From “Purifying” the Body Politic to Remembering the Hero: The Killing of Augusto Sandino and Its Memorialization in Exile, 1934–56

From “Purifying” the Body Politic to Remembering the Hero:

The Killing of Augusto Sandino and its Memorialization in Exile (1934-1956)

Susy Sanchez

University of Notre Dame

On February 21st 1934, members of the National Guard following orders from Anastasio Somoza García detained and murdered the rebel leader Augusto Sandino. Sandino’s execution marked the contemporary Nicaraguan history. In analyzing this tragic moment, this paper breaks into three parts: First, it explains the Somoza’s justification of Sandino’s murder. By portraying a demonized view of Sandino depicting him as symbol of savagery, Somocista discourse engaged the concept of purifying the body politic. Second, this paper focuses on the public remembering of Sandino’s death in 1944. Reversing and contesting Somoza’s demonization of Sandino, university students identified Sandino as a patriot and Nicaraguan hero. Third, this paper examines the remembrances of Sandino’s death carried out by Nicaraguan political exiles every February 21. The commemoration of Sandino’s death  marked exiles’ patriotic calendar by generating allegiances among them, reinforcing their loyalty toward their motherland and legitimizing their political struggle against the dictatorial regime subjugating their motherland. The killing of Sandino framed the following topics: a) how Somoza’s military dictatorship legitimized its rule by portraying the dictator as the savior of the nation, b) the political life or “posthumous career” of heroes and c) exemplified how political exiles under the context of Cold War became the embodiment of anti-dictatorial struggle in Central America and the Caribbean Area.