On this Day, 1984: Sandinistas claim election victory

[Red Son]

Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista Front (FSLN) claimed a decisive victory in the country's first elections since the revolution five years ago.

Within hours of the count beginning, the leader of the country's left-wing junta, Daniel Ortega, said he had gained nearly 70% of the vote in the presidential election.
Mr Ortega said his party won a similar share of the vote in the parliamentary election.
Mr Ortega said: "We can already say that the FSLN is the clear winner of these elections by an ample majority."
The Sandinistas' nearest rivals polled around 11% of the vote but Nicaragua's leading right-wing parties boycotted the ballots. Turnout was high with an estimated 83% of the country's 1.5 million-strong electorate casting a vote.

The Sandinistas were at pains to convince the outside world, especially the US, that the elections were free and fair.
Approximately 400 independent foreign observers, including a number of Americans, were in Nicaragua to monitor proceedings. The unofficial British election observer, Lord Chitnis, said proceedings were not perfect but he had no doubt the elections were fair.

(BBC News / History)

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

And then, some twenty some odd years later, the FSLN would make a comeback.....as a socially conservative and hopelessly corrupt shell of its former self.

[motion denied]

They were badass motherfuckers, like you'd expect guerrilla groups to be.

It shows why hating on the US is prerequisite of revolutionary politics in Latin America.

Also, Americans out:
mLelObURNfo