Anastasio Somoza was a pussycat next to Ortega & the Sandinistas. Otherwise, he or his grandson would still be in power.
Old fashioned South American dictators generally took their cut of national wealth & left the populace alone if they didn’t stir up trouble. Dictators like Ortega, Castro, Chavez & Maduro demand the peoples’ souls and leave no private space.
FWIW, the Sandinistas were stunned in 1990 when the opposition won a free election the U.S. browbeat them into. Jimmah Carter was an observer and profoundly disappointed at the outcome.
Guess it was back to business as usual after that.
-PJ