Born May 18, 1894
Niquinohomo, Nicaragua
Died February 21, 1934
Managua, Nicaragua

Nicaraguan revolutionary leader

From 1927 to 1933 Augusto C. Sandino’s guerrilla fighters challenged the much larger and better-equipped force of U.S. Marines for control of Nicaragua. Sandino became a folk hero throughout Latin America and a symbol of pride, independence, and self-determination. Sandino’s persistent campaign caused the United States to shift its foreign policy toward Nicaragua and other Central American nations from direct military involvement to more subtle forms of intervention.

In the 1960s and 1970s a new version of Sandino’s war was played out in Nicaragua. Then the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (which took Sandino’s name) fought the armed forces of U.S.-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In 1979 the Sandinistas were victorious.

Experiences hunger and plenty as a child

Sandino (pronounced san-DEE-no) was born in 1894 in...