The Junta of National Reconstruction (''Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional'') was the
provisional government of
Nicaragua from the fall of the
Somoza dictatorship in July 1979 until January 1985, with the election of
Sandinista National Liberation Front’s
Daniel Ortega as president.
Overview
The Sandinista rebels announced the Junta as its provisional government on June 16, 1979, as the civil war against
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was ''de facto'' ruler of t ...
entered its final phase. It was composed of five members: a member of the FSLN directorate,
Daniel Ortega, two
left-wing activists,
Sergio Ramírez
Sergio Ramírez Mercado (; born 5 August 1942 in Masatepe, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguan writer and intellectual who was a key figure in 1979 revolution, served in the leftist Government Junta of National Reconstruction and as vice president of ...
and
Moisés Hassan Morales, and two
right-wing representatives,
Alfonso Robelo and
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro.
In the first half of July,
United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
envoy
William Bowdler pressured the Sandinistas to broaden the junta by adding more members, such as
Adolfo Calero, Ismael Reyes, and Mariano Fiallos.
After the fall of Somoza, it quickly became apparent to Robelo and Chamorro that they did not have any real power and Chamorro resigned on April 19, 1980, followed by Robelo three days later. On May 18, they were replaced by
Arturo Cruz and Rafael Córdova Rivas. Cruz would resign in March 1981, though he agreed for a time to be ambassador to the
United States.
On March 4, Cruz's appointment to Washington was announced, together with Hassan's departure for the
Council of State
A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
and Ortega's promotion to Coordinator of the now three-member junta. While the junta may have offered little authority to its non-Sandinista members, the public role did help to solidify Ortega's primacy within the FSLN directorate and enhance Ramírez's prominence.
On November 4, 1984, a
presidential election was held, which was won by leading junta member and revolutionary Daniel Ortega and his running mate, Sergio Ramírez as vice president. However, some opposition parties boycotted it, claiming unfair conditions. While the
Reagan administration and many mainstream
United States media outlets alleged the election would be neither free nor fair, numerous electoral watchers affiliated with
Western European governments, as well as United States
non-governmental organizations, declared the results legitimate.
Ortega took office on January 10, 1985, and the junta was dissolved.
See also
*
Sandinista National Liberation Front
*
Fidel Castro
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junta Of National Reconstruction
Sandinista National Liberation Front
Political history of Nicaragua
Provisional governments
Nicaraguan Revolution
Former socialist republics