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A Break In the Battle …

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 […]

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Life Behind the Barricades

25 JUNE 1979 — Sandinista fighters occupying Managua during the “Ofensiva Final” against the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship defend positions built with paving stones ripped out of the northern highway leading to the Nicaraguan International Airport. The image making and storytelling skills I acquired during this conflict are the foundation of my role today as backpack […]

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Sandinistas Hold Managua Barrios

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 […]

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… As Fighting Rages

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 […]

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Civilian Toll Mounts …

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 […]

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Sandinistas Fight in Leon

18 JUNE 1979 — Working from a hotel in Managua during the weeks-long insurgency to oust the Somoza dictatorship, I traveled from city to city in Nicaragua, following reports of fighting. In the picture above, Sandinista fighters fire down a street in the city of Leon at National Guard positions. Leon was the scene of […]

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