Los Doce
Encyclopedia
El Grupo de los Doce, or Group of Twelve, were a dozen members of the Nicaragua
n establishment whose support for the Sandinista National Liberation Front
(FSLN) struggle against dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle
played a pivotal role in the acceptance of the Sandinistas by foreign and domestic opinion.
During the 1970s, debates over strategy split the FSLN, with the Terceristas advocating alliances with the bourgeoisie against Somoza. They approached twelve figures from Nicaragua's establishment class, some already secretly Sandinistas, to sign a communiqué in support of the FSLN. On October 18, 1977, following a Tercerista offensive, they issued a manifesto from Costa Rica urging that the Sandinistas must be included in any political process. Their support lent respectability to the Sandinista cause and helped convince many that the rebels were no longer doctrinaire communists.
As Nicaragua moved into crisis following the assassination of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, the Carter administration pressured Somoza to allow the return of Los Doce. Upon their return on July 5, 1978, tens of thousands lined the streets to welcome them. Members would participate in the Broad Opposition Front (FAO) with other internal opponents of Somoza.
The twelve comprised:
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n establishment whose support for the Sandinista National Liberation Front
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
(FSLN) struggle against dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th 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 the country from 1967 to 1979...
played a pivotal role in the acceptance of the Sandinistas by foreign and domestic opinion.
During the 1970s, debates over strategy split the FSLN, with the Terceristas advocating alliances with the bourgeoisie against Somoza. They approached twelve figures from Nicaragua's establishment class, some already secretly Sandinistas, to sign a communiqué in support of the FSLN. On October 18, 1977, following a Tercerista offensive, they issued a manifesto from Costa Rica urging that the Sandinistas must be included in any political process. Their support lent respectability to the Sandinista cause and helped convince many that the rebels were no longer doctrinaire communists.
As Nicaragua moved into crisis following the assassination of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, the Carter administration pressured Somoza to allow the return of Los Doce. Upon their return on July 5, 1978, tens of thousands lined the streets to welcome them. Members would participate in the Broad Opposition Front (FAO) with other internal opponents of Somoza.
The twelve comprised:
- Sergio RamírezSergio RamírezSergio Ramírez Mercado is a Nicaraguan writer and intellectual who served in the leftist Government Junta of National Reconstruction and as Vice President of the country 1985-1990 under the presidency of Daniel Ortega.Born in Masatepe in 1942, he published his first book, Cuentos, in 1963...
Mercado - writer, secret FSLN member - Arturo CruzArturo CruzArturo José Cruz Porras , sometimes called Arturo Cruz, Sr. to distinguish him from his son, is a Nicaraguan banker and technocrat. He became prominent in politics during the Sandinista era...
Porras - official at the Inter-American Development BankInter-American Development BankThe Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean... - Carlos Tūnnerman Bernheim - university rector
- Miguel D'EscotoMiguel d'EscotoMiguel d’Escoto Brockmann, born in Los Angeles on February 5, 1933, is a Nicaraguan diplomat, politician and former Catholic priest of the Maryknoll congregation of priests. He was recently nominated as Libyan Representative to the UN, a request which is currently pending...
Brockmann - MaryknollMaryknollMaryknoll is a name shared by three organizations that are part of the Roman Catholic Church and whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the Catholic Church in the United States...
priest, official at the World Council of ChurchesWorld Council of ChurchesThe World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
, secret Sandinista member - Joaquín Cuadra Chamorro - prominent corporate lawyer, whose son, Joaquín CuadraJoaquín CuadraJoaquín Cuadra Lacayo, a scion of Nicaragua's elite, joined the rebel Sandinista National Liberation Front in late 1972. After their victory in 1979, he became army chief of staff....
Lacayo, had joined the FSLN - Felipe Mántica Abaunza - owner of a supermarket chain, left the group before Somoza's overthrow
- Ricardo Coronel Kautz - plantation owner, son of writer José Coronel UrtechoJosé Coronel UrtechoJosé Coronel Urtecho was a Nicaraguan poet, translator, essayist, critic, narrator, playwright, diplomat and historian. He has been described as "the most influential Nicaraguan thinker of the twentieth century"...
- Fernando Cardenal Martínez - a Jesuit priest who, like his brother, Ernesto CardenalErnesto CardenalReverend Father Ernesto Cardenal Martínez is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 he served as Nicaragua's first culture minister. He is also famous as a poet...
, had secretly joined the FSLN - Emilio Baltodano Pallais - businessman
- Ernesto Castillo Martínez - lawyer
- Carlos Gutiérrez Sotelo - dental surgeon
- Casimiro Sotelo Rodríguez - architect