Nicaragua: US Intervention, Sandino & Somoza Era
Nicaragua
Liberalism, US Intervention, and Sandino 1894-1934
Nicaragua’s twentieth-century history was shaped by foreign economic dependency and gross inequality in the distribution of land. It also suffered from recurrent U.S. military intervention. Jose Santos Zelaya (dictator) opened his nation to foreign investment and trade, successfully asserted Nicaragua’s claim to sovereignty over the Atlantic Mosquita coast in 1894, and long championed a Central American federation. These signs of independence convinced the United States that Zelaya must go. In 1910, they took power and installed Adolfo Diaz.
A revolt in 1912 was led by Benjamin Zeledon. He fought to the last and suffered defeat; he was executed.
Between 1912 and 1933, the U.S. occupied Nicaragua.
In 1927, Augusto Cesar Sandino refused a U.S.-sponsored peace treaty. He lived in post-revolutionary Mexico and returned to Nicaragua in 1926 to join the struggle against the regime. Jose Maria Moncada (leader of one faction) distrusted Sandino.
Sandino organized his own force, which for seven years waged war against the U.S. Marines and the National Guard.
The Marines left in January 1934.
The Somoza Era: 1934-1979
Somoza García won the December 1936 presidential elections. His excellent command of the English language and understanding of United States culture, combined with a charming personality and considerable political talent and resourcefulness, helped Somoza García win many powerful allies in the United States. Through large investments in land, manufacturing, transport, and real estate, he enriched himself and his close friends. The Somoza family also controlled the PLN, which in turn controlled the legislature and judicial system, thus giving Somoza García absolute power over every sphere of Nicaraguan politics. In 1938, Somoza García named a Constituent Assembly that gave the president extensive power and elected him for another eight-year term.
Exports of timber, gold, and cotton soared. However, because more than 90 percent of all exports went to the United States, the growth in trade also increased the country’s economic and political dependence. Somoza García built an immense fortune for himself and his family during the 1940s through substantial investments in agricultural exports, especially in coffee and cattle. Somoza García had many political enemies, and coups against him were attempted periodically, even within the National Guard. On September 21st, 1956, while attending a PLN party in León to celebrate his nomination for the presidency, Somoza García was fatally wounded by Rigoberto López Pérez, a twenty-seven-year-old Nicaraguan poet.
Sandinistas in Power: 1979-1990
The cost of the Sandinistas’ victory was enormous: a loss of 2 percent of Nicaragua’s population and material damage estimated at $1.3 billion.
Economic problems were high on the new government’s agenda. The immediate goal was to repair the damage from the 1972 earthquake.
The regime pursued a mixed-economy strategy of national development and recognized that private enterprise had a vital role to play in the economy.
The banking system and foreign trade were totally nationalized.
The growth of the public sector was more marked in agriculture, but natural disasters and an inadequate volume of production were impeding its progress.
In a move recalling the 1954 coup against Guatemala, Honduras was converted into a staging area for Nicaraguan operations.
In 1981, Somocistas made terrorist raids into Nicaragua, killing hundreds of soldiers and civilians and destroying important buildings.
The Nicaraguan government responded to the economic crisis with measures to stimulate production by increasing prices paid and other staples. It expanded trade with Europe.