The Nicaraguan Socialist Party (''Partido Socialista Nicaragüense'') is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. Founded in July 1944 by Dr. Mario Flores Ortiz. PSN operated as the official

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

in the country. At the time of its foundation, PSN supported the regime of

Anastasio Somoza García Anastasio Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was the leader of Nicaragua from 1937 until his assassination in 1956. He was only officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 19 ...

. PSN considered that Somoza (nominally a liberal) was an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

ally.Foroohar, Manzar. ''The Catholic Church and Social Change in Nicaragua''. SUNY Press, 1989. p. 101-102 In the mid-1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 250.Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H..
Communism and Economic Development
', in The

American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambridg ...

, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Mar., 1968), pp. 122. After the surge of the

FSLN The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...

(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. In 1974 PSN joined UDEL. From 1976 onwards there was a PSN breakaway group, called the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (de los Sánchez). 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 ( es, Unión Nacional Opositora, UNO) was a Nicaraguan wide-range coalition of opposition parties formed to oppose president Daniel Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in the 1990 election. Its candi ...

to topple the Sandinista government. PSN still exists, but is no longer a communist party per se. PSN publishes ''El Popular''. For the

2006 Nicaraguan general election General elections were held in Nicaragua 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. Daniel Ortega (FSLN) won the election with 37.99% of the vote, ...

, it joined with the

Sandinista Renovation Movement The Sandinista Renovation Movement (''Movimiento Renovador Sandinista'' or MRS, in Spanish) is a Nicaraguan political party founded on 21 May 1995. It defines itself as a democratic and progressive party, made of women and men, which promotes the ...

References

Communist parties in Nicaragua Organizations of the Nicaraguan Revolution Political parties established in 1944 Political parties in Nicaragua {{CP-stub