The Fall and Rise of the Market in Sandinista Nicaragua

This study looks at the difficulties that arise when a particular vision of socialism is applied in a country such as Nicaragua. It is argued by the author, Phil Ryan, that the Sandinistas pursued a project of social transformation inspired by a Marxism much more orthodox than has been previously recognized. Ryan maintains that tensions between the socio-political Marxist agenda and other factors such as war and external debt led to the severe economic crisis of the mid-1980s. The four broad areas focused on in the text are the organization and role of the state sector, price policy, relations with the bourgeoisie, and agrarian reform. The interactions between these areas, and between the technical and political contradictions they reveal, demonstrate the complexity of choices faced by the Sandinista leadership.