Tomás Borge

Tomás Borge Martínez (13 August 1930 – 30 April 2012, often spelled as Thomas Borge in American newspapers) was a cofounder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua and was Interior Minister of Nicaragua during one of the administrations of Daniel Ortega. He was also a renowned statesman, writer, and politician. Tomás Borge also held the titles of "Vice-Secretary and President of the FSLN", member of the Nicaraguan Parliament and National Congress, and Ambassador to Peru. Considered a hardliner, he led the "prolonged people's war" tendency within the FSLN until his death.

In 2010, he stated in an interview: "I am proud to be a Sandinista, to continue being faithful to the red and black flag of our party, to continue being faithful to our revolutionary organization; and to die proud of raising the front, and not having been disloyal to my principles, nor disloyal with my friends nor my companions, nor with my flag, nor with my cries of war."

Borge was born in Matagalpa on August 13, 1930. His father, Tomás Borge Delgado, was one of Augusto César Sandino's deputy commanders during the United States occupation of Nicaragua, from 1926 to 1932. From a young age, Borge integrated himself in the fight against the Somoza family dictatorship, which had ruled Nicaragua since the assassination of Sandino. In 1943, he began participating in revolutionary activities, and in 1946, he was editing the newspaper "Espartako" against the regime of General Anastasio Somoza García.

After his secondary education, Borge enrolled into the Law Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua-León in 1956. The following year, he met Carlos Fonseca with whom Borge would forge a strong friendship. Borge was six years older than Fonseca, which influenced Borge strongly. With Fonseca, Borge read the first few books that would forge their political philosophies: "Utopia" by Thomas More, some works by John Steinbeck, works by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, as well as some works by Lenin.

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