With Buenas al pleito, Alejandro Bendañ a fills an important lacuna in the study of Augusto C. Sa... more With Buenas al pleito, Alejandro Bendañ a fills an important lacuna in the study of Augusto C. Sandino and his 1927-33 rebellion. While it is common to hear about Blanca Aráuz, Sandino's wife, Bendañ a uncovers a host of women who supported Sandino's forces in myriad ways. But Bendañ a aims to do more than restore these women to history; he argues for shifting focus from the men on the front lines of battle to the people at war. Those in the rear guard were also combatants, Bendañ a argues, and, in large part, they were women. They were the base of social legitimation and the key to logistics for the armed struggle. Bendañ a is careful, however, not to exaggerate the roles that these women played and Sandino's openness to women in the struggle. This was still a patriarchal world, and Sandino was a product of his times. Women almost never fought alongside Sandino's allmale army, although a few carried weapons and could defend themselves if necessary. In fact, Buenas al pleito takes its name from a comment about two young women, Rosa and María, who fought alongside the Sandinistas: "Aguerridas como las de ahora, buenas al pleito" (p. 80). In using the phrase in the book's title, however, Bendañ a stresses that women in the rear guard were equally fierce and that the men could not have functioned without the noncombat support of the women. As he explains his goal, "We want to complete the history of the first Sandinista war by incorporating the network of farmers, providers, sellers, feeders, and informants, within and outside the camps, who risked their necks, usually without arms, without whose support and daily care the struggle would have been unsustainable and inconceivable" (p. 278). As expected, a key role for many of these women was to accompany Sandino's men and take care of basic needs: cooking, washing, sewing, nursing the wounded or ill, and sexual companionship. They joined his forces for a variety of reasons-accompanying family, survival, self-defense, lack of viable alternatives, shared ideals. Others perhaps were escaping abuse at home or seeking control of their own destiny. The women who stayed at home but supported the insurgency played key roles as well. They remained on their milpas, caring for their own families and providing for Sandino's forces. At times Sandino "invited" the women to accompany him as cooks and tortilla makers-it was unthinkable that men would make their own tortillas (p. 103). And although the invitation was not really a choice, Sandino promised that if they helped now he would help them later-a mutual obligation and debt owed, a recognition of the value of women's support. One of Bendañ a's most interesting contributions is his discussion of women farmers (finqueras), small and medium producers of corn, wheat, rice, and sugarcane. They were part of a parallel market trafficking in food, cattle, horses, mules, coffee, money, and gold from mining zones, a network stretching across the Honduran border. The finqueras knew the area intimately and were an important source of information and communications. These women, in part due to the war, had been freed from patriarchal
With Buenas al pleito, Alejandro Bendañ a fills an important lacuna in the study of Augusto C. Sa... more With Buenas al pleito, Alejandro Bendañ a fills an important lacuna in the study of Augusto C. Sandino and his 1927-33 rebellion. While it is common to hear about Blanca Aráuz, Sandino's wife, Bendañ a uncovers a host of women who supported Sandino's forces in myriad ways. But Bendañ a aims to do more than restore these women to history; he argues for shifting focus from the men on the front lines of battle to the people at war. Those in the rear guard were also combatants, Bendañ a argues, and, in large part, they were women. They were the base of social legitimation and the key to logistics for the armed struggle. Bendañ a is careful, however, not to exaggerate the roles that these women played and Sandino's openness to women in the struggle. This was still a patriarchal world, and Sandino was a product of his times. Women almost never fought alongside Sandino's allmale army, although a few carried weapons and could defend themselves if necessary. In fact, Buenas al pleito takes its name from a comment about two young women, Rosa and María, who fought alongside the Sandinistas: "Aguerridas como las de ahora, buenas al pleito" (p. 80). In using the phrase in the book's title, however, Bendañ a stresses that women in the rear guard were equally fierce and that the men could not have functioned without the noncombat support of the women. As he explains his goal, "We want to complete the history of the first Sandinista war by incorporating the network of farmers, providers, sellers, feeders, and informants, within and outside the camps, who risked their necks, usually without arms, without whose support and daily care the struggle would have been unsustainable and inconceivable" (p. 278). As expected, a key role for many of these women was to accompany Sandino's men and take care of basic needs: cooking, washing, sewing, nursing the wounded or ill, and sexual companionship. They joined his forces for a variety of reasons-accompanying family, survival, self-defense, lack of viable alternatives, shared ideals. Others perhaps were escaping abuse at home or seeking control of their own destiny. The women who stayed at home but supported the insurgency played key roles as well. They remained on their milpas, caring for their own families and providing for Sandino's forces. At times Sandino "invited" the women to accompany him as cooks and tortilla makers-it was unthinkable that men would make their own tortillas (p. 103). And although the invitation was not really a choice, Sandino promised that if they helped now he would help them later-a mutual obligation and debt owed, a recognition of the value of women's support. One of Bendañ a's most interesting contributions is his discussion of women farmers (finqueras), small and medium producers of corn, wheat, rice, and sugarcane. They were part of a parallel market trafficking in food, cattle, horses, mules, coffee, money, and gold from mining zones, a network stretching across the Honduran border. The finqueras knew the area intimately and were an important source of information and communications. These women, in part due to the war, had been freed from patriarchal
Review of Alejandro Bendaña’s recently published book “Sandino patria y libertad”in the American ... more Review of Alejandro Bendaña’s recently published book “Sandino patria y libertad”in the American Historical Review
With Buenas al pleito, Alejandro Bendañ a fills an important lacuna in the study of Augusto C. Sa... more With Buenas al pleito, Alejandro Bendañ a fills an important lacuna in the study of Augusto C. Sandino and his 1927-33 rebellion. While it is common to hear about Blanca Aráuz, Sandino's wife, Bendañ a uncovers a host of women who supported Sandino's forces in myriad ways. But Bendañ a aims to do more than restore these women to history; he argues for shifting focus from the men on the front lines of battle to the people at war. Those in the rear guard were also combatants, Bendañ a argues, and, in large part, they were women. They were the base of social legitimation and the key to logistics for the armed struggle. Bendañ a is careful, however, not to exaggerate the roles that these women played and Sandino's openness to women in the struggle. This was still a patriarchal world, and Sandino was a product of his times. Women almost never fought alongside Sandino's allmale army, although a few carried weapons and could defend themselves if necessary. In fact, Buenas al pleito takes its name from a comment about two young women, Rosa and María, who fought alongside the Sandinistas: "Aguerridas como las de ahora, buenas al pleito" (p. 80). In using the phrase in the book's title, however, Bendañ a stresses that women in the rear guard were equally fierce and that the men could not have functioned without the noncombat support of the women. As he explains his goal, "We want to complete the history of the first Sandinista war by incorporating the network of farmers, providers, sellers, feeders, and informants, within and outside the camps, who risked their necks, usually without arms, without whose support and daily care the struggle would have been unsustainable and inconceivable" (p. 278). As expected, a key role for many of these women was to accompany Sandino's men and take care of basic needs: cooking, washing, sewing, nursing the wounded or ill, and sexual companionship. They joined his forces for a variety of reasons-accompanying family, survival, self-defense, lack of viable alternatives, shared ideals. Others perhaps were escaping abuse at home or seeking control of their own destiny. The women who stayed at home but supported the insurgency played key roles as well. They remained on their milpas, caring for their own families and providing for Sandino's forces. At times Sandino "invited" the women to accompany him as cooks and tortilla makers-it was unthinkable that men would make their own tortillas (p. 103). And although the invitation was not really a choice, Sandino promised that if they helped now he would help them later-a mutual obligation and debt owed, a recognition of the value of women's support. One of Bendañ a's most interesting contributions is his discussion of women farmers (finqueras), small and medium producers of corn, wheat, rice, and sugarcane. They were part of a parallel market trafficking in food, cattle, horses, mules, coffee, money, and gold from mining zones, a network stretching across the Honduran border. The finqueras knew the area intimately and were an important source of information and communications. These women, in part due to the war, had been freed from patriarchal
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