11 - The descent into regional crisis

Summary

The fall of Somoza in July 1979 was greeted with enthusiasm by the progressive forces in Central America and with a feeling of inevitability by others; while the Carazo administration in Costa Rica actively supported the Sandinistas, the military governments elsewhere did nothing to save Somoza and normal relations were established immediately with the Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional (JGRN).

Some of the factors contributing to Somoza's downfall, however, were present in other republics. Within a few months the Romero administration had fallen in El Salvador and a revolutionary junta had been formed, but the new government failed to establish its authority over the armed forces and civil war broke out in January 1980. The guerrilla challenge in Guatemala was met with state terror by the Lucas García régime (1978–82) and Central America began to experience a major refugee problem as innocent families fled to neighbouring republics to avoid the effects of war.

Meanwhile, the consolidation of Sandinismo in Nicaragua began to destroy the broad alliance which had brought down Somoza; by the end of 1981, a counter-revolutionary army based on former National Guardsmen had been created (with CIA assistance) in Honduras, and Nicaragua began an irreversible descent into crisis before the country had even had time to recover from the war against Somoza. Nicaraguan refugees joined families from El Salvador and Guatemala seeking a safe haven elsewhere.