 1899 and 1909. Then, in 1912, they invaded and occupied the country for 21 years.
Today in Labor History February 21, 1934: Augusto Cesar Sandino, Nicaraguan independence fighter, was assassinated by Somoza’s Nation Guard. While in exile in Mexico during the early 1920s, Sandino participated in strikes led by the IWW. Inspired by the anarcho-syndicalist union, he adopted their red and black logo as the colors for the revolutionary Nicaraguan flag. The Sandinistas, or FSLN, who overthrew the dictator, Anastasio Somoza, in 1979, were named for Sandino.