p Near the Presidential Palace and National Library in SanJose, capital of Costa Rica, is a small garden known locally as the Park of Spain. On one Sunday in January 1979 there was a greater crowd here than usual. It appeared that on the pathways several artists had put up easels in the shade of spreading trees, and several master carvers were making wooden sculptures, all reflecting contemporary life in Nicaragua. Its tragedy was well illustrated by pieces depicting a guerilla holding a submachine gun, a peasant woman sobbing in hopeless grief over the dead body of her little girl, Sandinista fighters on the offensive, village razed by National Guard soldiery, and American aircraft strafing residential neighbourhoods in Leon. The money raised by this charity drive was contributed to an aid fund for the people of Nicaragua.

p I struck up an acquaintance with two young artists, who before coming to Costa Rica only a few days prior to this art sale, had been with a Sandinista guerilla force in Northern Nicaragua. Still earlier, till September 1977, the two young men had been living with a commune on an islet in the Solentiname Islands in Lake Nicaragua, in the southern part of the country. The commune had been organised by local-born Ernesto Cardenal Chamorro, one of Latin America’s best known poets.

p The Soviet reading public are familiar with Ernesto Cardenal from translations featured in the magazine Inostrannaya Literatura (Foreign Literature) in its June 1969 and March 1970 issues. In a foreword to these translations, Yuri 51 Dashkevich, a Soviet student of Latin American literature, wrote, "Lake Nicaragua is claimed by scientists to be the world’s one and only lake infested by sharks. However far a recluse may bury himself, he will never be able to overlook that. However, these blood-thirsty sharks are not the only danger. Whatever motives a person may have for withdrawing from the world, he cannot escape or cut himself off from the problems bedevilling mankind. .. .There is no question that Ernesto Cardenal’s literary produce is part of the mainstream of popular protest sweeping Latin America.”

p Yuri Dashkevich is right. Ernesto Cardenal had not the slightest intention of withdrawing from the problems with which his country is beset. It was in his character to actively fight for national liberation, to join the ranks of the fighters against the dictator riding roughshod over Nicaragua. He has dedicated all his poetic fire and talent to the cause of revolution.

About a week after meeting the two Nicaraguan artists, I saw Ernesto Cardenal who happened to be in Costa Rica at the time, and he told me about himself, about how he had joined the Sandinistas, about his plans, and generally about the situation in Nicaragua at the time.

Ernesto Cardenal’s Story

p “I am now 54. At first I was a professional poet, but subsequently, in 1955, I decided to enter the priesthood. Though previously a professional writer, I did not at all think that writing, the more so, of poetry, could proceed in isolation from what happens around a person, events that are part and parcel of the life of one’s people and country. For this reason I believed it my duty as poet and citizen to fight the Somoza regime and with my poetry dedicate all my energies to the battle against the dictatorship that held my country in thrall, against the old dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia.

p “I was 31 when I withdrew into a monastery. Subsequently, in 1965, I organised with a group of young friends a kind of commune on an island of the Solentename Islands in Lake Nicaragua. Our commune existed for twelve years. We set ourselves the task of carrying on educational work among the 52 peasants, to prepare them for revolution and explain that revolution does not conflict with the Catholic faith. We interpreted the Scriptures in a revolutionary manner, as we understood them. We said that Christianity’s prime purpose was to shape a fair society, and that the goals recorded in the Gospels coincided with the goals of revolution.

p “It was only natural for us to count our commune part of the revolutionary movement in Nicaragua, of those at the outset small groupings that waged guerilla warfare in the mountains and subsequently developed into a powerful national movement. There came a time when our commune joined the Sandinistas, becoming one of the cells of this movement.

p “Our commune consisted of but twelve persons, primarily young local peasants. Though some wanted to leave the commune to join the guerillas in the mountains and fight the dictatorship, the Sandinista leadership told us to keep our commune going, as it was doing extensive explanatory work and was politically of good use. Accordingly, we were to stay put till further orders.

p “In October 1977 the Sandinista leadership recruited the younger members of the commune for its first major action. The boys and girls were only too willing to volunteer, and they began to take military training right there, on the islands. When they finished their training, they took part in a raid on the garrison of San Carlos, a small town near the islands. Both boys and girls from the commune showed courage and mettle. A few days earlier, I left for abroad on a mission for the Sandinista leadership, leaving behind only those who were to take part in the raid.

p “After the raid the boys and girls involved stayed with the guerillas and are now Sandinista fighters. Meanwhile, our community, with all its buildings, was completely destroyed by Somoza’s soldiers. The church was turned into a National Guard barrack and the library and arts and crafts shops were ruined. In short, nothing is left of our twelve years of work.

p “In Nicaragua I was tried in absentia and sentenced, as far as J know, to 15 years of prison. Ever since, I have been in exile, working for the Sandinista International Liaison Committee. I have been appointed to represent the 53 Sandinistas abroad, and in the years since have visited quite a number of countries. That’s all I think I can tell you about myself. Recently I was in Moscow at a session of the World Peace Council, and a little before that, in Prague where I attended a Christian Peace Conference.

p “This year an International Congress of Solidarity with the People of Nicaragua in their struggle against the Somoza dictatorship is to be held. For our struggle international solidarity is of major importance. Of course, there is no question that the armed struggle is decisive. The armed struggle cannot be carried on successfully without the support of the people and the guerillas have that support. But international backing is also vital, as without it our struggle would be far less effective. It is essential for the world to know about the popular movement in Nicaragua, because if it doesn’t it will leave a free field for US imperialism to intervene in Nicaragua in the belief that this will not arouse world protest. Hence, to bar imperialism’s dirty designs, to thwart the outright intervention that US imperialism may undertake at any moment, mounting international solidarity is vital for us.

p “A few words now about the repressive actions of the Somoza regime. To this day in Nicaragua young people all over the country are killed daily. They’re killed only because they’re young. Killed are even boys and girls taking no part in the struggle, who don’t know why they’re being killed. Nor do their killers know whether or not their victims are involved in the movement against the dictatorship. They’re killed simply because they’re young. Whenever the killers come across a young person in the street, they kill him or her only because of youth. To be young in Nicaragua today is a crime, as the killers think a young Nicaraguan is bound to be a revolutionary and a Sandinista. Of course, that’s not far from the truth. The terrible thing is that Nicaragua is losing its young generation. The ruination of the national economy, the demolition of cities and towns by Somoza’s forces of repression are nothing compared to the liquidation of our main asset and treasure, our young people.

p “A young man may go out to pass the time of day with friends, or for a date with his girl, or may set out in the 54 morning to his job, and find himself arrested right then and there, in the street, taken away, and disappear forever. Sometimes the dead bodies are found in the mortuary, sometimes on refuse heaps, in backyards, on vacant lots, or by the roadside. With fractured legs and arms, with broken heads, and gouged eyes. And sometimes with tongues cut out, or genitals cut off. But in most cases, the arrested simply disappear and nobody hears about them, the more so, sees them, again.

p “Note that the butchers have let loose wholesale repression against peasants living in places where guerillas are active, that is, in most of the country. Punitive squads burn down peasant homes, rape peasant women, brutally torture peasants, burn them alive, or take them up in helicopters and throw them out from high up. They kill off peasant women, the aged, and the children, even nursing babies. With every day, the terror assumes ever broader proportions. We think mankind should not look on indifferently, not twiddle its thumbs, not fencesit while such appalling club law is rampant in Nicaragua, while its people so inordinately suffer. However, thus far the world knows very little as to what is going on in our country, or about the monstrous terror there.

p “We very much want all countries, especially the Soviet Union, to work tirelessly to expose the crimes of the butchers. We want the Soviet Union daily to publish exposures of the atrocities perpetrated by Somoza and his agents in Nicaragua. He is committing genocide plain and simple; he is destroying the people of his country. For us, what the Soviet Union says is most important.

p “As for the other side, as for those who back Somoza, it should be emphasised that his main advocate is the USA, as it was the USA that created the Somoza dictatorship. Somoza the First was puppet chief of the National Guard, the occupation force that the USA knocked together. In effect, the National Guard is a North American army, a US occupation force in Nicaragua, created by the USA, armed by the USA, and trained by the USA. Then, Somoza gets most of his economic assistance from the USA. Though of late he has not been getting any weapons from the USA, he gets US-made arms from Israel; the USA is arming Somoza through Israel. Apart 55 from that, Somoza has other sources wherewith to buy arms. China is purchasing large amounts of cotton from Nicaragua, and Somoza is using this money to buy weapons. Such are the quarters propping up the dictatorship.

p “Ever since I was forced to emigrate, I haven’t had a chance to write poetry, as I have considered myself obliged to devote all my energies to the movement against the Somoza dictatorship. But when we win, I shall again write poetry, to describe my people’s gallant exploits. It is my belief that poetry is an effective weapon, and for that reason when the revolution wins, I shall write poetry again.”

It took me quite a few days to catch “Rojer”, one of the chiefs of the Sandinista Foreign Policy Committee. Although known to be somewhere in San Jose, he would often change his address, now spending the night with friends on the northern outskirts, only to move to a new address the next day. Although quite legally in San Jose, he had to take precautions, as nobody could guarantee his safety, nobody could be sure that Somoza’s agents were not snooping around in San Jose, ready at any moment to kill him as one more Sandinista. Finally we met in early February, and below is part of the interview I recorded.

Commandante Rojer’s Story

p “My real name is Miguel Castaneda. I’m a member of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, in which I am responsible for liaison with European states. My guerilla alias is Rojer.

p “I have been with the Sandinistas since 1965, at first in a University cell. Since 1968 I have been a full member of the Sandinista Front, and for the last ten years have been carrying out various assignments, such as establishing contacts with the student movement, or doing work in the Chinandega and Leon area in Western Nicaragua. Till 1976 I represented Central American student associations, and in 1970 and 1971 organised the student movement and set up student associations. 56 The Foreign Policy Committee is currently establishing contacts with progressives and public organisations in many countries. We establish relationships with all forces against the dictatorship, who are behind our people in their struggle, and who can aid this struggle. We know that the socialist countries are wholeheartedly with the patriotic forces of Nicaragua.

p “The Sandinista Front arose when several anti-dictatorial groups merged. At the outset these groups undertook small military operations against the National Guard. Thus, between 1954 and 1962, they carried out 32 such armed actions. Who were their members? Some came from the bourgeoisie, others were of popular stock, while some are Sandinista veterans, people who fought against the dictatorship when General Sandino was still alive.

p “However, all these armed operations were unsuccessful. Now we know why. This was because the groups were weak and poorly organised, and because their operations were badly planned. Finally these groups began to merge. After much hard work, the Sandinista Front was created in 1962 and started to operate. Of course, at the outset it still displayed the same mistakes that had hitherto beset each group; they were inevitable, and are bound to happen in practically any revolutionary movement. We were greatly influenced at the time by the victorious Cuban Revolution of 1959. It has a great impact, especially on our young people, who sought an outlet in armed struggle, and who believed that only through armed struggle they would be able, with all the people of Nicaragua, to bring down the dictatorship. Carlos Fonseca Armador, our General Secretary, said that the Sandinista Front originated from groups who had plunged into war, had started a shooting war simply because conscience had prodded them to do so. This awakened conscience gave them the initial impetus. They did not draft any definite strategy in their struggle, did not set themselves any goals, did not have any clear-cut political programme. They were simply ashamed to see the world regard Nicaragua as Somoza’s personal fief, as a testing field for US imperialism. Which is why they decided to fight the dictatorship, to show that this perennial regime had not crushed the people, had not brought the people to their knees.

p “Despite the defeats, these first few years did not pass without trace, without results. With every year we gained experience, a greater awareness, rid ourselves of old mistakes and worked out truly revolutionary tactics and strategies. True, this cost us dear; very many comrades perished. These sacrifices might not have occurred had we worked out a clear-cut programme and trained cadres before starting out. That is cadres for both political and military operations. However, in recent years, we have turned from guerilla tactics plain and simple to military operations that are now linked with the broad masses. We already had contacts with the working-class movement. In fact, these were not just contacts, but ideological and political links, as we were already combining an armed struggle with political work, explaining our programme to the broad masses.

p “In 1970 the Sandinista National Liberation Front drafted its first political programme, an action programme calling for the overthrow of the dictatorship and for economic and social reform. By 1974 we had also discussed ideological matters with other opposition forces in the country.

p “When we were elaborating our military and political programme, the one we published on 4 May 1977, that set out our ideological principles and our strategy, it was only natural for Sandinistas to differ, which is logical for any organisation in the process of making. Let me repeat that these differences arose at a time when we were defining the tactics of our struggle against the dictatorship, the tactics and the strategy, when we were deciding which strategy to adopt in the movement against the dictatorship in order to depose it. There thus arose various trends in our movement, which are now a matter of common knowledge. What we are trying to do is to select all that is beneficial from each of these trends, and brush aside all that is wrong in them, to thus create an amalgam of opinions upon which to base our strategy of struggle. However, the main thing, and all trends concur in that, is to capture the minds of the masses, to get the masses follow the movement.

p “We realise that we shall be able to terminate the Somoza dictatorship only through joint action, only by a united front. Our organisation has survived a serious crisis because of the 58 various trends that emerged, but by now we have almost completely overcome the consequences. We know that we shall be successful and win only if all Sandinistas unite, only if we are united with the Nicaraguan Socialist Party, and are allied with all not only anti-Somoza, but also anti-imperialist patriotic forces.

p “To end the dictatorship and effect the necessary social reforms, we must first cope with a range of problems.

p “The MPU, the United Popular Movement, came into being in Nicaragua in 1978. Represented in it are not only Sandinistas, but also Left-wing political parties, the trade unions, and student associations—in short, most of the country’s democratic and progressive forces. Why was the MPU newly organised? We are aware that success will not be won by armed struggle alone. Our struggle must be accompanied by a popular movement involving all organisations and using every accessible means.

p “The bourgeois information media are trying to cajole the public in their respective countries into believing that Nicaragua’s problem revolves exclusively around Somoza, that it has already been solved in practice, as Somoza’s days are numbered, and that when he goes there will be no problem; hence, there will be no need to expand a campaign of international solidarity with Nicaragua, as once the problem is solved, there should be no logical need for international solidarity in support of its masses. The imperialist propaganda machine suggests that if Somoza is ousted there will then be no need for an armed struggle, for military operations, as there will supposedly be no cause. We believe it vital to emphasise that information media representing truly democratic forces in the world, especially in the socialist countries, should work hard to explain the true aims and tasks of the popular movement in Nicaragua, pointing out that this is a struggle not merely against one single despot, but against an imperialist-backed dictatorship. As military, let alone political, pressure is being brought to bear on the people of Nicaragua, we too must respond with military action. Tactics may vary, but one thing is unquestionable, and that is: while the imperialist-backed dictatorship continues, the armed struggle against it will 59 continue. The whole world must be shown the need to destroy the dictatorship’s machinery of repression, the American-created National Guard, for without that it will be impossible to institute democratic reforms in Nicaragua; meanwhile an army of repression can be done away with only by armed force.

“It is our view that the democratic press of the world should focus on this aspect of the Nicaraguan problem, in order to debunk the arguments trotted out by the bourgeois information media.”