This, the first fully documented account of the Sandinista strategy for imposing a Marxist-Leninist rule on Nicaragua, should dispel any illusions about the Sandinista vision of Nicaragua's future. An introductory essay by the author argues persuasively that the national elections of November 1984 were successfully exploited by the Sandinistas to consolidate their revolutionary rule. The core of the book is a documented chronology of events, charting the course of the Sandinistas from early 1979 up to the sixth anniversary of the revolution.