Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip begins with photographs of Sandinista leader Augusto Cesar Sandino, as a narrator explains Sandino’s role in Nicaraguan politics following the invasion of Nicaragua by 12,000 US marines in 1927. The US-trained Nicaraguan National Guard, with Anastasio Somoza Garcia as its chief, assassinated Sandino in 1934. The clip goes on to trace the history of successive Somoza family regimes and the close relationships forged between Nicaragua and the USA. The clip closes with the final verse of the popular song 'Managua, Nicaragua’ played against footage of Somoza meeting with influential US leaders of the day, including Presidents Johnson and Nixon.

Educational value points

• The illegitimate son of a wealthy landowner and a servant, Augusto Cesar Sandino was born in 1885 and as a young man travelled to Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Returning to Nicaragua in 1926, he worked at a gold mine owned by a US company where he formed his views about social inequalities and the need to change the political system. He organised a peasant army to fight against the conservative government. The USA sent Henry L Stimson to mediate in the ensuing civil war and the Nicaraguan National Guard was established under US supervision. Sandino was murdered in 1934 by Anastasio Somoza, head of the National Guard, but he remains a legendary figure in Nicaragua, representing the desire of Nicaraguans to exist without interference from other countries.

• Key figures in the Somoza dynasty are discussed. Anastasio Somoza Garcia was installed as the head of the US-trained National Guard in 1934 and a year later he engineered the murder of the opposition rebel leader, Augusto Cesar Sandino. Three years later, Somoza came to power on the back of fraudulent elections and so began the Somoza dynasty, a period of more than 40 years characterised by political corruption and supported by the brutal repression of the population by the National Guard. Somoza was himself assassinated in 1956 and his two sons, Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza Debayle, retained control of the country until 1979 when the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) took power.

• This clip is from the 1984 documentary film Nicaragua: No Pasaran (Nicaragua: They Will Not Enter), which examines the political history of Nicaragua under the Somoza regime. The film tells the story of the revolutionary Sandinista movement coming to power after 43 years of organised resistance and the death of 50,000 Nicaraguans. Australian filmmaker David Bradbury spent 6 months in Nicaragua making the film and has concentrated on a central character, Tomas Borge, Interior Minister and only surviving founder of the original Sandinista movement.

• Nicaragua: No Pasaran is an example of a 'point of view’ documentary. David Bradbury demonstrates his belief that the Sandinistas are the legitimate and 'good’ governors of the country, while he portrays the Somoza regime as brutal and the cause of misery in Nicaragua. The USA is portrayed as an ally to the Somoza regime and, by inference, an enemy of the people of Nicaragua. Some argue that the film omits other historical events that have played a part in the development of the country, such as Spanish colonialism, the British influence and other dictatorships.

• This documentary is the work of acclaimed Australian documentary filmmaker, David Bradbury. Since his first film, Frontline (1980), a portrait of Australian news cameraman Neil Davis, Bradbury has earned an international reputation as a filmmaker of great conviction who is prepared to go to great lengths for a cause. Many of his films deal with issues of political oppression and environmental destruction. In 1982 his friend and mentor, writer Graham Greene, advised him to go to Nicaragua where the covert war of the CIA against the Sandinistas had just started. The film he made won a certificate of High Merit at the 1985 Academy Awards.

• Archival newsreel footage is used to illustrate the close relationship between the USA and the Somoza regime. Successive US presidents, including Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter, were keen to protect US interests in Central America, especially against the perceived threat of communism from neighbouring Cuba. In 1966, Nicaragua volunteered to serve as a US military base in the event of an invasion of Cuba.

• A popular song 'Managua, Nicaragua’ is included to emphasise the close relationship between the USA and the Somoza regime. The juxtaposition of the jaunty popular Albert Gamse and Irving Field song 'Managua, Nicaragua’ alongside the narrator outlining the brutality of the Somoza regime acts as a powerful ironic element in this documentary film. The lyrics of the song and images that accompany it tell of a beautiful city with a happy and carefree culture, while the narration recalls the suffering of the people in Nicaragua.

The clip opens with historical black and white photographs showing both Augusto Cesar Sandino and the United States Marines leading up to and following the 1927 invasion.
Narrator Sandinista’s take their name and inspiration from Augusto Cesar Sandino. Sandino became legendary in Nicaragua following the invasion of 12,000 United States Marines in 1927, sent in on the pretext of restoring law and order. After seven years of guerilla warfare, Sandino’s forces expelled the Marines, but the North Americans trained and left behind them a local police force – the Nicaraguan National Guard – and installed Somoza Garcia as its chief. One year later, with the backing of the United States, Somoza had Sandino murdered.

The narration continues over the backdrop of black and white film footage of Somoza Garcia’s son enjoying the largess of the US Presidency-including Richard Nixon- and a luxurious lifestyle.
In 1956, Somoza Garcia was himself assassinated and his son assumed power. He, in turn, was to prove even more corrupt and brutal than his father. Somoza went out of his way to please the North Americans and they liked him because he did what he was told. Nicaragua became an exemplary banana republic, an outpost of the United States, and successive US presidents turned a blind eye to the brutalities of Somoza’s regime.

(Song) Managua, Nicaragua, is a beautiful town/You buy a hacienda for a few pesos down/So take a trip and on a ship go sailing away/Across the agua to Managua, Nicaragua, ole!

Narrator Nicaraguan culture reflected North American values and styles. The rich lived well, but while Somoza exported food, his own people starved. Somoza’s regime was based on the total loyalty of the soldiers of the Nicaraguan National Guard who made sure he stayed in power. The national guard enjoyed close links with the United States Army. Somoza, and many national officers were trained at Westpoint Military Academy. The national guard’s weapons and equipment were supplied by the United States and Israel. At the height of his power, it seemed Somoza had everything going for him – powerful friends amongst the North American press and banking institutions, powerful friends in high places.

(Song) Managua, Nicaragua, what a wonderful spot/There’s coffee and bananas and a temperature hot/So take a trip and on a ship go sailing away/Across the agua…/To Managua…/Nicaragua…/Ole!