For all their faults, the Sandinistas held free and fair multi-party elections both in the mid-eighties and in 1990. They well may have had a Marxist-Leninist influence, but it seems a bit unfair to call them authoritarian with that fact in mind. Also, if I remember correctly, they armed sections of the general population to defend themselves against the Contras, once again going against the authoritarian thesis.
robert wood
> My personal anarchist take on this subject would be that I wouldn't have
> supported either the Sandinistas or the Contras. I certainly wouldn't
> support any proxy army being run by American imperialists. The
> Sandinistas were probably an improvement over Somoza and previous
> regimes, but they were still (and are) authoritarian Marxist-Leninists.
> I can't see anarchists supporting either side, but rather supporting
> self-determination for Nicaraguans and indigenous people. Supporting the
> Sanctuary movement and solidarity campaigns was also important. The most
> important thing that any American anarchist or radical activist should
> have been doing was simply to oppose the U.S. regime in its backyard.
>
> Chuck