Nicaragua: At War With Itself

A revolution still in search of a lasting purpose

The stout pine coffin containing the body of Miguel Sotomayor Urbina was brought out of the family's wooden shack and carried through the dusty streets of Managua's Villa Cuba neighborhood. There was no honor guard and no red-and- black flag draped over the coffin, as there usually is for young conscripts killed in action against the U.S.-backed contras. And the cortege, passing beneath flowering cassia trees, headed not for the military cemetery but for an overgrown burial ground on the banks of a rubbish-strewn gully. "He hadn't wanted to go, and dodged the draft for months before he was caught," said...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!