Political insurgency across Latin America intended to fight for justice and equity but compromised democracy and human rights in the process. The Cuban Revolution inspired a political revolt against the United States, resisting against its economic hegemony, but forces from above complicated matters. In Nicaragua, for example, Sandino’s “willingness to defy the United States” surged a political conflict with Somoza and eventually lead to his assassination (Kinzer 31). Somoza’s rise to power came through a de facto electoral proceeding and his use of oppressive tactics to eventually become dictator. His ruling only came to perpetuate the influence of the United States in Nicaragua and spurred the start of the bloody pathway of counter-insurgencies.