What if a Leninist Sandinista regime still ruled Nicaragua after the collapse of East Bloc?

raharris1973

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In OTL the party held, and lost, competitive elections in 1990, between the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the USSR. [the Sandinistas and Daniel Ortega also returned to power one or more times by the ballot box later, but in a multiparty system] What if they Sandinistas never gave up or shared power, even after the collapse of the USSR?
 

raharris1973

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are we talking a NEP Lenin or a hardcore, doctrinaire Lenin?

Probably neither, what I imagine is basically an indefinite continuation of the 1987 Sandinista status quo, more or less.

So I think that means maximum repression would be at Cuban levels, which I think was always less repressive than hardcore Lenin, Stalin, Mao, the Kims, Ceaucescu, Pol Pot or Mengistu levels.

But still a monopoly on power, and not taking risks of competitive elections.
 
Probably neither, what I imagine is basically an indefinite continuation of the 1987 Sandinista status quo, more or less.

So I think that means maximum repression would be at Cuban levels, which I think was always less repressive than hardcore Lenin, . . .
Okay, so some dissidents put in jail. Plus, maybe the socialist equivalent of drug crimes, putting a broader group of people in jail, and a blindspot in the society in question, with most people somehow not seeing this. These are the bad parts.

The good part, maybe helping out with doctors and other medical professionals in developing nations much like Cuba has done. Maybe addressing the most common and preventable/treatable childhood ailments, like pneumonia and the combo of malnutrition and diarrhea. And making the moral and political case that companies that give out free samples of infant formula, like Nestle or the Danone Group (e.g. Dannon Yogurt), aren't exactly doing it for charitable reasons. In this way, a socialist government can challenge capitalist societies in useful and productive ways.

And then there would be merely the weird, quirky, offbeat, and unexpected aspects of a socialist government and society in Nicaragua. And these are often the most fun! :)
 
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