Inspired by the gruesome case of the Mosonte-born Chamorrista cortacabeza Anastasio Hernández and fellow gang leader José Eulalio Torres (pictured at right), these pages will focus on the wide range of violence-making groups in Las Segovias that were neither Sandinista, Marines, nor Guardia Nacional.  Such Liberal & Conservative gangs flourished during & immediately after the Civil War of 1926-27 — especially in the eighteen months from the Espino Negro Accord of early May 1927 until the US-supervised elections in early November 1928, which swept the Liberal General José María Moncada into the president's office.  During these critical 18 months, local Liberal and especially Conservative gangs filled the power vacuum created by the dissolution of the national state.  The Conservative Chamorristas, with a lock on political power for nearly a quarter-century, feared losing the elections and did everything they could to disrupt the electoral process.  That they ultimately failed matters less than the nature and intensity of their efforts.  Because the Sandinistas borrowed many of the violence-making practices that had long characterized the region, understanding these gangs key to understanding the rebellion that followed.  (Photos of Anastasio Hernández (left) and fellow Chamorrista gang leader José Eulalio Torres, National Penitentiary, Managua, 1928, US National Archives).

     Special attention is given to three cases:

1.  The Case of Anastasio Hernández & José Eulalio Torres in the Ocotal Area

2.  The case of Carmen Vilchez & Marcelino Hernández in the La Trinidad Area (in progress)

3.  The Case of Juan Alberto Briones in the Estelí Area (in progress)

Rare photograph of five captured Conservative gang members from the western Segovias.  Rear of photo reads:  "Five Nicaraguan bandits captured by Lieutenant SALZMAN in the San Lucas District of Nueva Segovia Province, Nicaragua, being led into Somoto from San Lucas, for confinement.  USNA2/5845-12 Historical Nicaragua 1928".  See Salzman report in IR 28.09.24: 10,  Top 100, p. 16.

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