25 JUNE 1979 — A tenuous lull in fighting erupts into gunfire between members of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) (above) and the National Guard of Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza. The image making and storytelling skills I acquired during this conflict are the foundation of my role today as backpack journalist. As we mark […]
25 JUNE 1979 — Anti-government rebels holding positions behind barricades take a break from the battle against Nicaragua’s Somoza dictatorship. Into these poor “barrios” or slums, journalists like myself ventured each day to document the conflict. And because the vast majority of the foreign press corps had fled the country after the killing of ABC […]
25 JUNE 1979 — Sandinista insurgents like this one occupy slums ringing the Nicaraguan capital. Government planes shoot rockets and dump explosives on their positions, causing horrific civilian casualties. Those of us in the press corps who remain in Nicaragua after Bill Stewart’s execution and subsequent media evacuation witness the spread of the conflict, quite […]
23 JUNE 1979 — Members of Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza’s National Guard move into poor “barrios” of eastern Managua to rout guerrilla fighters of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) who have launched a “Final Offensive” to overthrow the U.S.-backed regime. The image making and storytelling skills I acquired during this conflict laid the foundation […]
23 JUNE 1979 — Civilian casualties during insurgency and counter-insurgency operations are a key characteristic of those conflicts. The Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua was no exception. In the photo above, a woman pleads with a National Guardsman for permission to return to her Managua “barrio” to find her husband and son, both trapped in their […]
21 JUNE 1979 — ABC News Correspondent Bill Stewart had just finished covering the revolution in Iran when he was sent to Nicaragua to cover the Sandinista Revolution. Not long after his arrival, members of Somoza’s National Guard executed Stewart at a road block in Managua. ABC cameraman Jack Clark (sitting on the car above) […]