A scene from ¡Las Sandinistas! (Film Sales Co.)

The Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua was one of the most intriguing episodes in recent Latin American history. For many, it was the ultimate symbol of hope for a better future detached from capitalism. When the Sandinista movement removed Anastasio Somoza from power in 1979, the new government started from the scratch to rebuild the country. The revolution made the people more literate and provided free healthcare, but it also trained them with guns (including children) to fight imperialism. A large group of combatant women participated in the Sandinista Revolution alongside their male comrades. Among them emerged many leaders such as Dora Maria Téllez, Sofía Montenegro, and Gloria Belli. However, when the rebels were in a position of power, the men dismissed the contribution of their female allies.

Revolutions start with good intentions until they can’t hide their contradictions, provoke new injustices, and fail to amend the old ones. The same women who fought for revolution right now constitute part of the opposition against Daniel Ortega, former Sandinista leader and current president of Nicaragua. All these details and more are didactically exposed in ¡Las Sandinistas!, a documentary by Jenny Murray, making her her feature debut.

Women’s involvement in the Sandinista Revolution is the main focus and purpose of this film, which is enriched due to first-hand testimonies from the women previously mentioned and many others. We hear the story about Nicaragua and the revolution entirely from their point of view. Some of these women now appear living a more bourgeois life in contrast to their years as combatants in the jungle. Yet all preserve the fighting spirit of their youthful years. Ironically, the fact that these women typify the current opposition against Ortega makes them resisters, almost as much as they were in the Somoza era. Their circumstances have changed in many ways, but the role of women in Nicaragua’s society apparently hasn’t.

Murray places the women front and center of the revolution, even if the government’s official party line wants to erase the history of the prominent women who took part. They offer a fresh perspective of what happened after Somoza’s fall, but that doesn’t mean that what we get is an objective look. In fact, Murray evades negative aspects on the Sandinista Revolution, glossing over the fact that students and farmers were forced to train in the movement. The film also refrains from asking how well prepared the rebels were to govern the country.

Sexism and the lack of women’s visibility are the problems that mostly concern the fill, and Murray fulfills her agenda by avoiding uncomfortable questions. Instead, Daniel Ortega is labeled a rapist (he was accused of rape by his stepdaughter), and male Sandinista revolutionaries are portrayed as blindsided “machos” who never advocated for gender equality. Though they all shared the same training and fought together, the men still delegated domestic work (cooking and washing) just for women.

Despite contradictions and convenient omissions (anti-Sandinista Violeta Chamorro defeated Ortega in 1990 for the presidency), ¡Las Sandinistas! is an eye-opener that points out male privileges and gender inequalities in the context of leftist rebellions. The best moment happens when one of the female ex-combatants is asked about why the Sandinista Revolution was so unfair to women. The actual response never comes because of a sudden earthquake that forces the interview to stop filming. It’s the perfect metaphor. There is always something more urgent delaying the necessary answer.