Conquered by Spain in 1524, Nicaragua mainly remained an afterthought
for its colonial overlords--even after the British established outposts there in the 17th century. European diseases and exploitation
killed as many as a million native people, and pirates prowled the coasts.
By the early 19th century, the British were gone and "New
Spain" was crumbling. In 1821, Nicaragua escaped Spanish rule, first as part of Mexico, and later as part of a regional federation,
the United Provinces of Central America. It left the federation in 1838, but was soon torn by conflict between two sorts of
elites: free-market Liberals and land-owning Conservatives.
Conservatives took control in 1857. Liberals took it back in
1893. In 1909, Conservatives launched a new revolt, with support and encouragement from the United States. In 1912, U.S. Marines
arrived to establish order. They left in 1925, but when civil war ensued, they promptly returned.
The two sides quickly cut a deal, but one Liberal general--Augusto
César Sandino--ignored the agreement and fought on until 1933, when the Marines left again. Before saying adiós, U.S. forces
trained and equipped a Nicaraguan National Guard that combined police and military functions. By 1936, its commander--Anastasio
Somoza García--had assumed control of Nicaragua. With U.S. backing, Somoza's family would run the state for the next 43 years.
During the 1960s, an armed guerrilla group began to organize
to overthrow the Samozas. It took its name, the "Sandinista National Liberation Front," from General Sandino (who was murdered
by the National Guard in 1934). It took its ideology from Karl Marx. In 1979, it took control of the government and launched
sweeping social reforms.
With support from Cuba and the Soviet Union, the Sandinistas
held power until 1990. But their rule was hampered by a U.S. economic boycott--not to mention a bloody guerrilla war with
U.S.-backed counterrevolutionaries called "Contras."
In 1990, the Sandinistas handed power to a freely elected government
led by Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, Central America's first female president. Yet they stayed on as a leading political party.
Since then, the country has begun to recover economically. But it's still one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere.
Almost half of Nicaragua's 5.6 million people survive on less than a dollar a day.
--Steve Sampson Copyright © 2002-2008 Every Learner, Inc. All rights reserved.
