Editing Nicaragua (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Nicaragua}}

=== Pre-Columbian history ===
[[File:Nicaragua Ometepe pétroglyphes 1.jpg|thumb|An ancient [[petroglyph]] on [[Ometepe Island]]]]
[[Paleo-Indians]] first inhabited what is now known as Nicaragua as far back as 12,000&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="Dall2005">{{cite book|last=Dall|first=Christopher|title=Nicaragua in Pictures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUP3hLbq6DEC&pg=PA66|date=1 October 2005|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-8225-2671-1|pages=66–67}}</ref> In later [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] times, Nicaragua's [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous people]] were part of the [[Intermediate Area]],<ref name="Brief">{{cite book|last1=Pérez-Brignoli|first1=Héctor|last2=translated by Sawrey A.|first2=Ricardo B.|last3=Sawrey|first3=Susana Stettri de|title=A Brief History of Central America|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofce00pr|url-access=registration|date=1989|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0520060494|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|33}} between the [[Mesoamerica]]n and [[Andes|Andean]] cultural regions, and within the influence of the [[Isthmo-Colombian Area]]. Nicaragua's central region and its Caribbean coast were inhabited by [[Macro-Chibchan languages|Macro-Chibchan language]] ethnic groups such as the [[Miskito people|Miskito]], [[Rama people|Rama]], [[Mayagna|Mayangna]], and [[Cacaopera people|Matagalpas]].<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|20}} They had coalesced in Central America and migrated both to and from present-day northern Colombia and nearby areas.<ref>[http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40290 Gloria Helena Rey, "The Chibcha Culture – Forgotten, But Still Alive"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220131907/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40290 |date=20 February 2012 }}, ''Colombia'', ''Inter Press Service (IPS) News'', 30 November 2007, accessed 9 November 2010</ref> Their food came primarily from hunting and gathering, but also fishing and [[slash-and-burn]] agriculture.<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|33}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Nicaragua: VI History|encyclopedia=Encarta|date=13 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="Newson">{{cite book|last1=Newson|first1=Linda A.|title=Indian survival in colonial Nicaragua|date=1987|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman [OK]|isbn=978-0806120089|edition=1st}}</ref>{{rp|65}}

At the end of the 15th century, western Nicaragua was inhabited by several indigenous peoples related by culture to the Mesoamerican civilizations of the [[Aztecs|Aztec]] and [[Maya peoples|Maya]], and by language to the [[Mesoamerican language area]].<ref name=LOC1>{{cite news|title=Nicaragua: Precolonial Period|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0013)|work=Library of Congress Country Studies|access-date=29 June 2007|archive-date=22 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922145600/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0013)|url-status=live}}, interpretation of statement: "the native peoples were linguistically and culturally similar to the Aztec and the Maya"</ref> The Chorotegas were [[Mangue language]] ethnic groups who had arrived in Nicaragua from what is now the Mexican state of [[Chiapas]] sometime around 800 CE.<ref name="Choque" /><ref name="Newson" />{{rp|26–33}} The [[Nicarao people]] were a branch of [[Nahuas]] who spoke the [[Nawat language|Nawat]] dialect and also came from Chiapas, around 1200 CE.<ref name="Campbell1985">{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|title=The Pipil Language of El Salvador|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5bmUh7jproC&pg=PA10|date=1 January 1985|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-088199-8|pages=10–12}}</ref> Prior to that, the Nicaraos had been associated with the [[Toltec]] civilization.<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|26–33}}<ref name="Campbell1985" /><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fowler|first=WR Jr.|year=1985|title=Ethnohistoric Sources on the Pipil Nicarao: A Critical Analysis|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=32|issue=1|pages=37–62|place=Columbus, Ohio|oclc=62217753|doi=10.2307/482092|jstor=482092 | issn = 0014-1801}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brinton|first1=Daniel G.|title=Were the Toltecs an Historic Nationality?|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|date=1887|volume=24|issue=126|pages=229–230|jstor=983071}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=von Humboldt, Alexander|author2=Poynter, J. Ryan |author3=Altamirano Rayo, Giorleny D |author4=Kraft, Tobias |title=Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: A Critical Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G7Pt35axXEkC&pg=PA92|date=25 January 2013|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-86509-6|page=92}}</ref> Both Chorotegas and Nicaraos originated in Mexico's [[Cholula (Mesoamerican site)|Cholula]] valley,<ref name="Campbell1985" /> and migrated south.<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|26–33}} A third group, the [[Subtiaba language|Subtiaba]]s, were an [[Oto-Manguean languages|Oto-Manguean]] people who migrated from the Mexican state of [[Guerrero]] around 1200 CE.<ref name="Campbell1997">{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Lyle |title=American Indian languages : the historical linguistics of Native America |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-509427-1}}</ref>{{rp|159}} Additionally, there were trade-related colonies in Nicaragua set up by the Aztecs starting in the 14th century.<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|26–33}}

=== Spanish colonial era (1523–1821) ===
{{Further|Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish conquest of Nicaragua}}
[[File:Iglesia de la Recoleccion - Leon - Nicaragua - 01 (31416391552).jpg|thumb|The Colonial city of [[León, Nicaragua|León]]]]
[[File:06.Plaza de la Independencia de Granada.JPG|thumb|The colonial city of [[Granada, Nicaragua|Granada]] near [[Lake Nicaragua]], one of the most visited sites in [[Central America]]]]
In 1502, on his fourth voyage, [[Christopher Columbus]] became the first European known to have reached what is now Nicaragua as he sailed southeast toward the [[Isthmus of Panama]].<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|193}}<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|92}} Columbus explored the [[Mosquito Coast]] on the Atlantic side of Nicaragua<ref>{{cite news|title=Letter of Columbus on the Fourth Voyage|publisher=American Journey|url=http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-068/summary/index.asp|access-date=9 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403152053/http://americanjourneys.org/aj-068/summary/index.asp|archive-date=3 April 2007}}</ref> but did not encounter any indigenous people. 20 years later, the Spaniards returned to Nicaragua, this time to its southwestern part. The first attempt to conquer Nicaragua was by the conquistador [[Gil González Dávila]],<ref name=EBH>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Nicaragua: History|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214487/Nicaragua|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=10 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610194232/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214487/Nicaragua|url-status=live}}</ref> who had arrived in Panama in January 1520. In 1522, González Dávila ventured to the area that later became the [[Rivas Department]] of Nicaragua.<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|35}}<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|92}} There he encountered an indigenous Nahua tribe led by chief Macuilmiquiztli, whose name has sometimes been erroneously referred to as "[[Nicarao (cacique)|Nicarao]]" or "Nicaragua". The tribe's capital was Quauhcapolca.<ref name="Encuentro">{{cite news|title=Encuentro del cacique y el conquistador|url=http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/especiales/44697-encuentro-cacique-conquistador/|access-date=17 May 2017|work=El Nuevo Diario|date=4 April 2009|trans-title=Encounter of the cacique and the conqueror|language=es|archive-date=7 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507054414/http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/especiales/44697-encuentro-cacique-conquistador/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="HealyPohl1980">{{cite book|author1=Healy, Paul |author2=Pohl, Mary |title=Archaeology of the Rivas Region, Nicaragua|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyofriv0001heal|url-access=registration |year=1980|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-88920-094-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/archaeologyofriv0001heal/page/21 21]}}</ref><ref name="Dyck2015">{{cite book|author1=Dyck, Erika |author2=Fletcher, Christopher |title=Locating Health: Historical and Anthropological Investigations of Place and Health|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-c5CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA107|date=6 October 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-32278-8|page=107}}</ref> González Dávila conversed with Macuilmiquiztli thanks to two indigenous interpreters who had learned Spanish, whom he had brought along.<ref name="Sanchez">{{cite news|last1=Sánchez|first1=Edwin|title=No hubo Nicarao, todo es invento|work=El Nuevo Diario|date=16 September 2002|trans-title=There was no Nicarao, it's all invented|language=es}}</ref> After exploring and gathering gold<ref name="Encuentro" /><ref name="Brief" />{{rp|35}}<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|55}} in the fertile western valleys, González Dávila and his men were attacked and driven off by the Chorotega, led by chief [[Diriangen|Diriangén]].<ref name="Encuentro" /><ref>{{cite news|title=The Spanish Conquest|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0014)|work=Library of Congress|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=22 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922150135/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0014)|url-status=live}}</ref> The Spanish tried to convert the tribes to Christianity; Macuilmiquiztli's tribe was baptized,<ref name="Encuentro" /><ref name="Newson" />{{rp|86}} but Diriangén was openly hostile to the Spaniards. Western Nicaragua, at the Pacific Coast, became a port and shipbuilding facility for the Galleons plying the waters between [[Manila]], [[Philippines]] and [[Acapulco]], [[Mexico]].<ref>[https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/100380/1/Peterson_Andrew_r.pdf Making the First Global Trade Route: The Southeast Asian Foundations of the Acapulco–Manila Galleon Trade, 1519-1650 (Page 163)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117122328/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/100380/1/Peterson_Andrew_r.pdf |date=17 November 2021 }} Citing Andre Gschaedler, "Mexico and the Pacific, 1540 - 1565: The Voyage of Villabos and Legazpi and the Preparations Made for Them," (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1954), 40.</ref>

The first Spanish permanent settlements were founded in 1524.<ref name=EBH/> That year, the conquistador [[Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (founder of Nicaragua)|Francisco Hernández de Córdoba]] founded two of Nicaragua's main cities: [[Granada, Nicaragua|Granada]] on [[Lake Nicaragua]], and then [[León, Nicaragua|León]], west of [[Lake Managua]].<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|35, 193}}<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|92}} Córdoba soon built defenses for the cities and fought against incursions by other conquistadors.<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|92}} Córdoba was later publicly [[Decapitation|beheaded]] for having defied his superior, [[Pedro Arias Dávila]].<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|35}} Córdoba's tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the [[León Viejo|ruins of León Viejo]].<ref name=ET>{{cite news|title=Nicaragua Briefs: An Historic Find|publisher=Central American University – UCA|url=http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/1418|work=Envío|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=12 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712083309/http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/1418|url-status=live}}</ref>

The clashes among Spanish forces did not impede their destruction of the indigenous people and their culture. The series of battles came to be known as the "War of the Captains".<ref>{{cite book|last=Duncan|first=David Ewing|title=Hernando de Soto – A Savage Quest in the Americas – Book II: Consolidation|publisher=Crown Publishers|location=New York|year=1995}}</ref> Pedro Arias Dávila was a winner;<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|35}} although he lost control of Panama, he moved to Nicaragua and established his base in León.<ref name="Whisnant2000">{{cite book|last=Whisnant|first=David E.|title=Rascally Signs in Sacred Places: The Politics of Culture in Nicaragua|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qK8TBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|date=9 November 2000|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-6626-9|pages=30–32|access-date=24 May 2017|archive-date=5 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140444/https://books.google.com/books?id=qK8TBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1527, León became the capital of the colony.<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|93}}<ref name="Whisnant2000" /> Through diplomacy, Arias Dávila became the colony's first governor.<ref name=ET/>

Without women in their parties,<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|123}} the Spanish conquerors took Nahua and Chorotega wives and partners, beginning the multiethnic mix of indigenous and European stock now known as "''[[mestizo]]''", which constitutes the great majority of the population in western Nicaragua.<ref name=LOC1/> Many indigenous people were killed by European [[infectious disease]]s, compounded by neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled their subsistence.<ref name=EBH/> Many other indigenous peoples were captured and transported as slaves to Panama and Peru between 1526 and 1540.<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|193}}<ref name="Newson" />{{rp|104–105}}

In 1610, the [[Momotombo]] volcano erupted, destroying the city of León.<ref name="Geomorph">{{cite book|last=Bergoeing|first=Jean Pierre|title=Geomorphology of Central America: A Syngenetic Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWwZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68|date=18 May 2015|publisher=Elsevier Science|isbn=978-0-12-803185-8|pages=68–69|access-date=25 May 2017|archive-date=5 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140445/https://books.google.com/books?id=TWwZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The city was rebuilt northwest of the original,<ref name="Whisnant2000" /><ref name="Geomorph" /> which is now known as the [[León Viejo|ruins of León Viejo]]. During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Central America was subject to conflict between Britain and Spain. British navy admiral [[Horatio Nelson]] led expeditions in the [[Battle of San Fernando de Omoa]] in 1779 and on the [[San Juan Expedition (1780)|San Juan River in 1780]], the latter of which had temporary success before being abandoned due to disease.

=== Independent Nicaragua from 1821 to 1909 ===
[[File:Political Evolution of Central America and the Caribbean 1830 na.png|thumb|The [[Mosquito Coast]] in 1830]]
[[File:La Pedrada de Andres Castro.jpg|thumb|A portrait of the [[Battle of San Jacinto (1856)|Battle of San Jacinto]] during the [[Filibuster War]]]]
The [[Act of Independence of Central America]] dissolved the [[Captaincy General of Guatemala]] in September 1821, and Nicaragua soon [[Central America under Mexican rule|became part]] of the [[First Mexican Empire]]. In July 1823, after the overthrow of the Mexican monarchy in March of the same year, Nicaragua joined the newly formed [[Federal Republic of Central America|United Provinces of Central America]], a country later known as the Federal Republic of Central America. Nicaragua definitively became an independent republic in 1838.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Smith|first1= RS|title= Financing the Central American federation, 1821–1838|journal= The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume= 43|issue= 4|pages= 483–510|year= 1963|doi= 10.2307/2509898|jstor= 2509898}}</ref>

The early years of independence were characterized by rivalry between the [[Constitutionalist Liberal Party|Liberal]] elite of León and the [[Conservative Party (Nicaragua)|Conservative]] elite of Granada, which often degenerated into civil war, particularly during the 1840s and 1850s. [[Managua]] rose to undisputed preeminence as the nation's capital in 1852 to allay the rivalry between the two feuding cities.<ref name="Capital">{{cite book|last= Cybriwsky|first= Roman Adrian|title= Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qb6NAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|date= 23 May 2013|publisher= ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-1-61069-248-9|page= 177|access-date= 27 May 2017|archive-date= 5 February 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140429/https://books.google.com/books?id=qb6NAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Managua|url= http://archivo.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2006/marzo/09/servicios/guiaturistica/|access-date= 24 May 2017|work= La Prensa|date= 9 March 2006|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131111081208/http://archivo.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2006/marzo/09/servicios/guiaturistica/|language= es|archive-date=11 November 2013 | quote = Fue elevada a ciudad en 1846 y salomónicamente declarada capital de la República en 1852, para dirimir el viejo conflicto entre las urbes coloniales de León (occidente) y Granada (oriente) que rivalizaban por ejercer la hegemonía política de Nicaragua.}}</ref> Following the start of the [[California Gold Rush]] in 1848, Nicaragua provided a route for travelers from the eastern United States to journey to [[California]] by sea, via the [[San Juan River (Nicaragua)|San Juan River]] and Lake Nicaragua.<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|81}} Invited by the Liberals in 1855 to join their struggle against the Conservatives, the American adventurer and [[Filibuster (military)|filibuster]] [[William Walker (filibuster)|William Walker]] set himself up as [[President of Nicaragua]] after conducting a farcical election in 1856; his presidency lasted less than a year.<ref name="mined">{{cite web|url= http://www.mined.gob.ni/gobernant4.php|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121009181920/http://www.mined.gob.ni/gobernant4.php|url-status= dead|archive-date= 9 October 2012|title= Gobernantes de Nicaragua|date= 9 December 2012|publisher= Ministerio de Educación|access-date= 29 August 2020}}</ref> Military forces from Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua itself united to drive Walker out of Nicaragua in 1857,<ref>{{cite book|last= Walker|first= W|title= The War in Nicaragua|publisher= S.H. Goetzel & Company|place= New York|year= 1860|url= https://archive.org/stream/warinnicaragua00walkgoog#page/n6/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last= Juda|first= F|title= California Filibusters: A History of their Expeditions into Hispanic America (excerpt)|journal= The Grizzly Bear|volume= XXI|issue= 4|pages= 3–6, 15, 19|year= 1919|url= http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/walker.html|access-date= 20 July 2011|archive-date= 2 August 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090802063416/http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/walker.html|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Baker|first= CP|title= Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica|edition= 4th|chapter= The William Walker Saga|page= [https://archive.org/details/costarica00bake_2/page/67 67]|publisher= Avalon Travel Publishing|place= New York|year= 2001|isbn= 978-1-56691-608-0|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/costarica00bake_2/page/67}}</ref> bringing three decades of Conservative rule.

Great Britain, which had claimed the [[Mosquito Coast]] as a [[protectorate]] since 1655, delegated the area to Honduras in 1859 before transferring it to Nicaragua in 1860. The Mosquito Coast remained an [[autonomous area]] until 1894. [[José Santos Zelaya]], President of Nicaragua from 1893 to 1909, negotiated the integration of the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua. In his honor, the region became "[[Zelaya Department]]".

Throughout the late 19th-century, the United States and several European powers considered various schemes to link the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic by building a [[Nicaragua Canal|canal across Nicaragua]].<ref>
{{cite book
|last= Colquhoun|first= AR|title= The key of the Pacific: the Nicaragua canal
|publisher= Archibald Constable and Company
|place= Westminster, England|year= 1895
|url= https://archive.org/stream/keypacificnicar02colqgoog#page/n6/mode/2up
}}
</ref>

=== United States occupation (1909–1933) ===
{{See also|United States occupation of Nicaragua}}
In 1909, the United States supported the forces rebelling against President Zelaya. U.S. motives included differences over the proposed [[Nicaragua Canal]], Nicaragua's potential to destabilize the region, and Zelaya's attempts to regulate foreign access to Nicaraguan natural resources. On 18&nbsp;November 1909, U.S. warships were sent to the area after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) were executed by order of Zelaya. The U.S. justified the intervention by claiming to protect U.S. lives and property. Zelaya resigned later that year.

In August 1912, the President of Nicaragua, [[Adolfo Díaz]], requested the secretary of war, General [[Luis Mena (Nicaraguan politician)|Luis Mena]], to resign for fear he was leading an insurrection. Mena fled Managua with his brother, the chief of police of Managua, to start an insurrection. After Mena's troops captured steam boats of an American company, the U.S. delegation asked President Díaz to ensure the safety of American citizens and property during the insurrection. He replied he could not, and asked the U.S. to intervene in the conflict.<ref>{{cite book|title=Foreign Relations of the United States|year=1912|page=1032}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Langley|first=Lester D.|title=The Banana Wars: United States Intervention in the Caribbean, 1898-1934|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc1RBfZd3pcC&pg=PA64|year=2002|publisher=SR Books|location=Wilmington|isbn=978-0-8420-5047-0|page=64|access-date=5 February 2024|archive-date=5 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140307/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc1RBfZd3pcC&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]] occupied Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933,<ref name="Brief" />{{rp|111, 197}}<ref>{{cite news|title=US violence for a century: Nicaragua: 1912–33|url=http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=12191|work=Socialist Worker|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213236/http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=12191|url-status=dead}}</ref> except for a nine-month period beginning in 1925. In 1914, the [[Bryan–Chamorro Treaty]] was signed, giving the U.S. control over a proposed canal through Nicaragua, as well as leases for potential canal defenses.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Bryan–Chamorro Treaty|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9016820/Bryan-Chamorro-Treaty|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=27 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227005939/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9016820/Bryan-Chamorro-Treaty|url-status=live}}</ref> After the U.S. Marines left, another [[Nicaraguan civil war (1926–27)|violent conflict]] between Liberals and Conservatives in 1926 resulted in the return of U.S. Marines.<ref>{{cite news|title=General Augusto C. Sandino: The Constitutional War|url=http://www.vianica.com/go/specials/16-augusto-sandino.html|work=ViaNica|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=22 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822222208/http://www.vianica.com/go/specials/16-augusto-sandino.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:General Sandino (center) and Staff enroute to Mexico. Siglo XX., 06-1929 - NARA - 532357.tif|thumb|Rebel leader [[Augusto César Sandino]] (center) in June 1929]]
From 1927 to 1933, rebel general [[Augusto César Sandino]] led a sustained guerrilla war against the regime and then against the [[United States Marines|U.S. Marines]], whom he fought for over five years.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vukelich|first=D|title=A Disaster Foretold|publisher=The Advocacy Project|url=http://www.advocacynet.org/news_view/news_141.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403231532/http://www.advocacynet.org/news_view/news_141.html|archive-date=3 April 2007|access-date=9 May 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> When the Americans left in 1933, they set up the ''[[National Guard (Nicaragua)|Guardia Nacional]]'' (national guard),<ref name=SY>{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Somoza years|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-40992/Nicaragua|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=19 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619204204/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-40992/Nicaragua|url-status=live}}</ref> a combined military and police force trained and equipped by the Americans and designed to be loyal to U.S. interests.

After the U.S. Marines withdrew from Nicaragua in January 1933, Sandino and the newly elected administration of President [[Juan Bautista Sacasa]] reached an agreement that Sandino would cease his guerrilla activities in return for amnesty, a land grant for an agricultural colony, and retention of an armed band of 100 men for a year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Biographical Notes |url=http://www.sandino.org/bio_en.htm |access-date=9 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231171221/http://www.sandino.org/bio_en.htm |archive-date=31 December 2006 }}</ref> However, due to a growing hostility between Sandino and National Guard director [[Anastasio Somoza García]] and a fear of armed opposition from Sandino, Somoza García ordered his assassination.<ref name=SY/><ref>{{cite news|title=History of U.S. Violence Across the Globe: Washington's War Crimes (1912–33)|date=16 December 2001|url=http://www.bulatlat.com/news/2-5/2-5-reader-arnove.html|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=14 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114023101/http://www.bulatlat.com/news/2-5/2-5-reader-arnove.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=T|last=Solo|title=Nicaragua: From Sandino to Chavez|date=7 October 2005|publisher=Dissident Voice|url=http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct05/solo1007.htm|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=5 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405114858/http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct05/solo1007.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>  Sacasa invited Sandino for dinner and to sign a peace treaty at the Presidential House on the night of 21&nbsp;February 1934. After leaving the Presidential House, Sandino's car was stopped by National Guard soldiers and they kidnapped him. Later that night, Sandino was assassinated by National Guard soldiers. Later, hundreds of men, women, and children from Sandino's agricultural colony were murdered.<ref name=SomozaDynasty>{{cite news |title=The Somoza Dynasty |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |url=http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/nicaragua_proj/history/somoza/Hist-Somoza-dinasty.pdf |page=1 |access-date=9 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110033552/http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/nicaragua_proj/history/somoza/Hist-Somoza-dinasty.pdf |archive-date=10 November 2006 }}</ref>

=== Somoza dynasty (1927–1979) ===
[[File:Trujillo-Somoza 1952.jpg|thumb|President [[Anastasio Somoza García]] (left) with [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] President [[Rafael Trujillo]] in 1952]]
[[File:Meeting with President Anastasio Somoza Debayle of Nicaragua, before State Dinner - NARA - 194723-perspective-tilt-crop.jpg|thumb|[[Anastasio Somoza Debayle]] (center) with U.S. president [[Richard Nixon]] in 1971]]
Nicaragua has experienced several military dictatorships, the longest being the hereditary dictatorship of the [[Somoza family]], who ruled for 43 nonconsecutive years during the 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Colburn|first=Forrest D.|title=Nicaragua, Forlorn|journal=World Policy Journal|issue=Spring 2012|url=http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/spring2012/nicaragua-forlorn|access-date=31 May 2012|date=26 March 2012|volume=29|pages=91–100|doi=10.1177/0740277512443806|archive-date=6 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506221638/http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/spring2012/nicaragua-forlorn|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Somoza family came to power in 1937 partly as a result of a U.S.-engineered pact in 1927 that stipulated the formation of the ''Guardia Nacional'' to replace the marines who had long reigned in the country.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lying for Empire: How to Commit War Crimes With a Straight Face|first=David|last=Model|publisher=Common Courage Press|year=2005}}</ref> Somoza García slowly eliminated officers in the national guard who might have stood in his way, and then deposed Sacasa and became president on 1&nbsp;January 1937, in a [[Electoral fraud|rigged election]].<ref name=SY/>

In 1941, during the [[Second World War]], Nicaragua declared war on [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] (8 December), [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] (11 December), [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] (11 December), [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] (19 December), [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]] (19 December) and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] (19 December). Only Romania reciprocated, declaring war on Nicaragua on the same day (19 December 1941).<ref>Goldstein, Erik (2005) ''Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816 to 1991''. Routledge. p. 218. {{ISBN|9781134899111}}</ref> No soldiers were sent to the war, but Somoza García confiscated properties held by [[German Nicaraguan]] residents.<ref>{{cite news|title=El asalto de Somoza a los alemanes |date=6 January 2005 |url=http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2005/enero/06-enero-2005/nacional/nacional-20050106-04.html |access-date=13 July 2007 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012011055/http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2005/enero/06-enero-2005/nacional/nacional-20050106-04.html |archive-date=12 October 2007 }}</ref> In 1945, Nicaragua was among the first countries to ratify the United Nations Charter.<ref>{{cite web|title=Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice|page=49|publisher=United Nations|place=San Francisco|date=26 June 1945|url=http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CTC/uncharter.pdf|access-date=21 July 2011|archive-date=16 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116214749/http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CTC/uncharter.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 29 September 1956,<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 September 1956|title=SOMOZA'S NATION CALLED HIS FIEF; Rule of Nicaraguan General, Beginning With 1935 Coup, Was Seldom Challenged PRESIDENT FIRST IN '37 Graduate of Business School in U.S., He Acquired Great Wealth During Regime|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/09/30/88469093.html|access-date=8 November 2021|website=New York Times TimesMachine|language=en|archive-date=5 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140309/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/09/30/88469093.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Somoza García was shot to death by [[Rigoberto López Pérez]], a 27-year-old Liberal Nicaraguan poet. [[Luis Somoza Debayle]], the eldest son of the late president, was appointed president by the congress and officially took charge of the country.<ref name=SY/> He is remembered by some as moderate, but after only a few years in power died of a heart attack. His successor as president was [[René Schick Gutiérrez]], whom most Nicaraguans viewed "as nothing more than a puppet of the Somozas".<ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard |first=TM |title=Against all odds: U.S. policy and the 1963 Central America Summit Conference |year=2003 |publisher=Journal of Third World Studies |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200304/ai_n9173383/pg_11 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628115503/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200304/ai_n9173383/pg_11 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2009 |page=11 |access-date=9 May 2007 }}</ref> Somoza García's youngest son, [[Anastasio Somoza Debayle]], often referred to simply as "Somoza", became president in 1967.

An [[1972 Nicaragua earthquake|earthquake in 1972]] destroyed nearly 90% of Managua, including much of its infrastructure.<ref>{{cite news|title=Headline: Nicaragua Earthquake |date=16 December 1972 |publisher=Vanderbilt Television News Archive |url=http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=221286 |access-date=24 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510035404/https://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=221286 |archive-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref> Instead of helping to rebuild the city, Somoza siphoned off relief money. The mishandling of relief money also prompted [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] star [[Roberto Clemente]] to personally fly to Managua on 31&nbsp;December 1972, but he died ''en route'' in an airplane accident.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roberto Clemente |url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/clemente-roberto |website=National Baseball Hall of Fame |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308052248/https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/clemente-roberto |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Roberto Clemente – Bio|publisher=The National Baseball Hall of Fame|url=http://baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/clemente_roberto.htm|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427145215/http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/clemente_roberto.htm|archive-date=27 April 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Even the economic elite were reluctant to support Somoza, as he had acquired monopolies in industries that were key to rebuilding the nation.<ref>{{cite news|title=A Battle Ends, a War Begins|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946048-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930135935/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946048-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2007|magazine=TIME|access-date=21 August 2007|date=11 September 1978}}</ref>

The Somoza family was among a few families or groups of influential firms which reaped most of the benefits of the country's growth from the 1950s to the 1970s. When Somoza was deposed by the Sandinistas in 1979, the family's worth was estimated to be between $500&nbsp;million and $1.5&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news|last=Annis|first=B|title=Nicaragua: Diversification and Growth, 1945–77|year=1993|publisher=The Library of Congress|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0047)|access-date=25 September 2012|archive-date=7 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407221029/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0047)|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Nicaraguan Revolution (1960s–1990) ===
{{Main|Nicaraguan Revolution}}
[[File:Smoke break el serrano 1987.jpg|thumb|The U.S.–supported [[Contras|Contra]] rebels in 1987]]
[[File:10th anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution in Managua, 1989.jpg|thumb|Celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the [[Nicaraguan Revolution]] in [[Managua]] in 1989]]
In 1961, [[Carlos Fonseca]] looked back to the historical figure of Sandino, and along with two other people, one of whom was believed to be Casimiro Sotelo, who was later assassinated, founded the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front]] (FSLN).<ref name=SY/> After the 1972 earthquake and Somoza's apparent corruption, the ranks of the Sandinistas were flooded with young disaffected Nicaraguans who no longer had anything to lose.<ref name=Grinnell2007>{{cite news|title=The Sandinistas and the Revolution|publisher=Grinnell College|url=http://web.grinnell.edu/LatinAmericanStudies/this.html|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206200536/http://web.grinnell.edu/LatinAmericanStudies/this.html|archive-date=6 February 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In December 1974, a group of the FSLN, in an attempt to kidnap U.S. ambassador Turner Shelton, held some Managuan partygoers hostage after killing the party's host, former agriculture minister Jose Maria Castillo, until the Somoza government met their demands for a large ransom and free transport to [[Cuba]]. Somoza granted the demand, and then subsequently sent his national guard out into the countryside to look for the kidnappers, who were described by opponents as terrorists.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Pamela |last1=Constable |author-link=Pamela Constable |first2=Arturo |last2=Valenzuela |year=1991 |title=A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet |page=[https://archive.org/details/nationofenemiesc00cons/page/150 150] |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-30985-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/nationofenemiesc00cons/page/150}}</ref>

On 10 January 1978, [[Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal]], the editor of the national newspaper ''[[La Prensa (Managua)|La Prensa]]'' and ardent opponent of Somoza, was assassinated.<ref name=AC>{{cite news|title=History of Nicaragua: The Beginning of the End|publisher=American Nicaraguan School|url=http://www.ans.edu.ni/Academics/history/somozatachito.html|access-date=4 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520223517/http://www.ans.edu.ni/Academics/history/somozatachito.html|archive-date=20 May 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is alleged that the planners and perpetrators of the murder were at the highest echelons of the Somoza regime.<ref name=AC/>

The Sandinistas forcefully took power in July 1979, ousting Somoza, and prompting the exodus of the majority of Nicaragua's middle class, wealthy landowners, and professionals, many of whom settled in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Nordheimer|first1=Jon|title=Nicaraguan Exiles Find A Place In The Sun: Miami|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/29/us/nicaraguan-exiles-find-a-place-in-the-sun-miami.html|access-date=27 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=29 July 1987|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024123311/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/29/us/nicaraguan-exiles-find-a-place-in-the-sun-miami.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Tracy|title=Families Struggle to Maintain Life Style : Sandinista Rule Not Easy on Middle Class|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-07-mn-373-story.html|access-date=27 May 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=7 August 1988|archive-date=5 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140400/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-07-mn-373-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wicker|first1=Tom|title=In The Nation; The Sandinista Puzzle|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/29/opinion/in-the-nation-the-sandinista-puzzle.html|access-date=27 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=29 July 1983|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024123644/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/29/opinion/in-the-nation-the-sandinista-puzzle.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Carter administration decided to work with the new government, while attaching a provision for aid forfeiture if it was found to be assisting insurgencies in neighboring countries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pastor|first=Robert|title=Exiting the Whirlpool: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean|publisher=Westview Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8133-3811-8|url=https://archive.org/details/exitingwhirlpool00past}}</ref> Somoza fled the country, and eventually  ended up in [[Paraguay]], where he was assassinated in September 1980, allegedly by members of the Argentinian Revolutionary Workers' Party.<ref>{{cite web|title=Timeline: Nicaragua|publisher=Stanford University|url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/arts/nicaragua/discovery_eng/timeline/|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=26 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426233326/http://www.stanford.edu/group/arts/nicaragua/discovery_eng/timeline/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1980, the [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|Carter administration]] provided $60&nbsp;million in aid to Nicaragua under the Sandinistas, but the aid was suspended when the administration obtained evidence of Nicaraguan shipment of arms to El Salvadoran rebels.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/02/world/us-halts-economic-aid-to-nicaragua.html? U.S. HALTS ECONOMIC AID TO NICARAGUA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024122802/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/02/world/us-halts-economic-aid-to-nicaragua.html |date=24 October 2023 }}, New York Times, 2 April 1981</ref> {{Clarify span|Most people sided with Nicaragua against the Sandinistas.|date=May 2024}}<ref>Mary C. Waters, et al. ''The New Americans : A Guide to Immigration Since 1965''. Harvard University Press, 2007. ''EBSCOhost'', https://search-ebscohost-com.lpclibrary.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=282331&site=ehost-live {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205140334/https://clpccd.idaccessmanage.com/idp/profile/SAML2/POST/SSO?execution=e1s1 |date=5 February 2024 }}.</ref>

===Contras===
{{Main|Contras}}
In response to the Sandinistas, various rebel groups collectively known as the "[[Contras]]" were formed to oppose the new government. The [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]] ultimately authorized the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] to [[United States and state-sponsored terrorism|help the Contra rebels]] with funding, weapons, and training.<ref name=CA>{{cite news|title=Nicaragua: Growth of Opposition, 1981–83|url=http://www.ciaonet.org/atlas/countries/ni_data_loc.html|work=Ciao Atlas|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=12 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130112154844/http://www.ciaonet.org/atlas/countries/ni_data_loc.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Contras operated from camps in the neighboring countries of Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south.<ref name=CA/>

They engaged in a systematic campaign of terror among rural Nicaraguans to disrupt the social reform projects of the Sandinistas. Several historians have criticized the Contra campaign and the [[Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration|Reagan administration's support for the Contras]], citing the brutality and numerous human rights violations of the Contras, alleging that health centers, schools, and cooperatives were destroyed by rebels,<ref>{{cite book|author=LaRamee, Pierre |author2=Polakoff, Erica|isbn=9780333751992|title=The Undermining of the Sandinista Revolution|year=1999|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|pages=141–205}}</ref> and that murder, rape, and torture occurred on a large scale in Contra-dominated areas.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chomsky|first=Noam|title=Turning the Tide|url=https://archive.org/details/turningtideusint00chom|url-access=registration|year=1985|publisher=South End Press|location=Boston, MA}}</ref> The U.S. also carried out a campaign of economic sabotage, and disrupted shipping by planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's port of [[Corinto, Nicaragua|Corinto]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Truver |first=SC |title=Mines and Underwater IEDs in U.S. Ports and Waterways... |url=http://www.mast.udel.edu/873/Spring%202007/ScottTruves.pdf |page=4 |access-date=21 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428050841/http://www.mast.udel.edu/873/Spring%202007/ScottTruves.pdf |archive-date=28 April 2008 }}</ref> an action [[Nicaragua v. United States|condemned]] by the [[International Court of Justice]] as illegal.<ref>[http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=360&code=nus&p1=3&p2=3&case=70&k=66&p3=5 Summary of the Order] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107024852/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=360&code=nus&p1=3&p2=3&case=70&k=66&p3=5 |date=7 November 2007 }} of the [[International Court of Justice]] of 10 May 1984</ref>  The court also found that the U.S. encouraged acts contrary to humanitarian law by producing the manual ''[[Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare]]'' and disseminating it to the Contras.<ref>"...Finds that the United States of America, by producing in 1983 a manual entitled "Operaciones sicológicas en guerra de guerrillas", and disseminating it to Contra forces, has encouraged the commission by them of acts contrary to general principles of humanitarian law." As seen at: International Court of Justice 1986, (9)</ref> The manual, among other things, advised on how to rationalize killings of civilians.<ref name="ReferenceC">"In the case of shooting "a citizen who was trying to leave the town or city in which the guerrillas are carrying out armed propaganda or political proselytism," the manual suggests that the Contras "...explain that if that citizen had managed to escape, he would have alerted the enemy." As seen at: Sklar 1988, p. 179</ref> The U.S. also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinistas, and the Reagan administration imposed a full trade embargo.<ref>{{cite news|title=US Policy: Economic Embargo: The War Goes On|publisher=Central American University – UCA|url=http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2695|work=Envío|access-date=21 August 2007|archive-date=21 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621163831/http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2695|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Sandinistas were also accused of human rights abuses including torture, disappearances and mass executions.<ref>Moore, John Norton (1987) ''The Secret War in Central America''. University Publications of America. p. 143. {{ISBN|978-0890939611}}</ref><ref>Miranda, Roger and Ratliff, William (1993) ''The Civil War in Nicaragua''. Transaction. p. 193. {{ISBN|9781412819688}}</ref> The [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] investigated abuses by Sandinista forces, including an execution of 35 to 40 [[Miskito people|Miskitos]] in December 1981,<ref>{{Cite news|title=OAS Study Says Miskito Indians Suffered Abuse From Sandinistas|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/06/08/oas-study-says-miskito-indians-suffered-abuse-from-sandinistas/5a034db2-11ad-4142-80d8-2c4fe611c8a6/|access-date=21 July 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en|archive-date=2 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202123333/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/06/08/oas-study-says-miskito-indians-suffered-abuse-from-sandinistas/5a034db2-11ad-4142-80d8-2c4fe611c8a6/|url-status=live}}</ref> and an execution of 75 people in November 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/92eng/chap.4b.htm|title=Annual Report 1992–1993|date=12 March 1993|publisher=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|access-date=30 March 2009|archive-date=12 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112024022/http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/92eng/chap.4b.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[Nicaraguan general election, 1984|Nicaraguan general elections of 1984]], which were judged by at least one visiting 30-person delegation of NGO representatives to have been free and fair,<ref>{{cite news |title=NICARAGUAN VOTE:'FREE, FAIR, HOTLY CONTESTED' |page=30 |work=The New York Times |date=16 November 1984 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/16/opinion/l-nicaraguan-vote-free-fair-hotly-contested-089345.html |access-date=2 December 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701011437/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/16/opinion/l-nicaraguan-vote-free-fair-hotly-contested-089345.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the Sandinistas won the parliamentary election and their leader [[Daniel Ortega]] won the presidential election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/5/newsid_2538000/2538379.stm|title=1984: Sandinistas claim election victory|work=BBC News|date=5 November 1984|access-date=18 May 2012|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629081613/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/5/newsid_2538000/2538379.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Reagan administration criticized the elections as a "sham" based on the claim that [[Arturo Cruz]], the candidate nominated by the [[Coordinadora Democrática Nicaragüense]], comprising three right wing political parties, did not participate in the elections. However, the administration privately argued against Cruz's participation for fear that his involvement would legitimize the elections, and thus weaken the case for American aid to the Contras.<ref>{{cite news|last=Taubman|first=Philip|title=KEY AIDES DISPUTE U.S. ROLE IN NICARAGUAN VOTE|work=The New York Times|page=12|date=21 October 1984|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/world/key-aides-dispute-us-role-in-nicaraguan-vote.html|access-date=2 December 2023|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531075251/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/world/key-aides-dispute-us-role-in-nicaraguan-vote.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1983 the U.S. Congress prohibited federal funding of the Contras, but the Reagan administration illegally continued to back them by covertly selling arms to [[Iran]] and channeling the proceeds to the Contras in the [[Iran–Contra affair]], for which several members of the Reagan administration were convicted of felonies.<ref>{{cite book|last=Baker|first=D|title=The United States since 1980 (The World Since 1980)|publisher=Cambridge University Press|place=Cambridge, UK|page=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatessinc00bake/page/101 101]|isbn=978-0-521-86017-8|date=5 March 2007|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatessinc00bake/page/101}}</ref> The [[International Court of Justice]], in regard to the case of [[Nicaragua v. United States]] in 1986, found, "the United States of America was under an obligation to make reparation to the Republic of Nicaragua for all injury caused to Nicaragua by certain breaches of obligations under customary international law and treaty-law committed by the United States of America".<ref name="icj-cij">{{cite web|title=Case concerning military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), International Court of Justice, Order of 26 september 1991|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/70/6483.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924063157/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/70/6483.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015|access-date=5 November 2008}}</ref> During the war between the Contras and the Sandinistas, 30,000 people were killed.<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171019150641/http://www.prio.no/Global/upload/CSCW/Data/PRIObd3.0_documentation.pdf The PRIO Battle Deaths Dataset, 1946–2008, Version 3.0: Documentation of Coding Decisions] by Bethany Lacina</ref>

=== Post-war (1990–2018) ===
[[File:Violeta Chamorro 1993.jpg|thumb|In 1990, after the [[Contras|Contra]] war, [[Violeta Chamorro]] became the first woman president democratically elected in the history of the [[Americas]].]]
[[File:Mitch-Flooding in Managua.jpg|thumb|Flooding in Lake Managua after [[Hurricane Mitch]] in 1998]]
[[File:Crowd fills street at a May 2018 protest.jpg|thumb|[[2018–2020 Nicaraguan protests|Nicaraguan protests]] in May 2018]]
In the [[1990 Nicaraguan general election]], a coalition of anti-Sandinista parties from both the left and right of the political spectrum led by [[Violeta Chamorro]], the widow of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, defeated the Sandinistas. The defeat shocked the Sandinistas, who had expected to win.<ref>{{cite news|last=O'Grady |first=M |title=Ortega's Comeback Schemes Roil Nicaragua |url=http://www.mre.gov.br/portugues/noticiario/internacional/selecao_detalhe.asp?ID_RESENHA=154683&Imprime=on |access-date=9 May 2007 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Exit polls of Nicaraguans reported Chamorro's victory over [[Daniel Ortega|Ortega]] was achieved with a 55% majority.<ref>{{cite news|title=Was February 25 a 'triumph'? National Review v. 42|publisher=Tulane University|url=http://lal.tulane.edu/RESTRICTED/CABIB/nicabib_.txt|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901190113/http://lal.tulane.edu/RESTRICTED/CABIB/nicabib_.txt|archive-date=1 September 2006}}</ref> Chamorro was the first woman president of Nicaragua. Ortega vowed he would govern ''desde abajo'' (from below).<ref>{{cite news|title=El Sandinista Daniel Ortega se convierte de nuevo en presidente de Nicaragua|date=8 November 2006|url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2006/11/08/internacional/1162945503.html|work=El Mundo|access-date=9 May 2007|language=es|archive-date=1 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101160122/https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2006/11/08/internacional/1162945503.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Chamorro came to office with an economy in ruins, primarily because of the financial and social costs of the Contra War with the Sandinista-led government.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dennis|first=G|title=Social conditions of Nicaragua|date=December 1993|publisher=The Library of Congress|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0035)|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=22 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922150151/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0035)|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[1996 Nicaraguan general election|1996 general election]], Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas of the FSLN lost again, this time to [[Arnoldo Alemán]] of the [[Constitutionalist Liberal Party (Nicaragua)|Constitutional Liberal Party]] (PLC).

In [[2001 Nicaraguan general election|the 2001 elections]], the PLC again defeated the FSLN, with Alemán's Vice President [[Enrique Bolaños]] succeeding him as president. However, Alemán was convicted and sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for [[embezzlement]], [[money laundering]], and corruption;<ref>{{cite news|title=Nicaragua: Political profile|url=http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=/db/cp/nicaragua.htm|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=18 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060918221221/http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=/db/cp/nicaragua.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> liberal and Sandinista parliament members combined to strip the presidential powers of President Bolaños and his ministers, calling for his resignation and threatening [[impeachment]]. The Sandinistas said they no longer supported Bolaños after U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]] told Bolaños to distance from the FSLN.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thompson |first=G |title=Old Foe of U.S. Trying for a Comeback in Nicaragua |date=5 April 2005 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/world/americas/old-foe-of-us-trying-for-a-comeback-in-nicaragua.html |access-date=2 April 2023 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024122152/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/world/americas/old-foe-of-us-trying-for-a-comeback-in-nicaragua.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This "slow motion ''coup d'état''" was averted partially by pressure from the Central American presidents, who vowed not to recognize any movement that removed Bolaños; the U.S., the OAS, and the [[European Union]] also opposed the action.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nicaragua 'creeping coup' warning|date=30 September 2005|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4296818.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410155830/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4296818.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nicaragua briefly participated in the [[Iraq War]] in 2004 as part of the [[Plus Ultra Brigade]], a military contingent of mixed personnel.<ref name="AP 2004-04-29">{{cite web |agency=Associated Press |title=Spanish defense minister: No more troops for Iraq |website=Deseret News |date=29 April 2004 |url=https://www.deseret.com/2004/4/29/19826018/spanish-defense-minister-no-more-troops-for-iraq |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117214140/https://www.deseret.com/2004/4/29/19826018/spanish-defense-minister-no-more-troops-for-iraq |url-status=live }}</ref>

Before [[2006 Nicaraguan general election|the general elections on 5 November 2006]], the [[National Assembly of Nicaragua|National Assembly]] passed a bill further restricting [[abortion in Nicaragua]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Frazier|first=JB|title=Nicaraguan President Signs Abortion Ban|date=18 November 2006|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/18/AR2006111800351.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=25 May 2007|archive-date=18 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718132940/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/18/AR2006111800351.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, Nicaragua is one of five countries in the world where abortion is illegal with no exceptions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2010/jun/11/abortion-nicaragua|title=Nicaragua refuses to lift abortion ban|last=Boseley|first=S|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 June 2010|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-date=25 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225094013/https://www.theguardian.com/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2010/jun/11/abortion-nicaragua|url-status=live}}</ref>

Legislative and presidential elections took place on 5 November 2006. Ortega returned to the presidency with 37.99% of the vote. This percentage was enough to win the presidency outright, because of a change in electoral law which lowered the percentage requiring a runoff election from 45% to 35% (with a 5% margin of victory).<ref>{{cite news|title=Bolaños Will Move To The National Assembly After All|year=2006|url=http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3439|work=Envío Magazine|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-date=4 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204105521/http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3439|url-status=live}}</ref> [[2011 Nicaraguan general election|Nicaragua's 2011 general election]] resulted in the re-election of Ortega, with a landslide 62.46% of the vote. In 2014 the National Assembly approved changes to the constitution allowing Ortega to run for a third successive term.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nicaragua's Revolution Heads Toward Dictatorship|last=Gibney|first=James|publisher=Bloomberg|date=30 January 2014|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-30/nicaragua-s-revolution-heads-toward-dictatorship-.html|access-date=4 February 2014|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222145224/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-30/nicaragua-s-revolution-heads-toward-dictatorship-.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2016, [[2016 Nicaraguan general election|Ortega was elected for his third consecutive term]] (his fourth overall). International monitoring of the elections was initially prohibited, and as a result the validity of the [[Elections in Nicaragua|elections]] has been disputed, but observation by the [[Organization of American States|OAS]] was announced in October.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Geoff|first1=Thale|title=As Nicaragua's Election Draws Near, Concerns Grow Over Abuse of Power|url=https://www.wola.org/analysis/nicaraguas-election-draws-near-concerns-grow-abuse-power/|access-date=13 January 2018|publisher=WOLA|archive-date=13 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113203631/https://www.wola.org/analysis/nicaraguas-election-draws-near-concerns-grow-abuse-power/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=OAS Mission in Nicaragua Recommends Integral Electoral Reform|url=http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-079/17|access-date=13 January 2018|agency=Organization of American States|date=7 November 2016|archive-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114020252/http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-079/17|url-status=live}}</ref> Ortega was reported by Nicaraguan election officials as having received 72% of the vote. However, the [[Broad Front for Democracy]] (FAD), having promoted boycotts of the elections, claimed that 70% of voters had abstained (while election officials claimed 65.8% participation).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37892477|title=Nicaragua's Ortega re-elected president|date=7 November 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=12 September 2017|language=en-GB|archive-date=25 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225142817/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37892477|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2018, [[2018–2020 Nicaraguan protests|demonstrations]] were held to oppose a decree increasing taxes and reducing benefits in the country's pension system. Local independent press organizations documented at least 19 dead and over 100 missing in the ensuing conflict.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://confidencial.com.ni/quienes-son-muertos-de-las-protestas-en-nicaragua/|title=Los muertos de la represión que Daniel Ortega oculta|last=Cerda|first=Arlen|date=22 April 2018|work=Confidencial|access-date=25 April 2018|language=es-NI|archive-date=26 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426012028/https://confidencial.com.ni/quienes-son-muertos-de-las-protestas-en-nicaragua/|url-status=live}}</ref> A reporter from NPR spoke to protestors who explained that while the initial issue was the pension reforms, the uprisings that spread across the country reflected many grievances about the government's time in office, and that the fight is for President Ortega and his vice president, his wife, to step down.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kahn|first1=Carrie|title=Nicaragua Withdraws Social Security Changes That Sparked Unrest|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/04/23/604854250/nicaragua-withdraws-social-security-changes-that-sparked-unrest|access-date=31 May 2018|publisher=NPR|date=23 April 2018|language=en|archive-date=6 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606075104/https://www.npr.org/2018/04/23/604854250/nicaragua-withdraws-social-security-changes-that-sparked-unrest|url-status=live}}</ref> 24&nbsp;April 2018 marked the day of the greatest march in opposition of the Sandinista party. On 2&nbsp;May 2018, university student leaders made a public announcement giving the government seven days to set a date and time for a dialogue that was promised to the people due to the recent events of repression. The students also scheduled another peaceful protest march on that same day. As of May 2018, estimates of the death toll were as high as 63, many of them student protesters, and the wounded totalled more than 400.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Garvin|first1=Glenn|title=In Nicaragua, the political battle is moving from the streets to the negotiating table|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article210129639.html|access-date=2 May 2018|work=Miami Herald|date=2 May 2018|language=en|archive-date=14 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614020016/http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article210129639.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following a working visit from 17 to 21&nbsp;May, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights adopted precautionary measures aimed at protecting members of the student movement and their families after testimonies indicated the majority of them had suffered acts of violence and death threats for their participation.<ref>{{cite news|title=CIDH condena nuevos hechos de violencia en Nicaragua|url=http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/prensa/comunicados/2018/116.asp|access-date=26 May 2018|work=www.oas.org|agency=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|publisher=Organization of American States|date=25 May 2018|language=es|archive-date=28 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528043043/https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/prensa/comunicados/2018/116.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> In the last week of May, thousands who accuse Mr. Ortega and his wife of acting like dictators joined in resuming anti-government rallies after attempted peace talks have remained unresolved.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nicaraguan protesters call on Ortega to go|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44269498|access-date=27 May 2018|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=27 May 2018|archive-date=27 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527062610/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44269498|url-status=live}}</ref> Open suppression of political dissent and more militarized policing began in April 2018, but the onset of repression was gradual.<ref>Dammert, Lucía, and Mary Fran T. Malone. "From Community Policing to Political Police in Nicaragua." ''European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y Del Caribe'', no. 110, 2020, pp. 79–99. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26979875 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125012623/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26979875 |date=25 November 2023 }}. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.</ref>

===2018-present===
On 12 October 2024, Nicaragua broke ties with [[Israel]] in response to the ongoing [[Gaza war]], condemning Israel's leaders as "fascist" and "[[Gaza genocide|genocidal]]".<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 October 2024 |title=Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Israel |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-breaks-diplomatic-relations-with-israel-2024-10-11/ |access-date=29 March 2025 |work=Reuters}}</ref>