When the AK-47s Fall Silent: Revolutionaries, Guerrillas, and the Dangers of Peace

349 Pages·2000·20.18 MB·English

by  Timothy C. Brown

WHEN THE AK-47s
FALL SILENT
Revolutionaries, Guerrillas, and
the Dangers of Peace
Edited and translated by
Timothy C. Brown
HOOVER INSTITUTION PRESS
Stanford University
Stanford, California

WHEN THE AK-47s
FALL SILENT
The HooverInstitutiononWar,Revolutionand Peace,foundedat
StanfordUniversity in1919 byHerbertHoover,whowentonto
become thethirty-firstpresidentoftheUnited States, isan
interdisciplinaryresearchcenterfor advancedstudyon domesticand
internationalaffairs. The viewsexpressedinitspublicationsareentirely
those ofthe authorsand do not necessarilyreflecttheviewsofthestaff,
officers,orBoard ofOverseers oftheHooverInstitution.
www.hoover.org
HooverInstitutionPressPublicationNo.476
Copyright©2000bythe Board ofTrustees ofthe
Leland StanfordJuniorUniversity
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro
duced, storedinaretrieval system,ortransmittedinanyform or
byany means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording,
orotherwise,withoutwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
Firstprinting,2000
ManufacturedintheUnited StatesofAmerica
05 04 03 02 01 00 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
The paperused inthispublicationmeetstheminimum
requirementsofAmericanNationalStandardforInformation
Sciences-PermanenceofPaper forPrintedLibraryMaterials,
ANSIZ39.48-1984.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
WhentheAK-47s fallsilent:revolutionaries,guerrillas,and the
dangersofpeace/edited and translatedbyTimothyC.Brown.
p. em.
Includes bibliographicalreferences and index.
ISBN0-8179-9842-X(alk.paper)
1. Nicaragua-History-Revolution,1979-Personal
narratives-Congresses. 2. Insurgency-EISalvador
History-Congresses. 3. Guerrillas-Nicaragua
Biography-Congresses. 4. Guerrillas-EISalvador
Biography-Congresses. 5. Revolutionaries-Nicaragua
Biography-Congresses. 6. Counterrevolutionaries
Nicaragua-Biography-Congresses. 7. Conflict
management-CentralAmerica-Congresses. I. Brown,
TimothyC.(TimothyCharles), 1938-
F1528.W496 2000
972.84-dc21 00-023505
ForLeda, and for allthose who choose peace over war, persuasion
over coercion, democracy over dictatorship, and individualfreedoms
over collective dogmas, that their visions may overcome.

CONTENTS
List ofIllustrations
IX
List ofAbbreviations Xl
Foreuiord-e-Cuauhtemoc Cardenas XUI
Acknowledgments XIX
CHAPTER 1 "jHijo de Puta! Why Did We Ever Fight?" 1
PART I.
REVOLUTIONARIES
CHAPTER 2 Jose Obidio "Pepe"PuenteLeon, the LivingLink 9
CHAPTER 3 Alejandro Perez Bustamante,
Sandino's Bodyguard 53
CHAPTER 4 Alejandro Martinez Saenz,
Comandante Martinez 67
CHAPTER 5 Plutarco Elias Hernandez Sancho,
Comandante Marcial 91
V111 Contents
CHAPTER 6 Jose Eduardo Sancho Castaneda, Comandante
Ferman Cienfuegos 113
PART II.
GUERRILLAS
CHAPTER 7 Encarnacion Baldivia Chavarria,
Comandante Tigrillo 141
CHAPTER 8 Oscar Sobalvarro Garcia, Comandante
CulebralRuben 161
CHAPTER 9 Saris Perez, Angelica Maria 185
CHAPTER 10 Salomon Osorno Coleman, Comandante Blass 207
PART III.
THE DANGERS OF PEACE
CHAPTER 11 Ambassador Myles R. R. Frechette, an
American Diplomat 229
CHAPTER 12 Major General Ian Douglas, a United Nations
General 239
CHAPTER 13 Sergio Caramagna, an OAS Peacemaker 255
CHAPTER 14 Timothy Charles Brown, Editor 271
Appendix 281
End Notes 285
Bibliography 301
Index 305
ILLUSTRATIONS
Photo of Carlos Fonseca Amador, a founder of the Sandinista
Liberation Front 22
Signed letter from Noel Guerrero 27
Counterfeit Mexican ID of Bayardo Altamirano 33
List of clandestine mail pouches handled by Cuba's Prensa Latina 37
Premarital bloodtest resultsfor CarlosFonsecaAmadorand Maria
Hayde Teran 38
Sandinista letter in invisible ink 41
Order for special ID card for son of Pepe Puente, signed by Tomas
Borge, Sandinista minister of the interior 5a
Notes on 1979 Sandinista leadership by Pepe Puente 51
Letter of December 18,1965, from Humberto Ortega 85
Letter from Humberto Ortega to Pepe Puente 108
Letter from "Chelita" Hernandez to Puente 115