ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that past US interventionism has been a conditioning factor in the Nicaraguan conflicts of the 1970s and 1980s. The authoritarianism and arbitrariness of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) National Directorate have alienated diverse segments of the Nicaraguan population, including original revolutionary leaders and dozens of other members of the FSLN government. The Nicaraguan conflict has acquired an alarming regional dimension, underwritten by the admitted messianic content of the FSLN program. Beyond the national and regional contexts, there is a distinct international dimension to the Nicaraguan conflict. The West European leaders are clearly concerned about an internationalization of the Nicaraguan conflict. The option of further pressuring the FSLN to change Nicaragua’s national and regional conduct would require a policy to coordinate and sustain, over the long term, the various diplomatic, economic, and military pressures available.
