Political history of Nicaragua

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[edit] Political History

Much of Nicaragua's early politics following independence was characterized by the rivalry between the liberal elite of León and the conservative elite of Granada. This rivalry sometimes spilled into civil war. Initially invited by the liberals in 1855 to join their struggle against the conservatives, a U.S.-born adventurer named William Walker won the Liberals' war so easily that it seemed like he barely even fought. As a result, he saw the chance to take over the country. Walker appointed himself as president in 1856. Fearing the possibility of his plans for expansion, several Central American countries united to drive him out of Nicaragua in 1857, ironically supported by American industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had earlier sponsored Walker's pirating of Nicaragua. Walker was executed in neighboring Honduras on Sept. 12, 1860.^[1] A period of three decades of conservative rule ensued.

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 long-standing dispute with the United Kingdom over the Atlantic Coast in 1894, and incorporated the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua.

Nicaragua offered assistance to the Allies during World War II, and was the first country in the world to ratify the UN Charter^[2]. Nicaragua has seen many interventions by the United States. Below is a select summary of U.S. interventions in Nicaragua:^[3]

• 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

Nicaragua has also experienced lengthy periods of military dictatorship, the longest one being the rule of the Somoza family for much of the 20th century. The Somoza family came to power as part of a US-engineered pact in 1927 that stipulated the formation of the National Guard to replace the small individual armies that had long reigned in the country.^[4] The only Nicaraguan general to refuse to sign this pact (el tratado del Espino Negro) was Augusto César Sandino who headed up to the northern mountains of Las Segovias, where he fought the US Marines for over five years.^[5]

Augusto Cesar Sandino

After U.S. Marines withdrew from Nicaragua in January 1933, 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.^[6] 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.^{[7] [8]} 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.^[9]

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.^[10] Somoza was in turn assassinated by Rigoberto López Pérez, a Nicaraguan poet, in 1956. Luis Somoza Debayle, the eldest son of the late dictator, officially took charge of Nicaragua after his father's death.

Luis Somoza, remembered by some for being moderate, was in power only for a few years and then died of a heart attack. Then came president, Rene Schick which most Nicaraguans viewed "as nothing more than a puppet of the Somozas".^[11] Somoza's brother, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who succeeded his father in charge of the National Guard, held control of the country, and officially took the presidency after Schick. In 1961, a young student, Carlos Fonseca, turned back to the historical figure of Sandino, and founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). The FSLN was a tiny party throughout most of the 1960s, but Somoza's utter hatred of the FSLN and heavy-handed treatment of anyone he suspected to be a Sandinista sympathizer gave many ordinary Nicaraguans the idea that the Sandinistas were much stronger than was the case.

Some Nicaraguan historians point to the 1972 earthquake that devastated Managua as the final 'nail in the coffin' for Somoza. Some 90% of the city was destroyed, and Somoza's brazen corruption, mishandling of relief (which prompted Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente to personally fly to Managua on December 31, 1972- a flight that ended in his tragic death)^[12] and refusal to rebuild Managua flooded the ranks of the Sandinistas with young disaffected Nicaraguans who no longer had anything to lose.^[13]

The sons of Anastasio Somoza García: Anastasio Somoza Debayle and Luis Somoza Debale; both became presidents

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 weakened Somoza further since even the economic elite were reluctant to support him. In 1976 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.

These economic problems propelled the Sandinistas forward in their struggle against Somoza by leading many middle and upper class Nicaraguans to see the Sandinistas as the only hope for ridding the country of the brutal Somoza regime. The January 1978 assassination of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, the editor of an important newspaper in Nicaragua and an ardent opponent of Somoza, is believed to have been the spark that that led to extreme general disappointment against Somoza. The intellectual planners and perpetrators of the murder were at the highest echelons of the Somoza regime and included the dictator's son, “El Chiguin”, Somoza’s President of Housing, Cornelio Hueck, Somoza’s Attorney General, and Pedro Ramos, a close Cuban ally who commercialized in illegal blood plasma.

The Sandinistas, supported by much of the populace, elements of the Catholic Church, and regional and international governments took power in July of 1979. Somoza abandoned the country and eventually ended up in Paraguay, where he was assassinated in September 1980, allegedly by members of the 'Argentinian Revolutionary Workers' Party.^[14]

The key large scale programs of the Sandinistas included a massive National Literacy Crusade (March-August, 1980), social program], which received international recognition for their gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform.^{[15] [16]}

Cuban President of The Council of State Fidel Castro in Nicaragua, with former and current President Daniel Ortega (1980)

United States President Jimmy Carter, who had cut off aid to Somoza's Nicaragua the previous year, initially chose to give aid to the new government, but the amount of aid lessened towards the end of his presidency and was completely cut off by President Reagan due to evidence of Sandinista support to FMLN rebels in El Salvador.^[17] Prior to U.S. aid withdrawal, Bayardo Arce, an FSLN politician, had stated that "Nicaragua is the only country building its socialism with the dollars of imperialism." The Reagan administration retorted imposing economic sanctions and a trade embargo against Nicaragua.

After a brief period of these sanctions, Nicaragua was faced with a collapsing economy (see: Economy of Nicaragua). The U.S. trained and financed the Contras, which were a counter-revolutionary group, in neighboring Honduras to impose an American-friendly government and militarily oppose the current government and the Nicaraguan army. The Soviet Union and Cuba were also heavily funding the Nicaraguan army. On June 27, 1986, the International Court of Justice in the “Case Concerning the Military and Paramilitary Activities In and Against Nicaragua (NICARAGUA v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)” acknowledged the nature of the conflict in Nicaragua as one of aggression directed by a foreign power against Nicaragua. In a twelve to three vote, the Court’s summary judgment against the United States stated that by:

...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. ^[18]

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. When Congress moved to cut off aid to the Contras, Reagan aide Col. Oliver North concocted a clandestine and ingenious plan to continue funding the Contras terrorists see: Iran-Contra Affair.

Libyan leader Muammar El Gaddafi in Nicaragua, with former and current President Daniel Ortega

Daniel Ortega was overwhelmingly elected President in 1984. The elections were certified "fair" by some Western NGOs allowed into Nicaragua, despite suppression of opposition parties and other manipulations of the elections. However, many opposition parties boycotted the election entirely due to these problems. The years of war and Nicaragua's economic situation had taken an unparalleled toll on Nicaragua. The US Government offered a political amnesty program that gave visas to any Nicaraguan without question. Nicaraguans (particularly those who could afford passage or had familial connections within the US) left the country in droves. This was the largest emigration ever seen in the history of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua won a historic case against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice in 1986 (see Nicaragua v. United States), and the U.S. was ordered to pay Nicaragua some $12 billion in reparations for violating Nicaraguan sovereignty by engaging in attacks against it. The United States withdrew its acceptance of the Court and argued it had no authority in matters of sovereign state relations. In addition, the U.S. noted that Cuba and the Soviet Union also unfairly committed exactly the same alleged violation against Nicaraguan sovereignty by providing training and ammunition to Sandinistas while Somoza was in power. The U.S. government, standing on this arbitrary principle, refused to pay restitutions, even when a United Nations General Assembly resolution on the matter had been passed. ^[19]

[edit] References

[edit] See Also

• Nicaragua
• Politics of Nicaragua