Sandinista supporters celebrate a party event in June. Although loyalists still abound, many leaders have parted company with President Daniel Ortega, who helped lead the revolution and returned to power in 2006. Esteban Felix / Associated PressFrom McClatchy News:
MANAGUA — Roberto Martinez, an 18-year-old law school dropout, clutched his Belgium-made FAL assault rifle and hunkered down between two rocks to avoid getting shot in the crossfire.
He had been separated from his Sandinista rebel unit on the dark hillside and didn't know if the bullets whizzing over his head were ''friendly'' or hostile.
''It was real — I was going to die,'' Martinez recalls of his first combat experience 30 years ago against Nicaragua's dreaded National Guard. 'I started thinking: 'I'm young; I haven't even had a girlfriend or enjoyed life.' The last thing I was was a warrior — I was just trying not to be a victim.''
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