‘Luchamos Por Honor’#: Augusto C. Sandino’s Pursuit of Honour

Abstract

Augusto César Sandino has presented challenges to historians seeking to define the first Sandinista movement. Many interpretations of his political and spiritual beliefs have sharpened our understanding of his actions, but a facet of his rhetoric remains only peripherally illuminated. When Sandino’s pursuit of honour is examined in the context of Nicaraguan political culture and the traditions of caudillo-led armies, the importance of Sandino’s public image comes into focus. Sandino’s movement shared many features of caudillo-led rebellions. This enigmatic guerrilla cultivated a narrative around himself as a ‘culture hero’ to speak to the commonly held beliefs of the Nicaraguan people. By demonstrating his adherence to culturally relevant masculine leadership virtues, Sandino cultivated an ideology with himself as the central figure. Sandino developed patron-client relationships, which served as a central feature of his army’s fabric and made him the central figure of the movement. To garner support, Sandino frequently appealed to his fellow countrymen and potential supporters abroad by comparing his personal virtue with the depravity of his adversaries. Sandino, like typical caudillos, became the embodiment of his movement in the relationships he developed and the rhetoric he propagated. He sought honour and legitimacy because the pre-existing dialectic of the Nicaraguan socio-political power structure glorified those attributes as the qualifications for leadership in place of a political message. This article connects the growing literature on the role of honour in Latin American politics to the rebel movements of the early twentieth century.