ABSTRACT
The three-year state of siege, first imposed by Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the December 1974 Castillo house raid, set the stage for the 1977-1979 insurrection. The announcement of the final Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional offensive and the call to mass insurrection signaled the beginning of a coordinated nationwide escalation of combat against the regime. The violence of Somoza's response to the insurrection prompted a steadily growing international reaction. The Chamorro assassination had stirred a rebellious outburst against the government by many different elements of Nicaraguan society, including formerly timid or even pro-Somoza bourgeois elements. While the fate of Nicaragua's government became an international political football, the country's economy crumbled. Venezuela called for Organization of American States mediation of the Nicaraguan conflict, a motion supported by the United States. One critical catalyst of rebellion for many Nicaraguans was the assassination of La Prensa editor Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal on 10 January 1978.
