In 1979 a group of young rebels, calling themselves the Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrew a brutal dictatorship in Nicaragua. 40 years later, Nicaraguans are again living under an oppressive authoritarian regime. The current leader? Sandinista Daniel Ortega.

In the Spring of 2019, the Watson Institute held an unprecedented conference exploring the history and legacy of this unfinished revolution. Out of that conference came this four-part special series from Trending Globally, telling the story of the Sandinista Revolution from the people who lived it.

Part 1: Who are the Sandinistas? How did they grow from a rag-tag army to an unstoppable revolutionary force? What was their appeal? On this episode we get answers -- from former Sandinista’s themselves.

For more information about the conference this podcast was based on, including recorded lectures and a short film featuring many of the voices in this podcast, visit [watson.brown.edu/nicaragua].