8. The Sandinistas
In 1979, Nicaragua's popular Sandinista movement propelled Daniel Ortega to power, ushering in over a decade of oppression, forced disappearances, and random executions.
Today, Ortega is seen as a semi-dictator and his Sandinistas are viewed as naïve at best, and dangerous lunatics at worst.
Yet while this might be a fair description of these Marxist revolutionaries, it's only half of the story.
The other half involves a family known as the Somozas.
In 1979, they owned over 50 percent of Nicaragua's land and exactly 100 percent of its political system.
Their dictatorship was almost unbelievable in its brutality.
When rumblings of revolution began in Nicaraguan neighborhoods, these proto-Sopranos sent in jets to bomb civilians, killing tens of thousands.
Their torture centers were infamous, and thousands of those who later became Sandinistas passed through their halls, including Ortega himself.
When the Somoza family was finally kicked out by the rebels, they cultivated a private army (with US backing) that went on to indiscriminately butcher civilians involved with the Sandinista movement.
