The Sandinista Revolution

At first, Managua may seem like another beautiful city in Central America, but its past reveals that there is a little more to it. Managua was not originally the capital of Nicaragua, but in order to resolve a dispute between two warring cities in Spain- the country who had colonized Nicaragua at the time. The city center was destroyed by both an earthquake and a wildfire and was only partially rebuilt, leading to Managua being spread out geographically. In two periods of disorder in the early 1900’s, Nicaragua was under the control of Spain, and any resistance was crushed.(McCarthy, 456)

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) was caused by a variety of factors. It is impossible to place the blame on one single event or person because of the complexity of the Mexican people. One thing is for sure, if people are deprived of food and water, they will find a way to obtain enough to survive. History proves that in desperate times people will take matters into their own hands. When a countries leadership wavers, and conditions become poor enough that people are starving, they will respond negatively. It seems that any time the Mexicans lose the ability to grow their own maize they become discontent.

Did you know that Venezuela was one of the first colonies to gain their independence from Spain? At the time Venezuela was a Spanish ruled colony and the people of Venezuela felt that their government was ruling their colony terribly (Adelblue). The people were led by Simon Bolivar, whose nickname was “The Liberator” since he liberated Venezuela and worked with San Martin to liberate most of Northern South America (Adelblue). Venezuela declared their independence in 1810 and finally gained their independence after the Battle of Carabobo in 1821 (Minster). Three symbolic elements of the Venezuelan revolution are used to portray Simon Bolivar, the speech Simon gave to the Second National Congress in 1819 to encourage the type of government he had in mind, and the high taxation that was the main cause of the revolution (Ellis and Esler 705).

favor. The president also allowed the sale of arms to Iran, with profits redirected to the Contras. The arms sale and movement of funds to the Contras were organized privately through the CIA intelligence network, allegedly with the full support of CIA Director William Casey. Acknowledgment of the Iran-Contra concern in late 1986 exasperated a major congressional investigation. The scandal seriously weakened the influence of the president. The American preoccupation with Nicaragua began to subside in 1987 after President Oscar Arias Sanches of Costa Rica created a regional peace plan. In national elections in 1990, the Nicaraguan opposition beat the Sandinistas, bringing the conclusion to ten bitter years of Sandinista

Whether it is the Spanish governor Pedrarias versus the Indian chieftain Diriangen or the Somoza family versus Sandinista leaders, it is always a fight for freedom or dictatorship. The anti-Americanism of some Nicaraguans also spans back centuries, and it is at least partially justified. From William Walker’s conquest and presidency to America “stealing” the Panama Canal, and the later betrayal of Roosevelt and Nixon, there was plenty of reasons to harbor resentment for Americans. Sandino, the hero who fought the U.S. and inspired the Sandinista revolution, once told an American reporter, “Tell your people that there might be bandits in Nicaragua but that they are not necessarily

The United States has been involved with funding and aiding Nicaragua in many different situations though the years after the Somoza assassination. From the devastating earthquake, to rebel Contra groups, the American government has tried relentlessly to spread capitalism in Nicaragua. The FSLN overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, ending the Somoza dynasty, and established a revolutionary government in its place. Following their seizure of power, the Sandinistas have been successfully in control of the Nicaraguan government since 1979.

The second half of the twentieth century was a time of revolution in Latin America and Nicaragua was a country that was forever changed by that time period. The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), also known as the Sandinistas, were an insurgency that was started by three college students who sought to overthrow a dictator and establish a Marxist style of government in the small central American country of Nicaragua. They learned from their defeats and learned how to be self-sufficient so that they could fight a long, protracted war. They were successful in their efforts and after eighteen years of conflict they overthrew a dictatorship and established a new government in their country.

The current president of Nicaragua is Daniel Ortega (The World Factbook). Nicaragua has a government in which the people elect a president and vice president. Each serves for five years. The president selects a Cabinet that carries out everyday functions. The laws of Nicaragua are made by the National Assembly. The National Assembly is made up of 90 people who are elected, and they also serve five-year terms. Nicaragua

He fostered strong relations with the United States and because of that received quite a bit of money from the United States. Due to this, the economy of Nicaragua rose greatly and had one of the richest capital cities in all of Central America (Townson, 1999). But on December 19, 1972, a devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the country and forever changed Nicaragua. The epicenter of the quake was near to the capital city of Managua and

The Cuban revolution was a revolution of contradictions (Class notes, March 3rd). This highly debated revolution is said to have started in 1959 when Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries forced Fulgensio Baptista to flee the island allowing for a new revolutionary government, however others have argued it started in 1953 when Fidel Castro first attempted armed insurrection, or in the various failed rebellions of 1844 to 1933 (Chomsky, p. 15). Even the timeline of the Cuban revolution is prone to contradiction, as is so much and despite so many thousands of words devoted to the subject very little consensus has been gained. This topic is important because the Cuban revolution is still ongoing in Cuba, and through the march of time has endured where others have failed, remaining perhaps the most consequential revolution in history. Therefore it is important to try and examine Cuba, its origins, it’s history, and effect.

Intervention leads to more intervention, the U.S-Nicaragua relations in the 20th century prior to the Sandinistas is helpful in understanding the evolution of the concept of democracy, and thus in answering the question of whether the U.S can cause a positive impact on Nicaragua’s democracy considering that elections will be held in November this year. Ahead of said elections, Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s president, is seeking a third consecutive term, and has expressed that no international observers will be allowed to oversee the elections. This has raised concern in Washington, leading the House of Representatives to introduce and pass the Nicaragua Investment Conditionally Act, as the Senate awaits to vote to pass the bill, concerns both in favor and against have emerged in Nicaragua. The NICA act, aims to prevent Ortega from accessing international funds if it doesn’t adopt reforms that promote democracy in the country. Nicaraguan politicians showed concern after this call for economic sanctions against Ortega, and the government released a statement saying that this Act is a violation of international law and the united nations charter. The government of Nicaragua argues that this bill is part of the interventionist policy that throughout the history of Nicaragua has intervened in our international and sovereign political, social, and economic process. This argument favors a No, answer saying that U.S doesn’t cause a positive impact on Nicaragua’s democracy, basically

Because of the devastating 6.2 earthquake in Nicaragua and the 5.0 and 5.2 aftershocks on December 23rd, 1972, the U.S. government has began to send funds and aid because we felt the urge to help all of the homeless, hurt, and poor people of the new and disimproved Nicaragua. Some might argue that sending the Nicaraguans our money and aid is a bad choice because they are communist or because we are doing it for other reasons such as to get things out of helping but this isn’t the first time we have sent finances and medical aid to Nicaragua, the U.S. and Nicaragua have been involved with each other over the past many years now. We have also tried to help them with the rebel contras groups.

government did everything within its power to prevent Nicaragua from receiving any imports. The Nicaraguan economy is heavily based on imports, and according to a statement by Rushdie, “In 1985, Nicaragua’s total exports had been valued at $300 million; imports ran at $900 million.” This statement helps us to realize just how dependent Nicaragua is on imports, and how badly the U.S. government could hurt the Nicaraguan economy just by stopping imports from getting into the country. An example of the U.S. government stopping imports from making it into Nicaragua is seen in chapter three of Rushdie’s book, when he says “Most recently, Oxfam America had been prevented by the Reagan administration from sending a $41,000 shipment of seeds, hoes and farm equipment to

The year 1995 was the start of a socialist led political system under the power of Antόnio Gutteres. He helped the country form strong ties with the United States which led to more evolution of the country and its policies. Ever since the Carnation Revolution, the socialist party has been in the forefront of all the political parties and has been the most popular majority since 1975. The definition of a socialist is, “the state

The Cuban Revolution was economically disadvantageous, as it brought on a half century of failure. One of the reasons why the Cuban Revolution did not help Cuba was because it led to embargo being placed on Cuba. This ultimately happened only because of Castro’s Cuban Revolution. When Castro gained power, he lost support from the United States and gained support instead from the Soviet Union. When the embargo was placed on Cuba by the United States, Cuba seeked help from the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union impacted Cuba in a negative way. The rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and his reforms, perestroika and glasnost dove Cuban-Soviet relations into a economic state of emergency. When Cuba suffered a huge economic disaster, “the country lost approximately 80% of its imports, 80% of its