MAY 19: Comemorating the birthdays of Ho Chi Minh, Malcom X, and Augusto Sandino

TOPIC: May 19 --] 3 Pieces on the Birthdays of Ho Chi Minh, Malcolm X &
Augusto Sandino, death in battle of Jose Marti
http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba-Inside-Out/t/27509fdece45cafa?hl=en
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Date: Tues, May 19 2009 10:26 am
From: "Karen Lee Wald"


I've long thought of May 19th as Tricontinental Day, because key leaders of people's struggles from three continents were born or died on this day. (While Malcolm X was born in the US South, he certainly represents Africa.) Jose Marti and Augusto Sandino, Latin America; Ho Chi Minh, Asia) klw
----- Original Message -----
From: Anti-Imperialist News
To: Recipient list suppressed:
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 7:00 AM
Subject: 3 Pieces on the Birthdays of Ho Chi Minh, Malcolm X & Augusto Sandino


3 Pieces Follow -

On Lynching And The Ku Klux Klan
By Ho Chi Minh (1924)

It is well known that the Black race is the most oppressed and the most exploited of the human family. It is well known that the spread of capitalism and the discovery of the New World had as an immediate result the rebirth of slavery, which was for centuries a scourge for the Negroes and a bitter disgrace for mankind.

What everyone does not perhaps know is that after sixty-five years of so-called emancipation, American Negroes still endure atrocious moral and material sufferings, of which the most cruel and horrible is the custom of lynching.

The word "lynching" comes from Lynch. Lynch was the name of a planter in Virginia, a landlord and judge. Availing himself of the troubles of the War of Independence, he took the control of the whole district into his hands. He inflicted the most savage punishment, without trial or process of law, on Loyalists and Tories. Thanks to the slave traders, the Ku Klux Klan, and other secret societies, the illegal and barbarous practice of lynching is spreading and continuing widely in the States of the American Union. It has become more inhuman since the emancipation of the Blacks, and is especially directed at the latter...

From 1899 to 1919, 2,600 Blacks were lynched, including 51 women and girls and ten former Great War soldiers. Among 78 Black lynched in 1919, 11 were burned alive, three burned after having been killed, 31 shot, three tortured to death, one cut into pieces, one drowned, and 11 put to death by various means.

Georgia heads the list with 22 victims, Mississippi follows with 12. Both have also three lynched soldiers to their credit. Of the 11 burned alive, the first State has four and the second two. Out of 34 cases of systematic, premeditated and organized lynching, it is still Georgia that holds first place with five. Mississippi comes second with three.

Among the charges brought against the victims of 1919, we note: one of having been a member of the League of Non-Partisans (independent farmers); one of having distributed revolutionary publications; one of expressing his opinion on lynchings too freely; one of having criticized the clashes between Whites and Blacks in Chicago; one of having been known as a leader of the cause of the Blacks; one for not getting out of the way and thus frightening a white child who was in a motorcar. In 1920, there were fifty lynchings, and in 1922 there were twenty-eight.

These crimes were all motivated by economic jealousy. Either the Negroes in the area were more prosperous than the Whites, or the Black workers would not let themselves be exploited thoroughly. In all cases, the principle culprits were never troubled, for the simple reason that they were always incited, encouraged, spurred on, then protected by politicians, financiers, and authorities, and above all, by the reactionary press...

The place of origin of the Ku Klux Klan is the Southern United States. In May, 1866, after the Civil War, young people gathered together in a small locality of the State of Tennessee to set up a club. A question of whiling away the time. This organization was given the name "kuklos", a Greek word meaning "club". To Americanize the word, it was changed into Ku Klux. Hence, for more originality, Ku Klux Klan.

After big social upheavals, the public mind is naturally unsettled. It becomes avid for new stimuli and inclined to mysticism. The KKK, with its strange garb, its bizarre rituals, its mysteries, and its secrecy, irresistibly attracted the curiosity of the Whites in the Southern States and became very popular. It consisted at first of only a group of snobs and idlers, without political or social purpose. Cunning elements discovered in it a force able to serve their political ambitions. The victory of the Federal Government had just freed the Negroes and made them citizens. The agriculture of the South - deprived of its Black labor, was short of hands. Former landlords were exposed to ruin.

The Klansmen proclaimed the principle of the supremacy of the white race. Anti Negro was their only policy. The agrarian and slaveholding bourgeoisie saw in the Klan a useful agent, almost a savior. They gave it all the help in their power. The Klan's methods ranged from intimidation to murder...

The Klan is for many reasons doomed to disappear. The Negroes, having learned during the war that they are a force if united, are no longer allowing their kinsmen to be beaten or murdered with impunity. They are replying to each attempt at violence by the Klan. In July 1919, in Washington, they stood up to the Klan and a wild mob. The battle raged in the capital for four days. In August, they fought for five days against the Klan and the mob in Chicago. Seven regiments were mobilized to restore order. In September the government was obliged to send federal troops to Omaha to put down similar strife. In various other States the Negroes defend themselves no less energetically.

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FROM:
THE BLACK COMMENTATOR
ISSUE 139
19 MAY 2005

MALCOLM X AND THE MUSIC

By Norman (Otis) Richmond
GUEST COMMENTATOR


http://www.blackcommentator.com/139/139_malcolm.html

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated 40 years ago, on February 21, 1965, because of his attempt to internationalize the African American liberation struggle.

Malcolm was born 80 years ago on May 19, 1925. While it is unlikely that U.S. President George W. Bush will acknowledge these facts, people from Cape Town to Nova Scotia and Brazil to Brixton definitely will. African Americans in New York City have made a pilgrimage to Malcolm's gravesite every year since February 21, 1966.

Contrary to popular belief, it was Malcolm, not Martin Luther King, who first opposed the war in Vietnam. Malcolm was the first African American leader of national prominence in the 1960s to condemn the war. He was joined by organizations like the Revolutionary Action Movement and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. This was in the tradition of David Walker, Henry Highland Garnet, Martin R. Delaney, Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Ella Baker and Paul Robeson. Malcolm continued to link the struggles of African people worldwide. King came out against the Vietnam War after his famous April 4, 1967 speech at Riverside Church in New York City. Malcolm spoke against this war from the get-go.

Musicians did their part to keep Malcolm's name alive. Long before Spike Lee's 1992 bio-pic, "X," hip-hop, house, reggae and R 'n' B artists created music for Malcolm, high-life and great Black music (so-called jazz) artists first wrote and sang about Malcolm. The dance of Malcolm's time was the "lindy-hop" and he was a master of it. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which Malcolm wrote with the assistance of Alex Haley, gives a vivid description of his love of dancing.

Years later, on a visit to the West African nation of Ghana, Malcolm spoke of seeing Ghanaians dancing the high-life. He wrote: "The Ghanaians performed the high-life as if possessed. One pretty African girl sang 'Blue Moon' like Sarah Vaughan. Sometimes the band sounded like Charlie Parker."

Malcolm's impact on Ghana was so great that one folk singer created a song in his honor called "Malcolm Man."

Malcolm Man, Malcolm Man
You speak your tale of woe
The red in your face like our
Blood on the land
You speak your tale of woe
Malcolm Man, Malcolm Man
The anger that you feel
Will one day unite our people
And make us all so real
Malcolm Man, Malcolm Man.

After Malcolm's death, many jazz artists recorded music in his memory. Among them, Leon Thomas recorded the song, "Malcolm's Gone" on his Spirits Known and Unknown album; saxophonist-poet-playwright Archie Shepp recorded the poem, "Malcolm, Malcolm Semper Malcolm" on his Fire Music album. Shepp drew parallels between Malcolm's spoken words and John Coltrane's music. Said Shepp: "I equate Coltrane's music very strongly with Malcolm's language, because they were just about contemporaries, to tell you the truth. And I believe essentially what Malcolm said is what John played. If Trane had been a speaker, he might have spoken somewhat like Malcolm. If Malcolm had been a saxophone player, he might have playeds somewhat like Trane."

Shortly before Malcolm's death, he visited Toronto and appeared on CBC television with Pierre Breton. During the visit, Malcolm spent time with award-winning author Austin Clarke talking about politics and music. Time was too short to organize a community meeting, but a few lucky people gathered at Clarke's home on Asquith Street. Clarke had interviewed Malcolm previously, in 1963 in Harlem, when he was working for the CBC. Clarke recalled they "talked shop," but also discussed the lighter things in life, like the fact that both their wives were named Betty.

It is not surprising that Malcolm made his way to Canada. His mother and father, Earl Little, met and married in Montréal at a Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) convention. Both were followers of Marcus Garvey. His mother, Louise Langdon Norton, was born in Grenada but immigrated first to Halifax, Nova Scotia and later to Montreal in 1917.

Jan Carew's book, Ghosts in Our Blood: With Malcolm X in Africa, England, and the Caribbean, documents this aspect of the life of the Pan-Africanist. I suggest that Carew's volume be read to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Malcolm's assassination.

While on a visit to Nigeria Malcolm was given the name Omowale, which means in the Yoruba language, "the son who has come home". It was this period of his life that he visited Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea and Tanzania. It was during that period that he met with Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Julius K Nyerere, and Nnamoi Azikiwe, Sekou Toure, Jomo Kenyatta, Dr. Milton Obote and others. During this visit he also met Ras Makonnen, a legendary Pan-Africanist from Guyana, Richard Wright's daughter Julie Wright, Maya Angelou, Shirley Graham Du Bois, the wife of W.E.B. Du Bois, and the Chinese Ambassador Huang Ha.

Malcolm was the chief organizer of the Nation of Islam and the founder of the group's newspaper Muhammad Speaks. He split with the nation and its leader Elijah Muhammad in 1963. At the time of his death he headed two organizations. The secular group the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) was his political arm. He also organized the religious group, Muslim Mosque Inc (MMI), which practiced Sunni Islam. Today Islam is the second largest religion in the United States and Canada. Many credit Malcolm with helping spread Sunni Islam as well as revolutionary African American Nationalism and Pan-Africanism among African people in the Western Hemisphere.

Like Augusto Cesar Sandino of Nicaragua or Sun Yat-Tsen of China, Malcolm was embraced by all sectors of the African American Nationalist and Pan Africanist movements. All Nationalists and Pan-Africanists claimed to follow his example. Revolutionary Nationalist groups like the Black Panther Party, and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers emerged in the late 1960's, after Malcolm's death. Even after the BPP and the League embraced Marxism, Malcolm was still their man. The cultural Nationalists who maintained that the Cultural Revolution must precede the political one also embraced Malcolm.

He was a controversial figure.

Actor Ossie Davis eulogized him as our "Black Shining Prince" while the director of the U.S. information agency Carl T. Rowan referred to him as "an ex-convict, ex-dope peddler who became a racial fanatic." He was loved by the oppressed and hated by the oppressors. Malcolm spoke about the MMI and the OAAU in these terms: "Its aim is to create an atmosphere and facilities in which people who are interested in Islam can get a better understanding of Islam. The aim of the OAAU is to use whatever means necessary to bring about a society in which the twenty-two million Afro-Americans are recognized and respected as human beings".

At the time of his death Malcolm was not nearly as well known as he is today. Each year his stature grew. By 1992 Malcolm was the subject of a major motion picture, "X" by Spike Lee. Lee's film was as controversial as Malcolm's life. Lee was attacked from the left, right and center for his portrayal of Malcolm. And he marketed the hell out of the movie. His campaign began with the marketing of "X" caps. He gave the first cap to basketball icon Michael Jordan. And as they say, "the rest is history." Many who up hold the Black radical tradition fought Lee over the film. They accused him of "pimping and sampling" Malcolm. Lee responded with a book, By Any Means Necessary: The Trials and Tribulations of the Making of Malcolm X . (While Ten Million Motherfuckers are Fucking With You!).

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and other books by and about Malcolm continue to sell worldwide. Some of his books have recently been published in Cuba. Malcolm was one of the few African American Nationalist leaders that welcomed Cuban leader Fidel Castro to Harlem in 1960. Many Nationalists didn't want to be identified with communism. But African people in the West could easily identify with the slogan, "When Africa called Cuba Answered." Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) was fond of reminding us that the only place in the United States that Fidel felt safe was in Harlem.

Toronto-based journalist and radio producer Norman (Otis) Richmond can be heard on Diasporic Music, Thursdays, 8-10 p.m., Saturday Morning Live, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and From a Different Perspective, Sundays, 6-6:30 p. m. on CKLN-FM 88.1 and on the Internet at www.ckln.fm. He can be reached by e-mail at norman@ckln.fm

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General Augusto C. Sandino
In the second decade of the twentieth century U.S. Marines were intervening in Nicaragua. They were sent by the government of the United States to intimidate and control the local political parties - involved in a civil war at that time - in order to ensure that the presidential seat would be occupied by a submissive Nicaraguan leader who would cooperate with the voracious exploitation of Nicaragua by the United States. This strategy worked well for the U.S., the strongest country in the world, until a general - small in physical size but gigantic when it came to patriotic conscience - started to fight back. With the support of an army of peasants this general showed the world that he was not permitting the exploitation of his free, sovereign country. This general was Augusto C. Sandino, general of the free men, hero of Las Segovias.


The Constitutional War
Before starting his heroic struggle Sandino participated in the civil war on the side of the Liberal party. These Liberals were taken out of power by the rival party, the Conservatives, who took over presidency by force. A historical overview is given below.

In January 1925, after national elections, the Liberal Party came into power with the duo Carlos Solórzano as president and Juan Bautista Sacasa as vice-president. However, this situation was not well-received by the losing candidate, the conservative general Emiliano Chamorro, who immediately started planning taking over power through violent means.

The Liberal Party was able to stay in power only for one year. After two attempts by Chamorro, president Solórzano stepped down and left his seat vacant. Normally the vice-president would become the next leader but in this case vice-president Sacase had fled the country after being accosted by conservative soldiers. And this was how the Nicaraguan congress named nobody less than Emiliano Chamorro provisional president. He assumed power in January 1926.

From Mexico, Liberal exiles led by vice-president Sacasa prepared for a return to Nicaragua to take over power, which was legally to be handed over to the elected vice-president, according to the constitution. Troops were armed and shipped to the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, where they then started the so-called 'Constitutional War'.

General José María Moncada was the military chief of this Liberal expedition. His troops disembarked at the city of Puerto Cabezas at the north-Caribbean side of the Nicaragua. Although they were belligerently inferior, they did maintain their position and they even took over other towns in the region. At the Pacific side, another Liberal disembarkation was destroyed by the conservative forces. However, liberal uprisings also started to take place at other places throughout the country.

Even before the arrival of the Liberal troops at Puerto Cabezas, the United States sent warships to the Nicaraguan coast, arguing that they were sent to protect the life and property of U.S. citizens living in Nicaragua. The North-American military chief asked both parties to find a solution to the conflict. In order to gain 'gringo-support', the conservatives arranged the renunciation of Chamorro (who, after enforcing a military coup, could not be recognized by the U.S. government, as set out in international treaties, signed and initiated by the same U.S. government). Therefore, in November 1926, Adolfo Díaz was named president of Nicaragua. With him, the U.S. had a perfect marionette to secure their interests.

Still led by chief Moncada, the Liberals continued their struggle. Only a couple days after this presidential change the situation intensified when Juan Bautista Sacasa, political chief and presidential claimant of the Liberals, arrives in Puerto Cabezas.

After hearing of the arrival of Sacasa, Augusto C. Sandino - already an influential leader in his local community - traveled with some others to Puerto Cabezas to participate in the Constitutional War. Here, however, general Moncada refused to give Sandino a military duty or arms.

The United States had already recognized Adolfo Díaz as the official president of Nicaragua. However, they denied that the presence of their boats had anything to do with the Nicaraguan conflict. Despite this statement, on December 24, 1926, U.S. Marines disembarked at Puerto Cabezas (headquarter city of the Liberals), where they declared a neutral zone which meant that Liberal soldiers were disarmed or removed. This was the first sign of definitive intervention by the U.S.

Two weeks later, on January 6, 1927, North American troops entered Nicaragua, arguing that lives and property of U.S. citizens had to be protected. They also claimed that Mexico (a country at that time accused to be pro-Communist) was about to send troops to Nicaragua. Although the United States said to take a neutral position, they frequently supported the conservatives, either directly or indirectly. In one such instance, U.S. planes bombed the city of Chinandega (at that time in control by the Liberals). The government then assured the world that its pilots were acting voluntarily and without official orders.

About ten weeks later, reports from the North American marines (who were officially 'observers') noted that most Constitutional troops were defeated throughout the country and that Moncada, held at bay by the conservatives, was about to be taken down in Chontales.

However, shortly after these reports the international media reported a surprising victory of a Liberal battalion: led by an unknown general named Sandino, Liberal troops had taken the city of Jinotega and were on their way to rescue Moncada.

This was the first time the name of Sandino showed up in the international media. Despite his victories, however, the Constitutional War ended shamefully a couple days later when military leader Moncada met with conservatives and marines in Tipitapa, where he negotiated the surrender of the Constitutional Army and the realization of strictly monitored elections (to be monitored by the marines) where he, general Moncada, would participate as candidate. Even though the treason was as clear-cut as it gets, the Liberal troops were disarmed and Sacasa fled to Costa Rica.

Although this meant the end of the Liberal Constitutional struggle, it also signified the beginning of Sandino's struggle for liberty. Sandino, who did not lay down his arms, declared that as long as invading soldiers would exist on Nicaraguan soil, he and his men would continue to rebel against the government of the traitor Adolfo Díaz.


From Sandino's perspective
Augusto C. Sandino was born on May 18, 1895, in the small town called Niquinohomo, located in the department of Masaya. He was the (unrecognized) child of Margarita Calderón and the small landowner Gregorio Sandino. In fact, it is assumed that the letter "C" that appears in his name really stands for his maternal last name (Calderón), and not a second first name (César), as also has been suggested.

He was raised by his mother, with whom he dedicated himself to agricultural activities. During his youth, Sandino worked at different places throughout Nicaragua and in other Central American countries. Later, he moved to Mexico where he worked in the Tampico and Cerro Azul oil industry. Here he started to consider moving back to his beloved home country after getting acquainted with the ideology of social equality that the strong Mexican labor unions promoted.

He headed to Nicaragua on May 15, 1926, and he started to work in the mine of San Albino, in the northern region of the country, property of a U.S. citizen. Here he tried to convince his fellow workers of the patriotic ideals he believed in. When the Constitutional War broke out he took his savings (brought from Mexico) to buy arms at the border with Honduras and, together with other workers, he took off after exploding the mine with dynamite.

Fully motivated to fight, Sandino met Moncada in Puerto Cabezas. Sandino asked the general to supply arms, ammunition, and instructions, and Sandino proposed him to lead the Las Segovias region (encompassing the northern departments of the country) in order to cover the northern flank while Moncada would advance in the direction of the capital, Managua. However, Moncada despises the idea and does not give Sandino anything.

The marines then invaded the city of Puerto Cabezas, declaring it a neutral zone and confiscating arms of Liberal soldiers in the region. Sandino came into action the same night by taking back arms that the marines threw into a river. During this operation he was assisted by several prostitutes who he convinced of the importance of the patriotic constitutional struggle.

With his arms and his men he headed to the mountainous northern area, after being reluctantly accepted by Moncada. The first time he encountered resistance happened in a small town and, being outnumbered, he lost the battle but he did manage to continue his journey. He reached San Rafael del Norte, which was transformed into his headquarter city. From here he started winning battles in neighboring villages. He also got to know the telegraph operator Blanca Aráuz, who became his girlfriend.

The Constitutional Army, however, was being defeated in almost all other places. The conservatives, with direct and indirect support from the U.S. marines, already had general Moncada enclosed in Chontales, halfway in between Puerto Cabezas and Managua. At this moment of despair, Moncada - who had always despised Sandino - sent him a message and ordered Sandino to help him out or he will be held responsible for a Constitutional defeat.

Sandino decided to send out a group of volunteers to support Moncada. In order to have all attention of enemy troops in the region focused on the northern zone, Sandino decided to attack the city of Jinotega in April 1927. After a final battle he completely took over control of the city, and here he reunited with several Liberal generals who were defeated at other places throughout the country.

Several days later Sandino and his troops head to Chontales, together with the other generals, to rescue the military leader. The soldiers of Sandino went ahead, and upon entering the battle zone they attacked and destroyed one of the stronger battalions threatening Moncada.

The conservative troops returned to Managua to protect themselves for the Liberal movement. Moncada, after being liberated, initiated a march towards the capital, using the routes liberated by Sandino. Moncada ordered Sandino to stay around to protect one of the flanks. Complying with the order, the general of Las Segovias prepared his troops to attack the city of Boaco. At that moment, he is informed of a 48-hour truce due to the fact that Moncada is about to meet the enemy, with mediation of the Americans.

Sandino obeyed the order but decided to return to Jinotega to re-establish his troops as his men, not doing anything and without any food, started to disorderly return back north.

In Jinotega Sandino was informed of the pact signed by Moncada in El Espino Negro, Tipitapa (department of Managua), which put a period behind the Constitutional War, accepting the presence of North American marines on Nicaraguan soil.

This happened in May 1927. This month, Sandino would not only celebrate his birthday, but he would also marry Blanca Aráuz and initiate his heroic struggle against U.S. intervention and in favor of a sovereign and independent Nicaragua.


The struggle continues
In Jinotega, alter finding out about the agreement signed by Moncada, general Sandino regrouped his men and refused to disarm. Both Moncada and the marines tried to convince Sandino to stop his struggle, but Sandino told them that his struggle was not over with this betraying pact. He again headquartered in San Rafael del Norte.

The North American press announced the end of the war in Nicaragua, stating that all Liberal leaders had disarmed except for one guy named Sandino. Soon the general of the free men took action to find out how strong his position really was. He first took the mine of San Albino and he then attached the town of Ocotal.

Although he was defeated in his first autonomous battle due to the intervention of U.S. bomber planes, Sandino did start to be known as somebody to take into account. Through the attack he was able to demonstrate a document, explaining why he was fighting, justifying his position: it stated that his troops were organized and idealistic, and not gangs of criminals, and that they preferred to die as patriots instead of as compliant citizens. He said he was waiting in the mountains with his arms ready to combat the traitors and invaders.

The Nicaraguan authorities and the U.S. government started to label Sandino as a bandit who dedicated himself to assaults and smuggling, and this same statement was told to the international press. However, on September 8, 1927, Sandino came into contact with the Honduran poet Froylán Turcios, director of the magazine 'Ariel' and a big admirer of Sandino's actions. Turcios is therefore selected to become Sandino's outside representative.

The marines, who underestimated Sandino and his troops, started to take action to defeat them, but they soon became aware that the bravery of these men was as significant as the mountains from where they operated were inaccessible. The continuous bombings affected mostly the civil population and the communities close to the headquarters of Sandino, which was at that time a hill called "El Chipote".

Sandino's struggle became known in the international press and newspapers from Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Brazil and even the same United States started to frequently publish articles that supported Sandino and his men. The North American government, meanwhile, argued that presence of its marines in Nicaragua was necessary to guarantee fair elections.

Although the government in Washington always minimized and distorted information about the actions of Sandino, the Nicaraguan fighters became so effective that the U.S. started to send backup marines, arms, and war planes to Nicaragua. The U.S. also started to recruit and train a local army led by North American officials, which would soon be known as the National Guard.

At the end of this year battles took place even more frequently, and - despite inferiority in arms, training, and sometimes men - the troops of Sandino, supported by the population, turned out to be a respectable enemy. In the forested mountains the rural communities, ambushes, dynamite, and machetes caused continuous losses for the marines and the National Guard. The bombings from their side destroyed both civil communities and the guerilla camps at the same time.

Many Latin American writers, organizations, and the public opinion started to favor Sandino, and he was declared hero of the dignity of Latin America, battling against North American imperialists.

When the U.S. militaries asked Sandino what his conditions were to stop fighting, he listed three points: 1) the immediate withdrawal of invasive forces from Nicaraguan territory, 2) the substitution of Adolfo Díaz by a Nicaraguan citizen who was not currently presidential candidate, and 3) supervision of the next elections by Latin American representatives and not by North American marines.

These simple demands were unacceptable for the U.S. government and the struggle therefore continued. Sandino named his troop the Defending Army of National Sovereignty, and he adopted a flag with red and black bands, and a motto: "motherland and liberty" (patria y libertad).

In 1928 battles continued between the well-equipped National Guard and marines, and the Sandinista troops, who were using rapid attack strategies. At the end of this year elections took place, supervised only by the United States, and resulting in a victory for José María Moncada, traitor and old chief of Sandino. Surprisingly, Juan Bautista Sacasa, the old leader of the Constitutional struggle, accepted to be ambassador of Moncada in Washington. By this time, both of them praised the intervention and support to the democracy of the United States in Nicaragua.

The guerilla general decided to travel to Mexico, to find support for his struggle and to avoid giving the marines another excuse to stay in Nicaragua. During his journey, accepted by the North Americans and protected by a Mexican delegation, Sandino was welcomed by large groups of people in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico.

In Nicaragua, the marines did not leave and Moncada assumed power. As instructed by Sandino, his troops continued their guerilla struggle.


End of the struggle
Sandino's unfruitful stay in Mexico lasted almost one year. Apparently, the Mexican government, conspiring with the U.S. government, tried to keep him there as long as possible. Sandino, however, achieved to mislead his Mexican security guardians and clandestinely cross borders until he arrived at his headquarters.

The guerilla attacks continued. Sometimes, for a certain period of time, Sandino would disappear and speculation would arise that he had fled, before strongly hitting enemy command centers in the area. These kinds of attacks would continue, and the marines nor the National Guard were able to eliminate Sandino, while he did not achieve to get international support for his cause or force the invaders to retreat from Nicaragua.

In 1933, after winning the next elections, Juan Bautista Sacasa assumed presidency of Nicaragua - which actually should have happened in 1925, before the Constitutional War. This same year, on February 2, the last North American soldier sent to defeat Sandino, left Nicaragua without achieving this goal.

Without a reason for war, Sacasa declares friendship with Sandino and the general and his troops are given land in the Segovia region. The revolutionists and their chief accept disarmament and they start to integrate into society as agricultural producers.

However, another ambitious, fatal person enters Nicaraguan history. One year before the truce, in 1932, the National Guard was headed for the first time in history by a Nicaraguan military: Anastasio Somoza García. The next year, this military leader started an evident persecution of old Sandinista soldiers, illegally arresting, hurting, and even killing these men.

This situation forced Sandino to visit Managua to complain about this situation in front of president Sacasa. Sandino was invited to a gala by the president and the same Somoza. After arranging a compromise of ceasefire, Sandino accepted the offer. On the road, in Managua, the car of Sandino was intercepted by soldiers of the National Guard. The soldiers then escorted Sandino and two of his generals to a place where the hero and his men were brutally shot to death.

This marked the end of the heroic deeds of one of the most important people in the history of Latin America, although history has also made people forget about this man's struggle. In Nicaragua, Somoza prohibited the name of Sandino to be used and the acknowledgement of his deeds until another generation of idealists again freed the country, almost half a century after Sandino's death.

Nowadays, despite the fact that the exact place of death of the 'General of the free men' is unknown, his achievements have once again found their place in the history books. The only thing left unsaid is that Sandino, interestingly, never even wanted to become president. He only wanted a free country.