8 JULY 1979 — Unlike the September 1978 insurrection that briefly rocked the country, the 1979 Final Offensive was an all-or-nothing slugfest, and most Nicaraguans seemed to understand this. The Sandinistas poured everything they had into steering, and staying ahead of, the popular insurrection to topple the Somoza regime. And the regime fought back with […]
8 JULY 1979 — Thirty years ago, this image impressed upon me the profound disconnect between what a country’s armed forces contended to be and what they actually were. Three decades after I made this picture, that impression is the same. What is most sad about this image, I think, is that the National Guard […]
7 JULY 1970 — It was clear to most observers at this point in the conflict that the Somoza regime had lost the hearts and minds of the Nicaraguan population. Somoza’s National Guard had become an occupying force in its own land, and most ordinary Nicaraguans regarded its members with profound fear and loathing. And […]
7 JULY 1979 — National Guardsmen sweep the village of Nindiri as part of their push to re-take the nearby city of Masaya. The look of exhaustion and apprehension on the young guardsman pictured above reflects the cumulative toll that weeks of fighting are exacting from us all. The image making and storytelling skills I […]
6 JULY 1979 — Nicaragua by this time had become a land disrupted. Normal life no longer existed. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans had either fled the country or taken refuge away from their homes to stay clear of the violence. The poor, of course, are always the most victimized in these conflicts, because their […]
6 JULY 1979 — The civilian population in any conflict suffers the most, and the conflict in Nicaragua was no exception. Caught in the middle of two armed forces, civilians struggle for the basics to survive. Food. Water. Shelter. And they struggle not to incur the suspicion or the wrath of the contending forces. Human […]