Tomás Borge
Tomás Borge Martínez (13 August 1930 – 30 April 2012) (in American newspapers often spelt as Thomas Borge) was the last living co-founder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua and was Interior Minister of Nicaragua during one of the administrations of Daniel Ortega. Considered a hardliner, he led the "prolonged people's war" tendency within the FSLN, but later supported the policy of national reconciliation in Nicaragua, as well as reforms in the Sandinista party.
Borge was born in Matagalpa. He was imprisoned from 1956–1959 for knowledge of the plot by Rigoberto López to assassinate dictator Anastasio Somoza García. Part of that time was spent held in El Hormiguero prison in Managua. In 1959 he escaped to Honduras, where he was captured by the Honduran border patrol. Otto Castro arranged for Borge's release using his friendship with Honduran President Ramón Villeda. Borge then travelled to El Salvador using a false passport, and then went to Costa Rica.[1]
In August 1978, Borge was one of the highest ranking Sandinistas released from prison after the spectacular Sandinista raid on the Nicaraguan National Palace by 19 commandos, headed by Edén Pastora (Commander Zero) that took the entire Congress hostage.
Former drug traficker Fernando Arenas stated in 2000, in an interview with American network PBS for the Frontline TV show, that during the 1980s, Borge served as a conduit for Colombian drug traffickers and the Sandinista government.[2] There has been no corroboration of the drug-runner's story. He has been accused of venality by the newspaper La Prensa[3] and also by the Spanish newspaper El País.[4][5]
Borge was also an author, who has written poetry, essays, and autobiography.
Borge died in the Military Hospital in Managua on April 30, 2012, aged 81, due to complications after a surgery.[6]
[edit] See also
- Latin American and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with Puerto Rico's Independence
- Current Nicaraguan ambassador in Peru
[edit] References
- ^ Borge, Tomas: The Patient Impatience, pp. 91–106. Curbstone Press, 1992
- ^ Interview Fernando Arenas. pbs.org
- ^ Spanish newspaper El País on 12. February 2011, Lucha contra el enriquecimiento desde el poder]
- ^ http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/05/01/actualidad/1335904882_089728.html
- ^ http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/05/01/actualidad/1335849217_568057.html
- ^ "Tomas Borge Martinez, last living founder of Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista movement, dies - South Florida". Sun-sentinel.com. 1930-08-13. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-nicaragua-obit-tomas-borge,0,3937179.story. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
[edit] External links
- author page at Curbstone Press
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- 1930 births
- 2012 deaths
- People from Matagalpa Department
- Nicaraguan drug traffickers
- Nicaraguan essayists
- Nicaraguan revolutionaries
- Nicaraguan torture victims
- Nicaraguan writers
- Sandinista National Liberation Front politicians
- Government ministers of Nicaragua
- Nicaraguan escapees
- Escapees from Nicaraguan detention
- Nicaraguan politician stubs
