Tellez, Dora Maria (1957—)

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Tellez, Dora Maria (1957—)

Nicaraguan revolutionary who participated in attempts to overthrow the government of Anastasio Somoza in the 1970s. Born in 1957 in Nicaragua; daughter of a government administrator and Maria Dora Tellez; studied medicine at the University of Leon.

Born in 1957 into an upper-middle-class home in Nicaragua, Dora Maria Tellez was bothered by the divisions among the social classes in her country from an early age. During the late 1960s, she became involved in the activities of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), known as the Sandinistas, a revolutionary group opposed to the repressive government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. After the earthquake which devastated Nicaragua in 1972, Tellez worked to alleviate suffering among the poor of Managua. At age 16 or 17, she was actively recruited by the FSLN and began to work for poor mountain people. After completing high school, she entered the University of Leon to study medicine.

In 1974, after an FSLN raid on the home of "Chema" Castillo, a high-level member of the Somoza government, repression against members of the revolutionary group and their families increased. Tellez went underground in 1976, as more and more political prisoners were taken. For a time she stayed in the mountains and then fled the country, leaving her family wondering about her safety. Not knowing if Dora Maria were dead, her mother was called several times to identify a body others believed to be that of Tellez.

In August 1978, following the assassination of Somoza opponent Pedro Joaquin Chamorro (husband of Violeta Chamorro ), Tellez was "Commander Two" in the FSLN's occupation of the National Palace. She was one of the leaders who later took the city of Leon for the FSLN and became a hero to many who had opposed the Somoza government. By now the conflict between Somoza forces and the Sandinista guerrillas had grown into a full-scale civil war. Tellez told Margaret Randall , "Sandinism is our national identity. … It becomes an obsession—the people must rise up, they must."

Tellez recounts many horrific incidents that took place during the war. With no legal protections, innocent people were abducted, tortured, and killed by government forces. She told Randall: "It is impossible to see so much death and go on unaffected or unchanged by it…. We've had to live through things most people can't even imagine." After the FSLN assumed power in 1979, Tellez looked forward to assuming a political rather than a military role.