Word: ortega
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...political tug-of-war between the government and its naysayers. Sandino died in 1934, but his mantle - and iconic sombrero - has long been claimed by the Sandinista Front, which overthrew the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in 1979. The Sandinistas, of course, are back in power under President Daniel Ortega, but a group of old-school Sandinista revolutionaries charge that Ortega has betrayed the movement's leftist principles - and they want Sandino (and his hat) back, to use as the symbol of their revived opposition movement...
...yellow flags adorned with the famous outline of Sandino's iconic headgear - the most recognizable silhouette in Nicaragua - a group of left-wing protesters has taken to the streets, chanting old Sandinista slogans from the 1970s to rally others against what they claim is a return to dictatorship under Ortega. While the protest movement has grown quickly in recent weeks, fueled mostly by concerns over Nicaragua's deteriorating political and economic situation, it has also rekindled nostalgia for the old revolutionary symbols and songs that have since become propaganda tools for an unpopular government...
...Sandino's name was first invoked by the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in the 1960s, when it was a clandestine guerrilla movement. Its purpose was to establish a continuity with the popular nationalist revolutionary movement of the 1920s. While President Ortega may still imagine himself to be Sandino's heir, many of his former comrades say today's FSLN is nothing more than a vehicle for Ortega's personal ambitions, and has little claim to the ideals of its revolutionary past...
...Sandinistas, however, are having none of it. Earlier this month, the government cancelled the electoral status of the MRS, charging that it hadn't complied with all the technical requirements to register for upcoming municipal elections. The MRS claims the decision was a political move to eliminate challenges to Ortega. Excluded from the polls, the dissident Sandinistas have taken their challenge to the streets - Ortega's traditional territory - and challenge him for the historical memory and mystica of the Sandinista revolution...
...messages. The ruling party pays homage to national hero Rigoberto Lopez Perez, who assassinated former dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia, but dissidents paint graffiti with the message "Rigoberto come back!" to underscore the strength of their disdain for the current president. While the government plasters the country with posters touting Ortega's fealty to Sandino, anti-government protesters wave signs proclaiming "Sandino would never have been a Danielista...