Edén Pastora

Edén Atanacio Pastora Gómez (born in Ciudad Darío January 22, 1937^[1]) is a Nicaraguan politician and former guerrilla who ran for president as the candidate of the Alternative for Change (AC) party in the 2006 general elections.^[2] In the years prior to the fall of the Somoza regime, Pastora was the leader of the Southern Front, the largest militia in southern Nicaragua, second only to the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) in the north. Pastora was nicknamed Comandante Cero ("Commander Zero").

His group was the first to call itself "Sandinistas", and was also the first to accept an alliance with the FSLN, the group that was to become more popularly identified by the name. At the end of 1982, a few years after the revolutionary victory, Pastora became disillusioned with the government of the FSLN, and formed the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) with the object of confronting the "pseudo-Sandinistas" politically and militarily.^[3]

As of 2010, he is reconciled with the FSLN and holds a ministerial post in the government of Daniel Ortega. His role in a boundary dispute with Costa Rica and allegations of environmental damage to territory claimed by that country has led to legal indictment by the government of Costa Rica.

Sandinista

Edén Pastora on Aug 25, 1978, boarding a Venezuelan C-130 with 19 operatives, five hostages and 80 released political prisoners

The seed for Pastora's revolutionary spirit was sown at the age of seven, when his father was assassinated by the Chief of Staff of Anastasio Somoza Garcia's National Guard. While in high school with the Jesuits in Granada, he first learned about Augusto César Sandino through his Panamanian history teacher. He began his rebel career when he decided that the government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle was corrupt and formed the southern Nicaraguan ARDE from local peasant farmers (called campesinos) and aboriginal tribes living according to more traditional ways.

Pastora allied himself with the FSLN in the mid 1960s. He became a rebel guerrilla and was the mastermind behind the August 1978 standoff on the Nicaraguan National Palace, in which he and a 19-strong Commando of FSLN operatives, disguised as members of Somoza's National Guard, stormed the Palace, disarming or killing the real Nicaraguan National Guard members in the process. Among the hostages taken were members of the Nicaraguan Congress, which was in session at the time of the attack, and Somoza's half brother, José Somoza.^[4] Members of the commando used numbers as codenames, with Pastora as Zero, and Dora Maria Tellez as Commander "two" leading to a lasting identification of Eden as Comandante Cero and Dora Maria as Commander "two".^[5]

The operation was famed to have infuriated Somoza and was considered one of the turning points in the insurgency. Originally organised to free FSLN members imprisoned by the regime—among the prisoners being Daniel Ortega and Tomas Borge-the raid marked an uncontested victory for the FSLN, whether viewed in financial, political, or military terms. After negotiating a USD $500,000 deal with Somoza and Cardinal Miguel Obando, Pastora, Ortega and other released prisoners left for Cuba where he claimed to have been a "prisoner" lavished with women and luxury, but not allowed to leave the country until Martin, the son of then Panamanian strongman Omar Torrijos (His son, Martin Torrijos, is the ex-president of Panama) and Pastora's personal friend, voiced his concern and went to Cuba to personally rescue him.^[6]

Pastora was put in command of the FSLN's Southern Front, driving on the town of Rivas from bases in Costa Rica. In reaction to Pastora's widely held reputation, Somoza sent his best troops against him and as a consequence the Southern Front made little headway while suffering heavy casualties. However, the Southern Front contributed significantly to the Sandinista victory by tying down over 2,000 strong heavy equipped Nicaraguan National Guard forces, as Somoza remained fixated on stopping Pastora, even as major cities fell to the rebels.

Contra

Further information: Reagan Doctrine

Pastora became disenchanted with the turn of the revolution when most of the Sandinista leaders moved to the luxury residences of Managua; he felt the leadership was doing too little to benefit the campesinos and aboriginal tribes he represented, and was overly concerned with propagating ideological consistency in a poorly concealed bid to consolidate Ortega's political power. Consequently, Pastora turned against the Sandinista regime to fight against it. He once again began military operations in southern Nicaragua, loosely federated with northern forces which, composed of Miskito Indians, other displaced peoples and former National Guard members, were collectively referred to as the Contras. From a military standpoint, Pastora's efforts contributed much less than did forces in the north. Pastora also received less support from the U.S. government; whether his performance was a result or cause of this disparity is subject to debate. Military achievements aside, his reputation as a Nicaraguan patriot meant that his opposition to the Sandinistas was valid, however it was a small contribution in the anti-Sandinista opposition forces. Despite the lack of military might of the ARDE, the presence of Pastora, a former FSLN revolutionary hero, among the Contras, helped the public image of the Contras and provided a sort of public-relations counterweight to the bad reputation accorded to the FDN faction (mostly led by ex-National-Guard "Somocistas"). In 1984, Pastora was apparently the intended target of the La Penca bombing, which killed four people at a press conference he was holding.^[7] He was seriously wounded.

Pastora was reviled by John Hull, Oliver North, the CIA, and other Reagan-era insiders for his refusal to subordinate to the CIA-backed FDN.^[8] This ultimately led to the CIA cutting off aid to the ARDE. Later, when the Iran-Contra scandal broke out and widespread allegations of Contra drug trafficking emerged, the CIA attempted to lay all the blame for any and all Contra drug trafficking at the feet of Pastora. Those who investigated the scandal concluded that it was highly unlikely that Pastora's ARDE was the only Contra faction involved in drug trafficking.^{[citation needed]}

Today

Pastora since opened a shark fishing business in San Juan del Norte on the San Juan River along the border with Costa Rica.^[9]

He was seen at a Sandinista demonstration over the slow certification of winners in the November 5, 2000 municipal elections.

Alvaro Pardo made a documentary about Pastora in 2006 called Edén Pastora - Commandante Cero. It portrays Pastora's return to the political arena of Nicaragua when he was nominated as a candidate for the mayor of Managua.

Pastora ran for president in the general election of 2006. He finished in fifth place, with 0.29% of the vote.^[10][11] In 2008, Pastora announced that he had become reconciled with the current FSLN and pledged support for the government of Daniel Ortega. He is quoted as saying, "this government is making a revolution, one-eyed or lame, but it is a revolution."^[12][13] As of 2010, he holds the title of Minister of Development of the Rio San Juan Basin.^[14]

In November 2010, in perhaps the most publicized Costa Rican arrest warrant issued in years, prosecutors in northern Caribbean canton of Pococí announced that Pastora, now 73 years old, has been indicted for severe environmental damage caused in the eastern Limón province near the Río San Juan that the Republic of Nicaragua claims to be a part of their territory.^[13] Pastora (and the Nicaraguan Government) based his arguments not on official cartography maps but on faulty border information obtained from Google Maps. Nevertheless Pastora and his soldiers invaded the Caleros Island in order to create a channel connecting the San Juan River with the Atlantic Ocean. The government of Costa Rica, which disputes ownership of the island with Nicaragua, holds that this has caused an irreparable ecological destruction.^{[citation needed]}

Through this endeavor, the media exposure it has given Pastora, and the diplomatic scandal that derived from his invasion, it is believed that he will pursue a candidacy for president in Nicaragua.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Pastora had three failed marriages. Lamenting about the interpersonal strains that occur in the life of a revolutionary, Pastora said: "The first thing we revolutionaries lose is our wives. The last thing we lose is our lives. In between our women and our lives, we lose our freedom, our happiness, our means of living."

References

1. ^ "TARİHTE BU HAFTA LATİN AMERİKA" (in Turkish). January 18, 2009. http://www.birgun.net/latin_index.php?news_code=1232273596&year=2009&month=01&day=18. 
2. ^ "Q&A: Nicaragua votes". BBC News. November 3, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6111364.stm. 
3. ^ Latin American regional reports: Caribbean & Central America report: Volume 93, 1993.
4. ^ Meade, Teresa A. A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present, 2010, pg. 284.
5. ^ Wikisource
6. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Guide to Hispanic Heritage
7. ^ "Costa Rica Reopens Inquiry in 1984 Bombing". The New York Times. August 8, 1993. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/08/world/costa-rica-reopens-inquiry-in-1984-bombing.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/C/Central%20Intelligence%20Agency. 
8. ^ Costa Rica, Past & Present
9. ^ Arghiris, Richard, and Richard Leonardi. Nicaragua, 2008, pg. 187.
10. ^ Escrutinio - Elecciones Nacionales 2006
11. ^ Ortega Refrains From Declaring Victory
12. ^ Informe Pastrán (2008-09-10). "Pastora llama al diálogo y la reconciliación entre todos los sandinistas". Radio La Primerísima. http://www.radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/general/37433. Retrieved 2011-02-25.  (In Spanish.) "...este gobierno está haciendo una revolución, tuerta o renca, pero es una revolución y Daniel, Bayardo (Arce), Tomas (Borge), pueden ser malos, pero son revolucionarios y son mejores que los otros."
13. ^ ^{a b} Williams, Adam (2010-11-26). "Edén Pastora: A wanted man". The Tico Times. http://www.ticotimes.net/News/Top-Story/News/Eden-Pastora-A-wanted-man_Friday-November-26-2010. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
14. ^ Lopes, Gilberto (2010-11-12). "Nicaragua, Costa Rica y el río de la discordia". BBC Mundo. http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2010/11/101111_costa_rica_nicaragua_rio_san_juan_fp.shtml. Retrieved 2011-02-25.  (In Spanish.)

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Name	Pastora, Eden
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Date of birth	1937-01-22
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