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This news report from July 20, 1979 covers the day that the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in Managua, Nicaragua. Reporter Ike Seamans describes the national guard under Somoza surrendering to the Sandinistas. Seamans describes chaos in the streets of Managua as the Sandinista rebels–composed primarily of the country’s poorest people–raided the presidential palace and other government buildings in Nicaragua’s capital. There was anarchy following the FSLN victory but soon afterwards, they set up a revolutionary government and struggled to gain control of Nicaragua. But throughout the 1980s, they found this to be a difficult task especially because they were fighting the U.S.-backed Contras, who opposed Sandinista rule. Fighting between the Contras and the FSLN lasted until 1990 when democratic elections were held leading to many anti-Sandinista parties gaining power in the Nicaraguan government.
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