Dora Maria Tellez

Dora María Téllez (born 1955) is a Nicaraguan historian most famous as an icon of the Sandinista Revolution, which deposed the Somoza regime in 1979. As a young medical student in the late 1970s, Téllez became a comandante in the popular revolt to oust the Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

As "Commander Two", at age 22, she was third in command in a daring on August 22, 1978 that occupied the Nicaraguan National Palace in Managua (home to the Nicaraguan National Assembly, in full session). They captured 1,500 civilian hostages, including children, and threatened to murder them unless their demands were met. The demands included a prisoner release and a $10 million ransom. They ultimately gained the release of key Sandinista political prisoners and a million dollars ransom money. Téllez, during the three days of the siege personally managed the negotiations that humiliated the dictator.

This feat represented the first blow to precipitate the fall of the 50-year-old Somoza's dynasty of dictators, since it exposed Somoza's regime as vulnerable. The successful operation had devastating consequences to the Somoza regime. While eliminating skepticism, it won international cooperation from Latin American governments, united diverse factions of the opposition to the regime, and prompted them into action.

Following the operation, thousands of youths and women joined the Sandinista ranks, unleashing a popular insurrection that culminated with the fall of the Somoza regime on July 19, 1979, less than a year later.

Téllez proved to be an effective military commander. Upon her arrival in Panama with the released Sandinistas in August 1978, she trained in Cuba and Panama. In February 1979 she was back fighting in Nicaragua. Her fame won her an important place in the Tercerista leadership structure. For five consecutive months she led Sandinista platoons all over the country in skirmishes with the Nicaraguan National Guard: first in the Southern Front with Edén Pastora's forces, and later in Central and northern Nicaragua. According to Sandinista Commander Mónica Baltodano, her raids on the northern provinces in conjunction with Cmdr. Leticia Herrera's fighters often surprised the enemy and succeeded in dispersing their forces in favor of the newly devised urban insurrectional war strategy.

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