Tomas Borge, Sandinistas' last surviving founder, dies aged 81
Source: The Guardian
Tomás Borge Martínez, the last surviving founder of the Sandinista guerrilla movement that overthrew Nicaragua's US-backed rightwing dictatorship in 1979, died on Monday night. He was 81.
Rosario Murillo, the wife of President Daniel Ortega, announced the death in a simultaneous broadcast on several radio stations. Murillo, who also serves as a government spokeswoman, did not give a cause of death, but the military had said previously that Borge was being treated for pneumonia and other ailments.
Borge joined Carlos Fonseca Amador and others in 1961 to found the National Sandinista Liberation Front. It was named after Augusto Cesar Sandino, who fought against US military intervention in Nicaragua in the 1930s. Ortega joined the front later and became its leader.
"Like Carlos Fonseca, he [Borge] is one of the dead who never die," Murillo said in the emotional announcement, her voice appearing to break at times. "He will always be with us in the Sandinista Front." She said memorial and funeral plans would be announced later.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/01/tomas-borge-sandinista-founder-nicaragua-dies?mobile-redirect=false
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