Sandinista Nicaragua: 19 Years Revolutionizing

by Fabrizio Casari

https://www.tortillaconsal.com/bitacora/node/8583

Nineteen years after Commander Daniel Ortega's return to the Presidency, the socioeconomic and political assessment confirms the greatest innovation and progress in Nicaragua's history. The results, visible and proven today, recognized both within and outside the country, are not the product of chance, a magic wand, benevolent luck, or favorable circumstances. They are the logical consequence of carefully considered and implemented decisions. The set of measures adopted to lift the country out of the socioeconomic agony it was experiencing after 16 years of liberal rule was conceived as an instrument of change, based on the idea that the entire system had to be fundamentally transformed.

This became clear from the moment Commander Daniel Ortega was proclaimed President on January 10, 2007, when the historic Sandinista leader declared that the presidential sash he wore belonged to the people, because it was the people who had assumed the presidency. Thus began the planned path, still underway, a work in progress. The objective was—and remains—to lift as many people as possible out of poverty in the shortest possible time; to build a national project based on harnessing its resources for the benefit of the entire population; to construct an independent and sovereign nation, economically growing, just, and culturally, socially, and politically evolved.

The word "Revolution" was not relegated to the background as a faded slogan: it was the course of action. Reducing deep-rooted poverty was not a short-term task, because the knots of two centuries of misery cannot be untied in just a few years. But neither was a merely reformist process conceivable, since it was not a matter of making a system more efficient that, in its very dynamics, increased inequalities and reproduced itself by impoverishing the majority for the benefit of the oligarchy. On the contrary, only the dismantling of that system could begin the reconstruction of Nicaragua. The lesson of Commander Carlos Fonseca was heeded, who affirmed that "Sandinistas must study history as Marxists and apply Marxism as Nicaraguans."

Solidarity-based, egalitarian, Christian, and socialist, but also victorious. The Sandinista project bet on the originality of its formula and its viability within the Nicaraguan context. A strategic vision that completely reversed the nation's historical destiny imposed from the North, radically changing its political and social paradigm.

The figures of Sandinismo

Free healthcare and education, new structures and infrastructure, constant strengthening of the welfare state, and expansion of social rights. The idea is to transcend Nicaragua's exclusively rural dimension and face the challenges of the new millennium without abandoning its identity or living memory, without conceiving of development that is separate from or alienated from the historical and cultural identity of its people.

The Sandinista figures leave no room for the model's detractors: absolute and relative poverty have been reduced by 50%. Between 2007 and 2025, absolute poverty fell from 17.5% to 6.9%, and relative poverty from 48.3% to 24.9%. In a country where, until 2007, only 54% of the territory had electricity, today that figure has reached 99.5%, with most of it generated from renewable sources. The number of hospitals has increased from 33 to 77, with 23 intensive care units and two linear accelerators, in addition to mobile clinics that strengthen local healthcare. Maternal mortality has fallen from 93 to 16 per 100,000 live births, and infant mortality from 29 to 9.5 per 10,000 live births. Where there was once more hunger than resources, today there is food and energy self-sufficiency, and the prices of basic goods are controlled. Where there was once dirt flooring, there are now apartments. Water resources are protected, and access to drinking water reaches 95.5% of the territory, compared to 65% in 2007.

The road network, in terms of both extent and quality, is unparalleled in any other Central American country. The Pacific and Atlantic coasts are connected, and, in general, every point in the national territory is linked to every other: from 2,044 km of paved roads in 2007 to 5,289 km in 2025, with 95% of municipalities connected to the national road network—crucial links for the growth of the regional economy.

Environmental sustainability policies were promoted through sanitation and interventions to consolidate the hydrogeological balance. Income support policies were implemented through guaranteed credit plans, housing improvement programs, and aid to small family businesses. More than 725,000 property titles were distributed, progressively returning Nicaragua to Nicaraguans. Today, unemployment stands at 2.4%, an extraordinary figure overall and even more so in the Central American context.

All of this, together with the economic and financial measures, has produced in these 19 years an average annual growth of 4-4.5%, an unprecedented magnitude for a country that, under the Somoza regime first and then the liberal one, had been reduced to a miserable condition, even lower than Haiti in the sad classification of unviability.

Nicaragua's ranking among the top countries in the world in the gender gap index demonstrates that being born a woman in Nicaragua implies equal opportunities, and that the innovative community policing model has made it the safest country in all of Central America.

The economic results are not only visible in the population's quality of life, but are also reflected in the liberal parameters of international organizations. Public debt fell from 86.9% of GDP in 2007 to 51.7% in 2025, and reserves grew from $984 million in 2007 to $8.325 billion in 2025. Economic and financial indicators—GDP, employment, bank deposits, primary surplus, debt, and inflation—are all within the ranges considered sustainable. It is no coincidence that this has garnered recognition from the IMF, the World Bank, the IDB, and ECLAC.

Horizontal growth also generates vertical growth. At its core is a conception of society that places the economy at the service of the people, not the other way around, combining labor income with free assistance and services that increase families' purchasing power. Herein lies the core and paradigmatic value of the Sandinista approach: the absolute compatibility—and complementarity—between economic growth and the reduction of inequalities.

The Sandinista approach demonstrates that resources generated by general taxation should be directed toward the benefit of society as a whole; that taxation should be progressive; that social spending plays a crucial role in poverty reduction and is essential for the growth of domestic demand and, consequently, employment. It demonstrates that it is possible to harmonize microeconomics and macroeconomics through direct and indirect support for the family economy, the cornerstone of the country's social organization.

It is a matter of general political orientation: it is not just about efficiency in public management, although Daniel and Rosario maintain constant attention.

Economic policy is not a technical choice: there is no neutrality in economic science. Prioritizing the public good—rather than the private good—is a political decision, and that is the inversion of liberal economic doctrine.

In these 19 years, Sandinismo has proven to be, above all, a vision of nation, people, and society that incorporates the best aspirations of socialism within a capitalist economy, adapting them concretely to the Nicaraguan reality. It identifies national sovereignty as the supreme good and peace as the indispensable condition for achieving it.

This is what this impetuous 19-year career is all about. The finish line is on the horizon, or perhaps the horizon itself is the finish line. The important thing is to keep moving forward on the right path.