| Sumario: | The image of muchachos bearing arms was the symbol of the novelty of the Sandinista revolution. These muchachos were perceived as the mark of a political revival, which would provide a place for youth from the popular classes who appeared as the ones who had been left behind during Somoza’s reign. The redemptive role given to the youth is paradoxically not a novelty in Latin American political conceptions as the “Ode from Roosevelt” to Ruben Darío and his posterity in Nicaragua proves —notably in the works of Ernesto Cardenal— Rallied to the Sandinista front, that poet played a central role in the heroization of those who fought on the Front and then became the young lions inspired by Darío. Since Somoza’s barbarity occurred under the yoke of the United States, they were in charge of struggling against it. Many of these images were used by songwriters like Mejia Godoy, and the Sandinistas claimed to be the spokesmen of the muchachos that were excluded from the political game. Moreover, they argued that the sacrifices that were made by the youth, who made up the majority of anti-Samoza fighters were important in order to establish from the beginning their hegemony over the power put in place after Somoza’s fall.
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