Joaquín Cuadra Lacayo (born April 11, 1951 in Managua) a scion of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

's elite, joined the rebel

Sandinista National Liberation Front The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

(FSLN) in late 1972. After their victory in 1979, he became army chief of staff.

Biography

Cuadra studied at Colegio Centro America, a Jesuit high school in Nicaragua, where he became interested in politics, liberation theology, and

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. While attending the University of Central America, he and other students were impressed by one of their professors, Father Uriel Molina, who lived among the poor in

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

's El Riguero barrio. In November 1971, they established a commune with him in El Riguero. Cuadra was recruited into the FSLN by Ricardo Morales and Oscar Turcios in late 1972 and went underground early the next year. He was a member of the Sandinista Commando that raided the Christmas party of a major Somoza supporter in 1974, exchanging imprisoned Sandinistas for the prominent guests. As the FSLN divided over questions of strategy, he aligned himself with the Tercerista faction. In 1977, he recruited his father to politically support the FSLN as one of '' Los Doce''. As leader of the Sandinista Internal Front, he helped support Eden Pastora's capture of the National Palace in August 1978 and coordinated urban guerrilla actions during the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution. After the victory, he was promoted to general and chief of staff of the new

Sandinista Popular Army The Sandinista Popular Army (SPA) (or People's Army; , EPS) was the military forces established in 1979 by the new Sandinista government of Nicaragua to replace the Nicaraguan National Guard, following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. ...

. He assumed leadership of the Nicaraguan army from the hands of Humberto Ortega on February 21, 1995. After retiring from the army, he founded the National Unity Movement in 2000. He criticized the candidacy of

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...

in the 2006 Nicaraguan general election alleging that the new government imposed its criteria and was intolerant of criticism. During the Protests in Nicaragua in 2018, the retired general questioned the government's decision to send the armed forces to counter the demonstrations.

References

*Shirley Christian, ''Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family'', Vintage Books, 1986. *Margaret Randall, ''Christians in the Nicaraguan Revolution'', New Star Books, 1983. Living people Members of the Sandinista National Liberation Front National Unity Movement (Nicaragua) politicians Nicaraguan military personnel People educated at Colegio Centro América Central American University (Managua) alumni 1951 births {{Nicaragua-bio-stub