Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign

“Lawyer Henry Spooner and actors Alfred Molina and Maggie Steed taking part in a protest outside the US embassy in London demanding US recognition of the World Court verdict in London in 1987″

In the 1980s Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign (NSC) created a broad coalition that condemned U.S. military and economic aggression against Nicaragua. NSC became the nexus of Nicaraguan Solidarity in Great Britain, organizing protests, work brigades, and study tours. NSC also sent thousands of pounds to Nicaragua for the creation of hospitals and schools. According to their website the NSC “played a key role in counteracting the intense media campaign that in the Thatcher – Reagan cold war era depicted Nicaragua as a communist totalitarian dungeon with troops poised to storm the Texan border.”

Through my contacts in Newcastle I was able to reach out to NSC and I’m in the process of setting up a Skype interview with them. If time permits I may try to go to London while I’m in Europe and visit the NSC’s archives.

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“Pas de missiles chez nous. Bas les pattes du Nicaragua!”

I recently started searching Europeana, which is something of a nexus for various European cultural institutions. Today I discovered some really neat posters, stickers and other paraphernalia from across Western Europe demonstrating solidarity with Nicaragua. The above sticker is from the Juene Garde Socialiste (Young Socialist Guard) located in Belgium (I believe Brussels to be exact). I’m not sure what exactly “pas de missiles chez nous” means (something like “no missiles with us” or “at us”), but I know that “bas les pattes du Nicaragua!” roughly translates as “hands off Nicaragua!”  The first saying may be related to nuclear nonproliferation since many European groups in solidarity with the revolution also protested against the expansion of U.S. nuclear capabilities in Europe.  Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of international history is finding really interesting documents in a language you are not familiar with.

 

Socialist International Congress 1978, Vancouver

At the Congress of the Socialist International in Vancouver in 1978, leaders of the world’s social democratic parties voiced their solidarity with the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN). Ernesto Cardenal (priest, writer, and leader of the FSLN) represented the Sandinistas and spoke out on the plight of the Nicaraguan people and their abuse at the hands of Anastasio Somoza. As a member of the “Group of 12,” Cardenal (pictured center-right) traveled the globe speaking out against the Somoza regime and garnering international attention for the revolution. Until the late 1980s, the Sandinistas enjoyed the strong support of the Socialist International and socialist parties from around the globe. The Socialist International proved a bastion of international support for the Sandinistas, promoting solidarity and generating aid for the revolution and the people of Nicaragua.

“Socialist International Congress 1978, Vancouver,” Socialist Affairs, January/February 1979, Socialist Internatinal Information, No. 1/79