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There is a famous saying in Latin America: "History is a whore.
She will sleep with whoever is in power."
Revisionism is rampant everywhere in the world, and Nicaragua
is no exception. With that disclaimer in mind, here is our
version:
The earliest vestiges of humans in Nicaragua date to 6,000-year-
old footprints found at a construction site in Managua that has
since been turned into the modest Huellas de Acahualinca
Museum.
During the pre-Columbian period the Nicaraos, Chortegas,
Chontales and Miskitos were some of the native inhabitants of
the country. Indigenous people from Mexico immigrated to the
country's Pacific lowlands. Eventually many indigenous groups


adopted the Mexican-based Nahuatl culture when the Aztecs
moved south during the 15th century to establish a trading
colony. The word Nicaragua comes from a Nahuatl word that
means "here, next to the water," or as one other Nahuatl-
speaking man translated it: "the end of the line."
The first contact with Europeans was in 1502 when Columbus
sailed down the Caribbean coast. In 1524, with the arrival of
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, the first two cities, Granada
and León were founded. The colonial capital of León was moved
to Managua in 1851, as a compromise to settle the long dispute
between Granada and León.
In 1821 Nicaragua as well as the rest of Central America, was
freed from Spanish rule. Complete independence was finally
obtained by 1838. Shortly after that, Britain and the U.S.
became attracted to Nicaragua in search of a shortcut across the
Isthmus via the Río San Juan and Lake Nicaragua. The U.S., led
by Cornelius Vanderbilt, were interested in the transisthmian
passage to help facilitate the California Gold Rush.
In 1855 the infamous American, William Walker, appeared on
the scene and his saga began. Walker, with his band of rag-tag
mercenaries, declared himself President of Nicaragua for two
years and tried to turn Central America into a slave state for the
Confederacy. Walker burned down the city of Granada on his
way out, and was later shot to death in Honduras.
Different personalities governed the country afterwards. Among
them was the dictator José Santos Zelaya. He refused to give the
U.S the exclusive right to build a canal from the Pacific to the
Atlantic. Consequently, the U.S. signed a canal treaty with
Panama. As the country fell into civil war, the U.S. Marines
landed in Nicaragua for the first time in 1912. Fighting


continued between the Conservatives and Liberals, and the
famed revolutionary icon Gen. Augusto Sandino emerged in the
fight against U.S. occupation, which ended in 1933.
Shortly thereafter, General Anastasio "Tacho" Somoza took
power as head of the country's U.S.-trained National Guard, and
had Sandino shot. After fraudulent elections Somoza became
president in 1937.
With only brief interruptions, the Somoza family dynasty ruled
Nicaragua as a fiefdom for the next 40 years, amassing a family
fortune and land holdings the size of El Salvador. The Somozas
owned 50% of the arable land and controlled 65% of the gross
domestic product (GDP).
The family's personal fortune was estimated to be around 50
million dollars by the mid-fifties. General Anastasio Somoza was
assassinated in 1956, and his sons took over, with the last in the
line, the notorious Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle (the third to
rule the country), coming to power in 1963.
In 1972, a 6.2-magnitude quake rocked the country and leveled
Managua, killing thousands. Somoza quickly funneled the
outpouring of international relief aid into his own pockets, and
reportedly even sold the blood donated by the Red Cross.
Meanwhile, the Sandinistas insurgents had already formed into
three divisions in the mountains and were plotting to
overthrown Somoza. Somoza renewed his "presidency" in 1974,
further galvanizing the opposition.
On Sept. 9, 1978 the popular insurrection started on the streets
of Estelí. Fifty thousand lost lives later, the revolution culminated
with the July 19, 1979 ousting of Somoza, who was later
assassinated by Sandinista-contract killers in Paraguay.


The Legacy of Augusto César Sandino
Augusto César Sandino ws a leader of the Nicaraguan resistance against
imperialism and the U.S. military presence in Nicaragua. He is also
considerd a national hero and legend in Nicaragua.
Sandino was born in Niquino, Nicaragua the illegitimate son of a white
middle class land owner and his indian servant. During his youth he was
shocked by the inequities of Nicaraguan society which was ruled by a class
of rich landholders. Consequently, Sandino developed his life's quest for
justice and defending the exploited. He became acquainted with radical
revolutionary ideas such as anti-imperialism anti-clericalism, anarchism,
communism, socialism and above all the glorification of his indian
heritage.
In 1921 after murdering the son of a prominent conservative townsperson,
he fled to Honduras, Guatemala and eventually Mexico. He returned to
Nicaragua in 1926 and became involved in the resistance to the U.S.
backed-conservatives. In September of 1927 Sandino start ed his guerilla
war. He called his army, "The Army in Defense of the National
Sovereignty of Nicaragua." Sandino then aligned himself with the liberal
cause to fight the conservative regime. His goal was to force U.S. business
and military interests out of Nicaragua. Sandino then become a rengade
guerillaa general for the liberals. Operating in Nicaragua's northern
mountains he became adriot in using guerilla warefare tactics against U.S.
marine installations in the region.
In 1993, after 20 years of occupation, the U.S. marines finally left
Nicaragua. Juan Bautista Sacasa soon became president of Nicaragua and
Antonio Somoza García was appointed head of the National Guard. The
purpose of the guard was to be peace keeping force to take the place of the
U.S. marines. Sandino soon reached an agreement with the new president
to reduce the size of the National Guard. Sandino sympathizers were to
beplaced in the northern sections of the country thus eroding Somoza's
power. So, on february 21, 1934 Samoza had Sandino shot. His body was
never found.


Headed by Comandante Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista ruling
directorate came up from Costa Rica and took over the country
in 1979. The revolutionary government began government
programs to redistribute the land, and launch massive education
and literacy and health campaigns. With the help of Cuban
brigades of Cuban doctors and educators, the revolution
vaccinated the country and reduced illiteracy from 50% to 13%.
Fear spread of Soviet influence through Central America, and the
hawkish Reagan administration in the U.S. hysterically warned
that the Sandinistas were a "three day march from Texas," that is
if they marched 250 miles an hour. The U.S. set out to
destabilize the revolutionary government. U.S. aid was
suspended, Nicaragua's ports were illegally mined, and a
economic embargo was implemented. The U.S., in the early 80s,
also started to fund and train a group of counterrevolutionaries
and filibusters, known as the Contras.
The Contra war lasted eight years, diverting the Sandinista
government's efforts away from health, education and land
reform efforts and into defense. The war, which claimed some
20,000 lives, also brought out the worst in the Sandinista
government, which implemented a mandatory draft, censured
the press and conducted purges and property seizures against its
"enemies."
Nicaraguans agreed to national elections in 1990, and the U.S.
strongly reminded voters that a Sandinista victory would ensure
the continuance of war and the economic embargo that was
strangling the country. With the U.S.' backing, Violeta Barrios
de Chamorro, considered a moderate motherly figure, won the
elections by a slim margin with an anti-Sandinista alliance called
UNO. Ortega and the Sandinistas agreed to cede power, but not


before passing some hasty final acts to try to legalize properties
they had confiscated, a land-grab known as the piñata.
Chamorro's government set about to disarm the country and
heal deep wounds. Although she may best be known ­ at least by
opponents ­ for forgiving the U.S. of its debt to Nicaragua.
Chamorro retired from politics in 1997, and was replaced in the
casa presidencial by Managua's right-wing mayor, Arnoldo
Alemán of the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC), who defeated
Ortega in the country's second democratic elections. Alemán
reinstated the political tradition of running the country as if it
were his own, and now is serving a 20-year jail sentence for
corruption and embezzling $100 million in state funds.
Alemán's government also saw the wrath of Hurricane Mitch,
which ripped through Nicaragua, killing thousands and leaving
in its wake hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The
natural disaster set Nicaragua even further back, and current day
poverty levels are still equivalent to the 1950s.
Alemán's corruption and greed didn't help the situation. The
incarcerated former President recently made Transparency
International's list of the top 10 most corrupt leaders of all time.
He remains the undisputed Liberal party boss from his hacienda
jail known as El Chile.
Businessman Enrique Bolaños, who defeated Ortega in the
country's third elections, after running on an anti-corruption
campaign, replaced Alemán in 2002.
Bolaños, who won on the PLC ticket, went after Alemán. His
efforts landed the former president in jail, but deeply divided the
PLC. Bolaños ended up defecting from the PLC in 2004, and
joining the upstart Alliance for the Republic (APRE).


Ortega and Alemán, meanwhile, formed a pact between the two
in 2002 to divide up the country's Supreme Court and other
state institutions, while preventing minority parties from
participating in the country's first municipal elections in
November 2002. Ortega and Alemán renegotiated the infamous
pacto in December 2004 to further undermine President Bolaños
and pass a series of Constitutional reforms that wrested power
away from the Executive Branch and empowered the Legislative
Branch.