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Junta of National Reconstruction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Junta of National Reconstruction
Formation16 June 1979[1]
Extinction10 January 1985
JurisdictionNicaragua
Legislative branch
LegislatureInterim Council of State (1980–1984)
Executive branch
LeaderCoordinator of the Junta

The Junta of National Reconstruction (Spanish: Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional) was the provisional government of Nicaragua from the fall of the President Somoza in July 1979[2] until January 1985, with the election of Daniel Ortega (FSLN) as president of Nicaragua.[3][4]

Overview

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The Sandinista rebels announced the Junta as its provisional government on June 16, 1979,[1] as the civil war against Anastasio Somoza Debayle entered its final phase. It was composed of five members: a member of the FSLN directorate, Daniel Ortega, two left-wing activists, Sergio Ramírez and Moisés Hassan Morales, and two right-wing representatives, Alfonso Robelo and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro.[5][6]

In the first half of July, United States government envoy William Bowdler pressured the Sandinistas to broaden the junta by adding more members, such as Adolfo Calero, Ismael Reyes, and Mariano Fiallos.[7]

After the fall of Somoza, it quickly became apparent to Robelo and Chamorro that they did not have any real power and Chamorro resigned on April 19, 1980,[8] followed by Robelo three days later.[9] On May 18, they were replaced by Arturo Cruz and Rafael Córdova Rivas. Cruz would resign in March 1981, though he agreed for a time to be ambassador to the United States.[10]

On March 4, Cruz's appointment to Washington was announced,[11] together with Hassan's departure for the Council of State[12] and Ortega's promotion to Coordinator of the now three-member junta. While the junta may have offered little authority to its non-Sandinista members, the public role did help to solidify Ortega's primacy within the FSLN directorate and enhance Ramírez's prominence.

The revolutionary government decided, in December 1981, to carry out the forced relocation of 42 Miskito indigenous communities from the border strip of the Coco River with Honduras to the interior of the country in new communities known as Tasba Pri ("Free Land"), in order to prevent them from providing logistical support to the Contras,[13][14] This operation became known by the nickname Red Christmas.[15] Opposition groups to the Sandinista government such as the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, much of the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy and the United States, as well as the indigenous organizations MISURASATA and MISURA, accused the Sandinistas of causing dozens of Miskito deaths during the process,[16]

By the end of 1981, opposition to the Sandinista government consisted only of small groups of former members of the defeated National Guard and groups of former revolutionaries with thoughts and ideals different from those with which the FSLN wished to govern; these groups were mostly based in Honduras. From that point onward, however, these forces received military training from Argentine officers and covert support from the United States. Edén Pastora, a former revolutionary who defected from the government, established his guerrilla force on the border with Costa Rica, from where he experienced the La Penca bombing.[17]

On November 4, 1984, a presidential election was held,[18] which was won by leading junta member and revolutionary Daniel Ortega and his running mate, Sergio Ramírez as vice president.[4] However, some opposition parties boycotted it, claiming unfair conditions.[19][20] While the Reagan administration and many mainstream United States media outlets alleged the election would be neither free nor fair,[21] numerous electoral watchers affiliated with Western European governments, as well as United States non-governmental organizations, declared the results legitimate.[22][23] Ortega took office on January 10, 1985, and the junta was dissolved.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Riding, Alan (18 June 1979). "Rebels in Nicaragua Name Five to Form Provisional Junta". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  2. ^ Pollak, Andrew; Managua (18 July 1979). "Nicaraguans Jubilant After Somoza Resignation". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  3. ^ Kinzer, Stephen (10 January 1985). "Nicaragua Installs Elected Assembly". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b Long, William (11 January 1985). "Castro the Star as Nicaragua Swears In Ortega". LA Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  5. ^ DeYoung, Karen (21 July 1979). "Nicaraguan Junta Assumes Rule in Jubilant Managua". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Sketches of the Nicaraguan Junta's Five Members". The New York Times. 18 July 1979. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  7. ^ Riding, Alan (6 July 1979). "U.S. Presses Effort to Broaden Makeup of Nicaraguan Junta". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Violeta Chamorro dimite como miembro de la Junta nicaragüense". El Pais. 20 April 1980. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Dimite el último miembro no marxista de la Junta nicaragüense". El Pais. 23 April 1980. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  10. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (11 March 1987). "Cruz Resignation: Effect is Disputed". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  11. ^ Nicaraguan Biographies: A Resource Book. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs. 1988. p. 82. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  12. ^ Nicaraguan Biographies: A Resource Book (Revised ed.). U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs. 1988. p. 28. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  13. ^ Jarquín, Mateo (13 October 2016). "Red Christmas: the history of violence in the Caribbean" [Navidad Roja: la historia de la violencia en el Caribe]. Confidencial (in Spanish).
  14. ^ "The "Red Christmas" operation against the Miskito people" [La operación "Navidad Roja" contra el pueblo miskito]. Magazine - La Prensa Nicaragua (in Spanish). 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  15. ^ "The "Red Christmas" operation against the Miskito people" [La operación "Navidad Roja" contra el pueblo miskito]. Magazine - La Prensa Nicaragua (in Spanish). 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  16. ^ Zamora, Augusto (2006). La paz burlada: los procesos de paz de Contadora y Esquipulas [Mocked peace: the peace processes of Contadora and Esquipulas] (in Spanish). SEPHA. ISBN 978-84-934837-0-8. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  17. ^ "Witness blames Sandinistas for ordering attack in La Penca" [Testigo culpa a sandinistas de ordenar atentado en La Penca]. www.latinamericanstudies.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  18. ^ Kinzer, Stephen (5 November 1984). "Sandanistas Hold Their First Elections". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  19. ^ "The opposition calls a boycott". Macleans. 6 August 1984. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  20. ^ Kinzer, Stephen (18 January 1984). "Election Plan In Nicaragua is Criticized By Opposition". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  21. ^ Taubman, Philip (5 November 1984). "The Nicaraguan Vote". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  22. ^ "On this day: 1984: Sandinistas claim election victory". BBC News. November 5, 1984. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
  23. ^ "The Electoral Process In Nicaragua: Domestic and International Influences" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
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