ABSTRACT
In Central America, the decade of the 1980s was marked by different attempts to achieve a transition towards socialism. The intent which presented the best perspectives for success was in Nicaragua, where the Sandinista movement was able to assume actual control of the state. However, to an equal degree the experiences of the liberated zones of El Salvador and the insurrectional struggle of indigenous peoples in Guatemala nourished hopes of a change in the model. With time, many peasants who formed part of the revolutionary movements, and particularly those in Nicaragua, formulated serious criticisms regarding the political and economic centralization of the official revolutionary project. They eventually arrived at a fresh perspective on the revolutionary model in the process of development. This explains their unexpected position regarding neoliberalism at the beginning of the decade of the 1990s.
