Solidarity with Sandino

The intervention of the U.S. Marines in Nicaragua in 1926 inspired opposition of two kinds, one against any U.S. intervention and the other specifically aligned with the Nicaraguan guerrillas under Augusto Sandino. These groups succeeded in having limits placed on the war but, by abandoning Sandino at a critical moment, set the stage for the creation of a new pro-U.S. Nicaraguan military that was able to seize power and control Nicaragua without the need for U.S. troops. The Somoza dictatorship was an unintended Nicaragua without the need for U.S. troops. The Somoza dictatorship was an unintended consequence of the organized opposition to U.S. intervention.