The 19th Century
| 1821 — Nicaragua becomes independent, yet is still incorporated into the Mexican empire |
| 1823 — Nicaragua become a part of the United Provinces of Central America |
| 1838 — Nicaragua becomes fully independent |
| 1860 — British cede control over the country’s Caribbean coast to Nicaragua |
| 1893 — General Jose Santos Zelaya seizes power and establishes a dictatorship |
The 20th Century
| 1909 — US troops help dispose of Zelaya. |
| 1912 — US begins establishing military bases in Nicaragua in response to the rebellion against the corrupt administration. |
| 1927 — Guerrillas led by Augusto Cesar Sandino campaign against the US military presence |
| 1934 — National Guard commander, General Anastasio Somoza Garcia, orders the killing of Sandino. |
| 1937 — General Somoza elected president, starting a 44 year-long dictatorship by his family. |
| 1956 — General Somoza is assassinated, succeeded by his son, Luis Somoza. |
| 1961 — Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) founded by guerrilla groups to oppose the Somoza. |
| 1967 —Luis Somoza dies and is succeeded by his brother, Anastasio Somoza. |
| 1972 — Somoza embezzles international relief funds for a recent earthquake, fomenting support for the FSLN. |
| 1979 — After seven years of guerrilla warfare FSLN military offensive ends with the ouster of Somoza. |
| 1980 — Somoza is assassinated. |
| 1982 — US-sponsored attacks by opposition fighters, Contra rebels, based in Honduras begin; state of emergency declared. |
| 1984 — Daniel Ortega elected president; US mines Nicaraguan harbors and is condemned by the World Court for doing so. |
| 1987 — Nicaraguan leadership signs peace agreement and subsequently holds talks with Contras. Ortega promises to lift press censorship, enforce a ceasefire and hold free elections as a sign of the Sandinistas’ commitment to democracy |
| 1990 — US-backed National Opposition Union defeats FSLN in elections; Violeta Chamorro becomes president. |
| 1996 — Arnoldo Aleman elected president. |
| 1998 — Hurricane Mitch causes massive devastation. Some 3,000 people are killed and hundreds of thousands are left homeless. |
The 21st Century
| 2004 — World Bank cancels 80% of Nicaragua’s debt to that institution. |
| 2005 — Rises in fuel prices and the cost of living trigger weeks of violent street protests. |
| 2006 — Ex-president Daniel Ortega is returned to power in elections. |
| 2014 — Nicaragua’s Congress abolishes presidential term limits and a long-held rule that victorious presidential candidates must win 35% of the vote, sparking public protests. |
| 2016 — Daniel Ortega wins a third consecutive presidential term. His wife Rosario Murillo becomes vice-president. |
| 2018 — Nicaragua is brought to a standstill by outbreaks of deadly violence when president Daniel Ortega unleashes riot police and Sandinista thugs on largely unarmed protesters. |
Somoza
The Contras
Sources
Benny Quinto- “A few buddies of mine left Nicaragua to come make some real bones over here. Wasn’t no money for pinoleros like us back home. Politically, you know, it wasn’t so bad anymore. Somoza was long, the contras were nothing but a memory. But leaving the poverty of Nicaragua to go to the richest country in the world didn’t take much convincing.” Page 44
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- Somoza García ruled Nicaragua with a strong arm, deriving his power from three sources: the ownership or control of large portions of the Nicaraguan economy, the military support of the National Guard, and his acceptance and support from the United States
- Somoza appointed relatives to key positions, controlled elections and the military, drove opponents into exile, and modernized the economy
- Somoza García gained large profits from economic concessions to national and foreign companies, bribes, and illegal exports.
- By the end of World War II, Somoza García had accumulated an estimated US$60 million.
- An earthquake left approximately 10,000 dead, 50,000 families homeless, and destroyed 80 percent of Managua's commercial buildings, Anastasio Somoza Debayle stole a majority of the international aid sent to Nicaragua for the
- Political opponents were tortured and imprisoned by guards under orders from Anastasio Somoza Debayle the government imposed press censorship and suspended many civil liberties
- Contras is short for the counterrevolutionaries
- The fall of Somoza and the Sandinista’s unwillingness to cooperate with the United States is what moved those involved within U.S. national security agencies to assemble the remnants of Somoza’s National Guard into a counterrevolutionary force
- Within a year of the Sandinistas’ capture of power, those opposed to the regime began to engage in violent actions.
- Comprised of former National Guardsmen, ex-Sandinista soldiers, peasants, and farmers upset with “intrusive” Sandinista land policies.
- In late 1981, the Reagan Administration settled on a policy of providing arms, money, and equipment to the Argentinean-backed Contras
- A New York Times article reported, “Contra forces have systematically violated the applicable laws of war throughout the conflict. They have attacked civilians indiscriminately; they have tortured and mutilated prisoners; they have murdered those out of action due to injury by their wounds; they have taken hostages; and they have committed outrages against personal dignity.”
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Libby Masi ’19