History of Nicaragua

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History of Nicaragua
Spanish conquest Piracy on Lake Nicaragua 1823 Rebellions Federal Republic of Central America 18 Years of military rule Independence Malespín's War Filibuster War 35 Years of conservative rule Liberal Revolution of 1893 US occupation Civil War Sandinista insurrection Sandinista period Post-Sandinista period Ortega return Coronavirus pandemic
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Nicaragua is a nation in Central America. It is located about midway between Mexico and Colombia, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. Nicaragua ranges from the Caribbean Sea on the nation's east coast, and the Pacific Ocean bordering the west. Nicaragua also possesses a series of islands and cays located in the Caribbean Sea.

Nicaragua's name is derived from Nicarao, the name of the Nahuatl-speaking tribe which inhabited the shores of Lake Nicaragua before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the Spanish word agua, meaning water, due to the presence of the large Lake Cocibolca (or Lake Nicaragua) and Lake Managua (or Lake Xolotlán), as well as lagoons and rivers in the region.

Pre-Columbian Nicaragua

Eastern Nicaragua was populated by

Occupying the territory between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Coast, the Niquirano were governed by chief Nicarao, or Nicaragua, a rich ruler who lived in Nicaraocali, now the city of Rivas. They spoke a version of Nahuat and had migrated from El Salvador around 1200 CE, and ultimately from Central Mexico before that.^[1] The Chorotegas, also known as Mangue, lived in the central region, and are also thought to have ultimately migrated from Central Mexico or Oaxaca, between 600 and 700 CE, given that their language belongs to the Oto-Manguean family. These two groups had intimate contact with the Spanish conquerors, paving the way for the racial mix of native and Spanish stock now known as mestizos. The Chontal (which means foreigner in Nahuatl^[2]), also known as the Caribs, occupied the central mountain region. This group was smaller than the other two, and it is not known when they first settled in Nicaragua. This group may have modern representatives in the Cacaopera people.

In the west and highland areas where the Spanish settled, the indigenous population was almost completely wiped out by the rapid spread of new diseases brought by the Spaniards, for which the native population had no immunity and the virtual

Spanish conquest

Nicaragua was first discovered by Europeans when Christopher Columbus invaded from Honduras and explored the eastern coast on his fourth voyage in 1502.

In 1522, the first Spaniards entered the region of what would become known as Nicaragua.

Within a few months, Nicaragua was invaded by several Spanish forces, each led by a conquistador. González Dávila was authorized by royal decree and came in from the Caribbean coast of Honduras. Francisco Hernández de Córdoba at the command of the governor of Panama approached from Costa Rica. Pedro de Alvarado and Cristóbal de Olid at the command of Hernán Cortés, came from Guatemala through San Salvador and Honduras.

Córdoba apparently came with the intention of colonization. In 1524, he established permanent settlements in the region, including two of Nicaragua's principal towns: Granada on Lake Nicaragua and León west of Lake Managua. But he soon found it necessary to prepare defenses for the cities and go on the offensive against incursions by the other conquistadores.

The inevitable clash between the Spanish forces devastated the indigenous population. The Indian civilization was destroyed. The series of battles came to be known as The War of the Captains.^[3] By 1529, the conquest of Nicaragua was complete. Several conquistadores came out winners, and some were executed or murdered. Pedrarias Dávila was one such winner. Although he lost control of Panama, he moved to Nicaragua and established his base in León.

The land was parceled out to the conquistadores. The area of most interest was the western portion. It included a wide, fertile valley with huge, freshwater lakes, a series of volcanoes, and volcanic lagoons. Many Indians were soon enslaved to develop and maintain "estates" there. Others were put to work in mines in northern Nicaragua, but the great majority were sent as slaves to Panama and Peru, for significant profit to the new landed aristocracy. Many Indians died through disease and neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled everything necessary for their subsistence.

From colony to state

In 1538, the

Nicaraguans were divided over Spanish monarchy and independence. In 1811, Nicolás García Jerez, a priest decided to make concessions with pro-independence figures. He proposed holding elections for each barrios, in order to form a government junta. However, he soon declared himself as governor and threatened to punish rebellions by death.

Nicaraguans were divided over monarchy and independence. This division made Nicaragua the most active civil battleground in Latin America. The citizens of Leon were the first to act against the Spanish monarchy.

Taking advantage of divisions within the conservative ranks, José Santos Zelaya led a liberal revolt that brought him to power in 1893. Zelaya ended the longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom over the Atlantic coast in 1894, and "reincorporated" the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua.

US interventions

Because of the strategic importance of Nicaragua in the hemisphere, the United States (US) made numerous military interventions to protect what it believed were its interests in the region:^[8]

• 1894: Month-long occupation of Bluefields
• 1896: Marines land in port of Corinto
• 1898: Marines land at port of San Juan del Sur
• 1899: Marines land at port of Bluefields
• 1907: "Dollar Diplomacy" protectorate set up
• 1910: Marines land in Bluefields and Corinto
• 1912-33: Bombing, 20-year occupation, fought guerrillas
• 1981-90: CIA directs exile (Contra) revolution, plants harbor mines against government

United States occupation (1909–1933)

In 1909, the United States provided political support to conservative-led forces rebelling against President Zelaya. U.S. motives included differences over the proposed Nicaragua Canal, Nicaragua's potential as a destabilizing influence in the region, and Zelaya's attempts to regulate foreign access to Nicaraguan natural resources. On November 17, 1909, two Americans were executed by order of Zelaya after the two men confessed to having laid a mine in the San Juan River with the intention of blowing up the Diamante. The U.S. justified the intervention by claiming to protect U.S. lives and property. Zelaya resigned later that year.

In August 1912, the President of Nicaragua, Adolfo Díaz, requested the resignation of the Secretary of War, General Luis Mena. Concerned that Díaz was leading an insurrection, Mena fled Managua with his brother, the Chief of Police of Managua, and the insurrection escalated. When the U.S. Legation asked President Adolfo Díaz to ensure the safety of American citizens and property during the insurrection, Díaz replied that he could not and that...

In consequence my Government desires that the Government of the United States guarantee with its forces security for the property of American Citizens in Nicaragua and that it extend its protection to all the inhabitants of the Republic.^[9]

United States Marines were stationed in Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933, except for a nine-month period beginning in 1925.^[10] From 1910 to 1926, the conservative party ruled Nicaragua. The Chamorro family, which had long dominated the party, effectively controlled the government during that period. In 1914, the Bryan–Chamorro Treaty was signed, giving the U.S. control over the proposed canal, as well as leases for potential canal defenses.

Nicaraguan Civil War (1926–1927)

Following the evacuation of U.S. immigrants in 1925, another violent conflict between liberals and conservatives known as the

The only Nicaraguan general to refuse to sign this pact (el tratado del Espino Negro) was Augusto César Sandino. He took refuge in the northern mountains of Las Segovias.^[12] He led a sustained guerrilla war, first against the Conservative regime and subsequently against the U.S. Marines, who withdrew upon the establishment of a new Liberal government. When the Americans left in 1933 as a result of Sandino's guerrilla war and the Great Depression, they set up the National Guard, a combined military and police force trained and equipped by the Americans, designed to be loyal to U.S. interests. Anastasio Somoza García, a close friend of the American government, was put in charge. He was one of the three rulers of the country, the others being Sandino and the mostly figurehead President Juan Bautista Sacasa.

Sandino and the newly elected Sacasa government reached an agreement by which he would cease his guerrilla activities in return for amnesty, a grant of land for an agricultural colony, and retention of an armed band of 100 men for a year.^[13]

The Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, a decoration of the United States Navy, was later issued for those American service members who had performed military duty in Nicaragua during the early years of the 20th century.

There followed a growing hostility between Sandino and Anastasio Somoza Garcia, chief of the national guard, which prompted Somoza to order the assassination of Sandino.^[14][15] Fearing future armed opposition from Sandino, Somoza invited him to a meeting in Managua, where Sandino was assassinated on February 21 of 1934 by the National Guard. Following the death of Sandino was the execution of hundreds of men, women, and children.^[16]

Somoza dynasty (1936–1979)

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Anastasio Somoza García's rule

With Sandino's death and using his troops, the National Guard, to force Sacasa to resign, Somoza had taken control of the country in 1937 and destroyed any potential armed resistance.^[17] The Somoza family would rule until 1979.

The earliest opposition to Somoza came from the educated middle class and the normally conservative wealthy, such as Pedro Joaquín Chamorro. On September 21, 1956, a Nicaraguan poet, Rigoberto López Pérez, snuck into a party attended by the President and shot him in the chest. In his memoirs Nicaragua Betrayed, Anastasio Debayle (Somoza's son) claims that Chamorro had knowledge of the assassination plot. While the assassin quickly died in a hail of gunfire, Somoza himself died a few days later, in an American hospital in the Panama Canal Zone.

Somoza's rise to power and the formation of a dictatorship

Divisions within the Conservative Party in the 1932 elections paved the way for the Liberal Juan Bautista Sacasa to assume power. This initiated an inherently weak presidency—hardly a formidable obstacle to Somoza as he set about building his personal influence over Congress and over the ruling Liberal Party. President Sacasa's popularity decreased as a result of his poor leadership and accusations of fraud in the 1934 congressional elections. Somoza García benefited from Sacasa's diminishing power, and at the same time brought together the National Guard and the Liberal Party (Partido Liberal – PL) in order to win the presidential elections in 1936. Somoza Garcia also cultivated support from former presidents Moncada and Chamorro while consolidating control within the Liberal Party.

Early in 1936, Somoza openly confronted President Sacasa by using military force to displace local government officials loyal to the president and replacing them with close associates. Somoza García's increasing military confrontation led to Sacasa's resignation on June 6, 1936. The Congress appointed Carlos Brenes Jarquín, a Somoza García associate, as

In less than two years after his election, Somoza Garcia, defying the Conservative Party, declared his intention to stay in power beyond his presidential term. Thus, in 1938, Somoza Garcia named a Constituent Assembly that gave the president extensive power and elected him for another eight-year term. A Constituent Assembly, extension of the presidential term from four years to six years, and clauses empowering the president to decree laws relating to the National Guard without consulting Congress, ensured Somoza's absolute control over the state and the military. Control over electoral and legislative machinery provided the basis for a permanent dictatorship.

In 1941, during

Somoza García was succeeded by his two sons. Luis Somoza Debayle became President (29 September 1956 to 1 May 1963), and was effectively dictator of the country until his death, but his brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle held great power as head of the National Guard. A graduate of West Point, Anastasio was even closer to the Americans than his father and was said to speak better English than Spanish. Luis Somoza, remembered by some for being moderate, was in power for only a few years before dying of a heart attack.

The revolutionaries opposing the Somozas were greatly strengthened by the Cuban Revolution. The revolution provided both hope and inspiration to the insurgents, as well as weapons and funding. Operating from Costa Rica they formed the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) and came to be known as Sandinistas. They took their name from the still legendary Augusto César Sandino. With aid from the United States, the Somoza brothers succeeded in defeating the guerrillas.

Then came president, René Schick, whom most Nicaraguans viewed "as nothing more than a puppet of the Somozas".^[22] President Luis Somoza Debayle, under pressure from the rebels, announced that national elections would be held in February 1963. Election reforms had been made that established secret ballots and a supervising electoral commission, although the Conservative Party never elected any members of the commission. Somoza had also introduced a constitutional amendment that would prevent family members from succeeding him. The opposition was extremely skeptical of Somoza's promises, and ultimately control of the country passed to Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

In 1961, a young student,

Somoza acquired monopolies in industries that were key to rebuilding the nation, not allowing other members of the upper class to share the profits that would result from the reborn economic activity. This ultimately weakened Somoza since even the economic elite were reluctant to support him. In the 1950s a synthetic brand of cotton, one of Nicaragua's economic pillars of the epoch, was developed. This caused the price of cotton to decrease, placing the economy in great trouble.

Landless peasants worked on large plantations during short harvest seasons and received wages as low as US$1 per day. In desperation, many of these poor laborers migrated east, seeking their own land near the rain forest. In 1968, the World Health Organization found that polluted water led to 17% of all Nicaraguan deaths.

American economic involvement

From 1945 to 1960, the U.S.-owned Nicaraguan Long Leaf Pine Company (NIPCO) directly paid the Somoza family millions of dollars in exchange for favorable benefits to the company, such as not having to re-forest clear cut areas. By 1961, NIPCO had cut all of the commercially viable coastal pines in northeast Nicaragua. Expansion of cotton plantations in the 1950s and cattle ranches in the 1960s forced peasant families from the areas they had farmed for decades. Some were forced by the National Guard to relocate into colonization projects in the rainforest.

Some moved eastward into the hills, where they cleared forests in order to plant crops.

Also in the 1950s and 1960s, 40% of all U.S. pesticide exports went to Central America. Nicaragua and its neighbors widely used compounds banned in the U.S., such as DDT, endrin, dieldrin and lindane. In 1977 a study revealed that mothers living in León had 45 times more DDT in their breast milk than the World Health Organization safe level.

Sandinista insurrection (1972–1979)

A major turning point was the December 1972 Managua earthquake that killed over 10,000 people and left 500,000 homeless. A great deal of international relief was sent to the nation. Some Nicaraguan historians point to the earthquake that devastated Managua as the final 'nail in the coffin' for Somoza; some 90% of the city was destroyed. Somoza's brazen corruption, mishandling of relief (which prompted Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente to fly to Managua on December 31, 1972, to try to help - a flight that ended in his death)^[23] and refusal to rebuild Managua, flooded the ranks of the Sandinistas with young disaffected Nicaraguans who no longer had anything to lose.^[24] The Sandinistas received some support from Cuba and the Soviet Union.

On 27 December 1974, a group of nine FSLN guerrillas invaded a party at the home of a former Minister of Agriculture, killing him and three guards in the process of taking several leading government officials and prominent businessmen hostage. In return for the hostages they succeeded in getting the government to pay US$2 million ransom, broadcast an FSLN declaration on the radio and in the opposition newspaper La Prensa, release fourteen FSLN members from jail, and fly the raiders and the released FSLN members to Cuba. Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo acted as an intermediary during the negotiations.^[25]

The incident humiliated the government and greatly enhanced the prestige of the FSLN. Somoza, in his memoirs, refers to this action as the beginning of a sharp escalation in terms of Sandinista attacks and government reprisals. Martial law was declared in 1975, and the National Guard began to raze villages in the jungle suspected of supporting the rebels. Human rights groups condemned the actions, but U.S. President Gerald Ford refused to break the U.S. alliance with Somoza.

The country tipped into full-scale civil war with the 1978 murder of

In May 1979, another general strike was called, and the FSLN launched a major push to take control of the country. By mid July they had Somoza and the National Guard isolated in Managua.[26]

Sandinista period (1979–1990)

As Nicaragua's government collapsed and the National Guard commanders escaped with Somoza, the U.S. first promised and then denied them exile in Miami. The rebels advanced on the capital victoriously. On July 19, 1979, a new government was proclaimed under a provisional junta headed by 33-year-old Daniel Ortega, and included Violeta Chamorro, Pedro's widow. Somoza eventually ended up in Paraguay, where he was assassinated in September 1980, allegedly by members of the 'Argentinian Revolutionary Workers' Party.^[27]

The

The key large-scale programs of the Sandinistas included a

Managua became the second capital in the hemisphere after Cuba to host an embassy from North Korea. Due to tensions between their Soviet sponsors and China, the Sandinistas allowed Taiwan to retain its mission and refused to allow a Chinese mission in the country.

The Sandinistas won the

Historian Christopher Andrew claimed that it was later discovered that the FSLN had, in fact, been suppressing right-wing opposition parties while leaving moderate parties alone, with Ortega claiming that the moderates "presented no danger and served as a convenient facade to the outside world".[33] In 1993, the Library of Congress wrote "Foreign observers generally reported that the election was fair. Opposition groups, however, said that the FSLN domination of government organs, mass organizations groups, and much of the media created a climate of intimidation that precluded a truly open election.".^[34]

Communist leanings and U.S. backed Contras

American support for the long rule of the Somoza family had soured relations, and the FSLN government was committed to a Marxist ideology, with many of the leading Sandinista continuing long-standing relationships with the Soviet Union and Cuba. United States President

After a brief period of sanctions, Nicaragua was faced with a collapsing economy.

The US support for the Contras sparked widespread criticism from many quarters around the globe including within Nicaragua and the U.S., Democrats in Congress included. Several historians have criticized the contra campaign and the Reagan Administration's support for it, citing the brutality and numerous human rights violations of the Contras. LaRamee and Polakoff, for example, describe the destruction of health centers, schools and cooperatives at the hands of the rebels.[39] Others have contended that large scale murder, rape and torture also occurred in Contra dominated areas.^[40] The US also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinistas, and the Reagan administration imposed a full trade embargo.^[41]

The Sandinistas were also accused of human rights abuses including torture, disappearances and mass executions.^[42][43] The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights investigated abuses by Sandinista forces, including an execution of 35 to 40 Miskitos in December 1981,^[44] and an execution of 75 people in November 1984.^[45]

American pressure against the government escalated throughout 1983 and 1984; the Contras began a campaign of economic sabotage and disrupted shipping by planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's Port of Corinto,^[46] an action later condemned by the International Court of Justice as illegal.^[47]

Nicaragua won a historic case against the U.S. at the

...training, arming, equipping, financing and supplying the contra forces or otherwise encouraging, supporting and aiding military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua, the United States has acted, against the Republic of Nicaragua, in breach of its obligation under customary international law not to intervene in the affairs of another State.^[50]

In 1982, legislation was enacted by US Congress to prohibit further aid to the

The FSLN lost to the National Opposition Union by 14 points in elections on February 25, 1990. ABC news had been predicting a 16-point Sandinista victory. At the beginning of Violeta Chamorro's nearly 7 years in office the Sandinistas still largely controlled the army, labor unions, and courts. Her government made moves towards consolidating democratic institutions, advancing national reconciliation, stabilizing the economy, privatizing state-owned enterprises. Due to the control and influence of the army by the Sandinistas, the period following this saw the United States again re-introducing sanctions to Nicaragua from 1992 to 1995. Demands from the United States on lifting the sanctions were as given: strengthen civil control over the Nicaraguan military and settle expropriation claims.^[37]

In February 1995,

The October 20, 1996 presidential, legislative, and mayoral elections also were judged free and fair by international observers and by the groundbreaking national electoral observer group Ética y Transparencia (Ethics and Transparency) despite a number of irregularities, due largely to logistical difficulties and a baroquely complicated electoral law. This time Nicaraguans elected former-Managua Mayor

In November 2000, Nicaragua held municipal elections. Alemán's PLC won a majority of the overall mayoral races. The FSLN fared considerably better in larger urban areas, winning a significant number of departmental capitals including Managua.

Presidential and legislative elections were held on November 4, 2001, the country's fourth free and fair election since 1990. Enrique Bolaños of the PLC was elected to the Nicaraguan presidency, defeating the FSLN candidate Daniel Ortega, by 14 percentage points. The elections were characterized by international observers as free, fair and peaceful. Bolaños was inaugurated on January 10, 2002.

In November 2006 the presidential election was won by Daniel Ortega, returned to power after 16 years in opposition. International observers, including the Carter Center, judged the election to be free and fair.

The country partly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hit hard by

• José Antonio Lacayo de Briones y Palacios
• List of presidents of Nicaragua
• Nicaragua v. United States (1986 International Court of Justice judgement)
• Politics of Nicaragua
• Timeline of Managua
• UNAPA (1994)

General:

• History of Central America
• List of years in Nicaragua

References