Copyright 1977 Facts on File, Inc.
Facts on File World News Digest
October 22, 1977
SECTION: OTHER NATIONS; Nicaragua
PAGE: Pg. 802 C1
LENGTH: 1037 words
HEADLINE: Guerrillas begin offensive
BODY:
The Sandinista National Liberation Front, a leftist guerrilla group that was thought to have
been virtually wiped out, began a major offensive against the government with attacks in at
least four parts of Nicaragua. [See p. 767A3]
The campaign began in the north Oct. 12 when Sandinistas attacked the National Guard
barracks at Ocotal, near the Honduran border. Five soldiers and one civilian were reported
killed in the action. The next day the guerrillas struck at the opposite end of the country,
assaulting the San Carlos barracks near the Costa Rican border. Another six persons were
reported killed, including the regional military commander and the San Carlos police chief.
The government rushed troops to the northern and southern frontiers, but the Sandinistas
struck next in and near Managua. On Oct. 17 they attacked police headquarters in Masaya, 20
miles southeast of the capital, and ambushed a convoy of troops sent in from Managua to
repel the attack. At least eight persons were reported killed in the fighting, including a top
Sandinista leader named Pedro Arauz. Meanwhile, other guerrillas invaded the town of
Esquipulas, northeast of Masaya, and still others fired on National Guard headquarters in
Managua.
All troops were placed on alert Oct. 18, and National Guardsmen in Managua set up barricades
and searched automobiles. Still, there were two small incidents near the capital. In one,
guerrillas attacked a concrete company in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to steal some
dynamite.
The attacks constituted the first major action by the Sandinistas since December 1974, when
they kidnapped and then ransomed several high government officials. The new offensive
caught the country by surprise because the guerrillas were assumed to have been all but
eliminated in the wave of repression that followed the 1974 incident. [See 1974, p. 1096F3]
The guerrillas made it clear that they felt the offensive would topple the government of Gen.
Anastasio Somoza Debayle, whose family had ruled Nicaragua since the 1930s.
A guerrilla leader who was wounded in the San Carlos attack and hosptialized in Costa Rica
told newsmen Oct. 16 that "this is the beginning of the decisive struggle to overthrow the
bloody regime of the Somozas." He claimed that the Sandinistas has 500 guerrillas in
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and honduras, and collaborators in key Nicaraguan cities and towns.
A number of factors favored the guerrilla offensive. First, Gen. Somoza was recovering from a
heart attack, and there were reports that his illness had touched off a power struggle within
the National Guard Second, Nicaragua was in disfavor with the U.S. for violating human
rights. And third and perhaps most important, the Sandinistas were picking up support among
virtually all political sectors.
Several self-described "radical Christians" were among the Sandinistas captured during the
recent attacks. They said they were anti-Communists but had joined the guerrillas to fight for
democracy, according to the New York Times Oct. 20. In addition, the Times noted, the
Sandinistas had been praised publicly by 12 well-known conservatives.The 12, who included
several wealthy businessmen and lawyers, issued a statement in Costa Rica noting the
"political maturity" of the guerrillas and warning that the Sandinistas must participate in any
solution to Nicaragua's problems.
Less direct support was given by the Democratic Union for Liberation, a broad-based
opposition coalition. It declared that "the present violence is a result of the institutionalized
violence in the country, particularly in the long years of dictatorship which have blocked all
possible civil and democratic avenues toward resolving the acute economic and social
problems suffered by Nicaragua."
The Democratic Union called for the restoration of political and press freedoms, amnesty for
political prisoners and the replacement of Gen. Somoza as head of the National Guard, the
Times reported.
The government appeared to take the guerrilla challenge seriously but it did not reimpose the
state of siege it had lifeted Sept. 19. The limited favor Somoza enjoyed in Washington
apparently depended on the permanent removal of the siege's repressive measures,
newspapers reported.
Nicaragua, Costa Rica trade charges -- Following the guerrilla attack on San Carlos Oct. 13,
Nicaragua and Costa Rica charged that each had violated the other's territory.
Three of the Sandinistas who assaulted San Carlos fled into Costa Rica, where they were
arrested by Costa Rican authorities but not immediately handed over to Nicaragua. It was
unclear whether the San Carlos attack was launched from Costa Rica, but the Nicaraguan
government knew that some Sandinistas operated out of Costa Rica and it believed that the
Costa Rican government turned a blind eye to their activities, according to press reports.
Following the San Carlos attack the Nicaraguan regime accused Costa Rica of interfering in
Nicaraguan affairs, and Costa Rica heatedly denied it.
Costa Rica closed its border Oct. 14 when Nicaragua rushed troops to the area. The tension
increased later that day when Nicaraguan air force planes strafed a boat on the Frio River
that was carrying Costa Rica's public security minister. The planes had mistakenly calculated
that the boat had crossed into the Nicaraguan side of the river. Costa Rica protested the
strafing and Nicaragua apologized.
Costa Rica rushed troops to its border Oct. 15 after it was reported that the Nicaraguan
National Guard had been ordered to pursue Sandinistas into costa Rica if necessary. In
Washington, meanwhile, there was an exchange between the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican
ambassadors to the Organization of American States. The Nicaraguan envoy asked Costa
Rica to help Nicaragua contain the Sandinistas, and the Costa Rican representative replied
that Nicaragua had deeper problems than the guerrilla movement.
The next day Costa Rica formally accused Nicaragua of violating its territory, and
Nicaragua made the same charge against Costa Rica. Both countries apparently were
referring to the strafing incident on the Frio River.
GRAPHIC: Maps 1 and 2, Lower map shows Nicaraguan towns and border areas attacked in
Sandinista guerrilla offensive Oct. 12-18. Joyce Sakala