Nicaragua's Mixed Economy Project: Lessons for the Philippines

Abstract

It is not clear what the future course of the Sandinista Popular Revolution will be. What is evident is the openness and the ability of the Sandinista leadership to admit mistakes and pragmatically redirect their economic policies based on their commitment in general terms to the principles of national unity and a mixed economy within the framework of a democratic, popular and anti-imperialist system. Imperialist aggresion, backwardness, and dependency, characteristics faced by all national liberation movements, dictate that for a periodm, which may be quite long, these economies in the process of restructuring and transition may not be viable on their own. International solidarity from friendly nations has been vital for the defense of the revolution. A hegemonic position of the popular classes within the framework of a mixed economy based on national unity, may not, in the short-run, be a viable project, but it preserves the revolutionary agenda for the posible transition.