Nicaraguan Socialist Party
Encyclopedia
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Nicaragua
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...
. Founded in July 1944 by Dr. Mario Flores Ortiz. PSN operated as the official communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in the country. At the time of its foundation, PSN supported the regime of Anastasio Somoza García
Anastasio Somoza García
Anastasio Somoza García was officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination.-Biography:Somoza was born in San Marcos, Carazo Department in Nicaragua, the son of...
. PSN considered that Somoza was an anti-fascist
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
ally.
In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 250. After the surge of the FSLN (which had its origins in PSN), PSN was gradually side-lined.
In 1967 a group of radicals who opted for armed struggle were expelled. They formed the Socialist Workers Party
Communist Party of Nicaragua
Communist Party of Nicaragua is a communist political party in Nicaragua. Founded as the Partido Obrero Socialista in 1967...
.
In 1974 PSN joined UDEL
Udel
Udel may refer to:* a Russian feudal term for an appanage given to a younger son of the tsar or other male member of the imperial family* an abbreviation for the University of Delaware...
.
From 1976 onwards there was a PSN breakaway group, called Nicaraguan Socialist Party (de los Sánchez)
Nicaraguan Socialist Party (de los Sánchez)
Nicaraguan Socialist Party is a breakaway group from the Nicaraguan Socialist Party, founded in 1976....
.
Towards the end of the Somoza regime, PSN constructed the Organización Militar del Pueblo (Military Organization of the People). OMP carried out a few attacks against the regime.
In 1990 PSN joined hands with right-wing forces in the National Opposition Union
National Opposition Union
National Opposition Union was a wide-range cartel of opposition parties formed to contest Nicaragua's president Daniel Ortega in 1990 election. Its candidate Violeta Chamorro eventually won the race...
to topple the Sandinista government. PSN still exists, but is no longer a communist party per se.
PSN publishes El Popular.
For the Nicaraguan general election, 2006
Nicaraguan general election, 2006
Nicaragua held a general election on 5 November 2006. The country's voters went to the polls to elect a new President of the Republic and 90 members of the National Assembly, all of whom will serve five-year terms...
, it joined with the Sandinista Renovation Movement
Sandinista Renovation Movement
The Sandinista Renovation Movement is a Nicaraguan political party founded by dissidents of the Sandinista National Liberation Front on May 18, 1995, on Augusto César Sandino's 100th anniversary...
.