Tomás Borge Martínez (13 August 1930 – 30 April 2012), often spelled as Thomas Borge in United States newspapers) was a cofounder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

and was Interior Minister of Nicaragua during one of the administrations of

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the Junta of Na ...

. He was also a renowned statesman, writer, and politician. Tomás Borge also held the titles of "Vice-Secretary and President of the FSLN", member of the Nicaraguan Parliament and National Congress, and Ambassador to Peru. Considered a hardliner, he led the "prolonged

people's war People's war ( Chinese: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to main ...

" tendency within the FSLN until his death. In 2010, he stated in an interview: "I am proud to be a Sandinista, to continue being faithful to the red and black flag of our party, to continue being faithful to our revolutionary organization; and to die proud of raising the front, and not having been disloyal to my principles, nor disloyal with my friends nor my companions, nor with my flag, nor with my cries of war."

Early life

Borge was born in Matagalpa on August 13, 1930. His father, Tomás Borge Delgado, was one of Augusto César Sandino's deputy commanders during the United States occupation of Nicaragua, from 1926 to 1932. From a young age, Borge integrated himself in the fight against the Somoza family dictatorship, which had ruled Nicaragua since the assassination of Sandino. In 1943, he began participating in revolutionary activities, and in 1946, he was editing the newspaper "Espartako" against the regime of General Anastasio Somoza García.

Meeting Fonseca

After his secondary education, Borge enrolled into the Law Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua-León in 1956. The following year, he met

Carlos Fonseca Carlos Fonseca Amador (23 June 1936 – 8 November 1976) was a Nicaraguan teacher, librarian and revolutionary who founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Fonseca was later killed in the mountains of the Zelaya Department, Nicar ...

with whom Borge would forge a strong friendship. Borge was six years older than Fonseca, which influenced Borge strongly. With Fonseca, Borge read the first few books that would forge their political philosophies: '' Utopia'' by Thomas More, some works by John Steinbeck, works by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Lenin. Along with Fonseca, Borge participated in a group of Marxist Nicaraguan students, who formed the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN), which was based on Marxist thought and pro-Soviet leanings.«Tomás Borge Martínez formaba parte de la dirección nacional histórica del FSLN»
article from May 1, 2012 in the daily journal ''La Jornada'' (Nicaragua). He was put under house arrest from 1956 to 1959 during the government crackdown following the assassination of Somoza by poet Rigoberto López Pérez. In 1959, he escaped to Honduras, where he was captured by the Honduran border patrol. Otto Castro, a friend of both Borge and the president of Honduras at the time, arranged for Borge's release. Borge then travelled using a false passport to

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...

and Costa Rica, where he would found the ''Juventud Revolucionaria Nicaragüense'' (Nicaraguan Youth Revolutionaries).

Foundation of Sandinista National Liberation Front

After the victorious

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...

, Fonseca, Borge, and a few companions decided to use militant tactics to fight against the Somoza regime. They participated in the formation of a militia under the command of Rigoberto López Pérez to face off against the National Guard of Nicaragua. The results were disastrous on July 24, 1959, when Fonseca was gravely injured. Then, Borge was in Costa Rica with Silvio Mayorga; they thought Fonseca had perished. Upon reuniting with Fonseca, the three left to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and formed friendships with Che Guevara and

Tamara Bunke __NOTOC__ Tamara may refer to: People * Tamara (name), including a list of people with this name * Tamara (Spanish singer) (born 1984) * Tamara, stage name of Spanish singer Yurena (born 1969) * Tamara, stage name of Macedonian singer Tamara ...

, who had helped them with the guerilla. In Cuba, Mayorga reunited with a group of young Nicaraguans from Venezuela, and they formed what would later be the "Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional" (National Sandinista Liberation Front). The name was derived from

Augusto Sandino Augusto is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: *Augusto Aníbal *Augusto dos Anjos * Augusto Arbizo *Augusto Barbera (born 1938), Italian law professor, politician and judge *Augusto Ben ...

to convince Nicaraguans that Sandino's revolution was not dead. Also, the name Sandino was widely used to elicit strong emotion for the cause using the fallen leader's popularity. Fonseca traveled to Honduras to prepare the logistics that would permit the establishment of the group. On July 23, 1961, in Tegucigalpa, Borge, along with Carlos Fonseca, Francisco Buitrago, Jorge Navarro, Silvio Mayorga, José Benito Escobar, Noel Guerrero, and Germán Pomares, formed the FSLN, which would be the key to the downfall of the Somoza regime and the start of the Sandinista Revolution. The FSLN was established in Honduras on the banks of the Patuka River. In 1962, the FSLN had 60 men in its ranks. Borge crossed into Nicaragua to recruit more members to the Sandinista cause.

Insurrection

Between 1965 and 1966, Tomás Borge headed the Sandinista newspaper "The Republican Mobilization." The next year, he tried again to create an active guerrilla group in the mountains near the Pancasán region, which was defeated. In 1969, the National Directorate of the FSLN (Borge was a member) named Fonseca as secretary general. In January 1969, along with Ruiz, Borge was arrested for arms smuggling on the border with Costa Rica. Both are deported to Colombia; there begins a period of exile that took him to Cuba and Peru. In that time, he also visited the base of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, passed by Mexico, and eventually returned to the ranks of the FSLN in Nicaragua. On February 4, 1976, he was arrested and in the course of the arrest, Borge killed the young lieutenant leading the police patrol.He was sent to prison, where he was tortured. While in prison, the FSLN suffered several defeats and heavy losses. Fonseca perished in Zinica (Waslala, North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua). Borge was in prison in Matagalpa; a colonel in the National Guard told him the news of Fonseca's death, to which Borge said In August 1978, Borge was one of the highest ranking Sandinistas released from prison after the spectacular Sandinista raid (Operation Chanchera) on the Nicaraguan National Palace by 19 commandos, headed by Edén Pastora (Commander Zero) that took the entire Congress hostage. The FSLN is divided into three factions and Tomás Borge lead the Prolonged Popular War fraction (GPP). On January 7, 1979, the FSLN came to an agreement on reunification, which was formalized in March, and Borge became one of the nine members of the National Directorate. The triumphant guerrilla troops entered Managua on 19 July 1979. Days earlier, on July 11, Borge attended a meeting of the National Directorate along with

, Sergio Ramirez and Miguel d' Escoto in Costa Rica at the home of President Rodrigo Carazo Odio in Puntarenas with William Boudlerom, representative of the US government. At that meeting, Borge rejected the proposal to replace Somoza with Urcuyos Maliaños Francisco, President of the Congress, as established in the Constitution of 1974 would take place in the absence of the president. Somoza fled on 17 July and Urcuyos was named president. Not too long after, Urcuyos was overthrown and power was passed to the Joint Government of National Reconstruction.

The revolution

On July 19, 1979, FSLN troops entered Managua and proclaimed the Sandinista Revolution. Borge, reputed to be the most radical of the nine commanders of the Front, was a member of the National Directorate of the FSLN and took charge of the Ministry of Interior (overseeing the Sandinista Police, prisons, immigration, Directorate General of State Security and Fire), a position he maintained until the loss of the presidential election in February 1990. His first task in office was the dissolution of the National Guard and the reviewing of the cases of former Somoza government officials. He also attempted to eliminate crimes (moderate and minor), vagrancy, gambling and drinking. Tomás Borge was part of the first revolutionary government delegation which visited the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

on March 17, 1980. On the trip, he described the situation in his country as follows: On July 19, 1981, in celebration of the third anniversary of the revolution, Borge reiterated that national unity, pluralism and a mixed economy were designed to strengthen, not to destabilize the revolutionary process. It was another warning to the opposition and entrepreneurs. At the same time, he ordered the dismissal of any officer who abused their authority. In 1982, Tomás Borge was elected vicepresident of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties in Latin America, an association of social democratic, socialist, liberal and nationalist parties on the continent.

After defeat

After the electoral defeat of 1990, some members of the National Directorate abandoned politics, and the FSLN underwent a transformation into the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS). Borge and

Bayardo Arce Bayard may refer to: People *Bayard (given name) *Bayard (surname) * Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places *Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community * Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood * Bayard, ...

with

were the only members who remained in the FSLN.Nicaragua Fallece fundador del FSLN, Tomás Borge Martínez "Es de los muertos que nunca mueren", dice Rosario Murillo
/ref> Between 1997 and 2002, he was a member of the Central American Parliament, Parlacén, and since 2001, a member of the National Assembly.

Return to power

In the presidential elections held on November 5, 2006, the Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega won with 38% of the vote. Borge increased his influence in the government. On March 22, 2007, at his request, he was appointed Ambassador of Nicaragua to Peru, where he served until his death. His appointment was seen as a retreat from political life.

Death

On April 6, 2012, Borge entered the Military Hospital Alejandro Dávila Bolaños in Managua where he underwent a video-assisted thoracic surgery for a lung condition which had been progressing (according to some unofficial sources, he had cancer because he traveled to Cuba without being treated first). On April 9, he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit after a respiratory complication developed while staying under medical supervision. On April 30, Rosario Murillo, coordinator of the Communication and Citizenship Council, published news of his death, which had occurred at 20:55 p.m. that night.Falleció el Comandante Tomás Borge
Periódico: Granma. Fecha:1 de mayo de 2012 At the time of his death, Tomás Borge was 81 and had continued staying active in politics as ambassador in Lima, Peru. Borge was the last survivor of the founders of the FSLN and one of its most important figures. Rosario Murillo said in reporting his death that Borge, as Borge had said of

, is "among the dead that never die." Official acts were performed in his honor at the National Palace of Culture, former National Palace, where the chapel once stood. Tomás Borge was buried in the mausoleum of Carlos Fonseca, at the Revolution Square in Managua and the government decreed three days of national mourning.1 de mayo de 2012 Gobierno prepara homenaje en Plaza de la Revolución Managua, Nicaragua , elnuevodiario.com.ni Muere Tomás Borge. Al cierre de nuestra edición el Ejecutivo se aprestaba para declarar tres días de duelo nacional. Johnny Cajina , Nacionales
/ref>

Criticism

Borge was accused of exerting pressure against the Catholic Church hierarchy and accused it of siding with the Contras. Borge also established the censorship of the press, which was clarified after errors as well as compulsory military service.El 19 de julio y confesiones de Tomás Borge.
Nos convertimos en reyes y el pueblo nos sacó. El Nuevo Diario de Nicaragua. 15 de julio de 2009. Por José Adán Silva. The Misquitos accused Borge, among others, of the displacement and killing of those who opposed the Sandinista government, as told by the President of the Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States(OAS), Marcos Carmona, to the FSLN and opposition in the context of an election campaign.El Nuevo Diario - Managua, Nicaragua - Ortega acusado de genocidio contra miskitos
Another accusation against Borge was that he gave the order to kill 37 dissidents imprisoned in

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

during the first term of Ortega. He was charged, along with the rest of the Sandinista government, after the victory of Violeta Chamorro in 1990, of the "

Piñata Sandinista A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container fill ...

", where they were accused of confiscating public properties. The charges were always rejected by Borge. He created the

Council of Sandinista Defense A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(CDS), like the Cuban's CDR, and the current Council of Citizen Power. He founded the open prisons, where prisoners were without custody, and the women's prison "La Esperanza", a novelty in Nicaragua.Fallece Tomás Borge, último sobreviviente fundador Sandinista Por Por FILADELFO ALEMAN y MARJORIE MILLER
/ref> In an interview with the newspaper Nuevo Diario of Nicaragua for the 30th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, Borge said: In 2009, Swedish journalist and filmmaker Peter Torbiornsson accused Borge of having ordered the La Penca Bombing of 1984, in which seven people were killed, including three journalists, and a dozen seriously injured. According to Torbiornsson, who survived the bombing, he had been asked by Renán Montero, a Cuban military officer who was working at the time for Borge's Ministry of the Interior, to meet with a man posing as a Danish news photographer and to escort him to the press conference convened by Contra leader Edén Pastora in his outpost at La Penca. That man turned out to be the bomber. Torbiornsson attempted to press charges against Montero, Borge, and former chief of state security Lenín Cerna for murder and crimes against humanity, but the Sandinista government of President

refused to investigate the matter.

Private life

His first wife, Yelba Mayorga, was killed in 1979 during the guerrilla struggle and had 5 daughters. Later, he married Josephine Cerda and had several children with her. In 2007, he married the Peruvian actress

Marcela Perez Silva Marcela is a feminine given name which may refer to: Musicians * Marcela Bovio, Mexican musician *Marcela Lucatelli (born 1988), Brazilian composer *Marcela Morelo, Argentine singer-songwriter * Marcela Rodríguez, Mexican composer Politicians ...

and had three children with her.

Writings

Borge was the author of several works of poetry, essays, and an autobiography. The Cuban poet Roberto Fernandez Retamar believes that Borge's book "''Carlos, el amanecer no es sólo un sueño''", which he wrote in prison, is comparable in literary merit to the documentary prose of Gabriel García Márquez. Some of his published titles are "The Patient Impatience", "A Grain of Corn", and "The Anticipated Ceremony". * . 2009. ''Un grano de maíz: conversación con Fidel Castro''. Editor Aldilá, 243 pp. * . 1989. ''La historia de Maizgalpa. Tambor de Tacuarí''. Editor Ediciones Colihue 22 pp.
en línea

References

External links

author page
at Curbstone Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Borge, Tomas 1930 births 2012 deaths People from Matagalpa Department Nicaraguan essayists Male essayists Nicaraguan male writers Nicaraguan revolutionaries Nicaraguan torture victims Sandinista National Liberation Front politicians Interior ministers of Nicaragua Ambassadors of Nicaragua to Peru Nicaraguan escapees Escapees from Nicaraguan detention People of the Nicaraguan Revolution