Abstract
In the late 1920s, the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua was challenged in an insurgency led by Augusto César Sandino. While U.S. Marines conducted military operations in Nicaragua, the U.S. government and its supporters engaged in a battle for public opinion over the war against domestic anti-imperialist activists, politicians and journalists. A major part of this battle was the debate over Sandino’s image. The U.S. government sought to portray Sandino as a bandit, a depiction which de-legitimized his rebellion and bolstered support for the U.S. occupation. In this article, I discuss how the U.S. government developed this characterization of Sandino, and how anti-imperialists were able to successfully argue against it. I argue that several key characteristics of the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua fatally undermined the U.S. government’s depiction and provided anti-imperialists with multiple avenues to criticize U.S. policy in Nicaragua.
Highlights
The history of relations between the United States and Nicaragua is long and turbulent
The occupation began in 1912, when the U.S intervened in a civil war between rival political factions in Nicaragua to install a government amenable to American interests
U.S forces withdrew in 1925, but they returned in 1927 after a new civil war began. This second phase of the occupation was opposed by an insurgency led by Augusto César Sandino, which eventually resulted in a U.S withdrawal in 1933
Summary
The history of relations between the United States and Nicaragua is long and turbulent. While U.S Marines conducted military operations in Nicaragua, the U.S government and its supporters engaged in a battle for public opinion over the war against domestic anti-imperialist activists, politicians and journalists.
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