Editing Daniel Ortega (section)

==Sandinista revolution and first presidency (1979–1990)==
[[File:Nicaragua inflation rate 1980-1993.webp|thumb|261px|Nicaragua inflation rate 1980–1993]]
{{politics of Nicaragua}}
{{For|more details on Ortega's past presidency|Sandinista National Liberation Front|Iran–Contra affair}}

When Somoza was overthrown by the FSLN in July 1979, Ortega became a member of the five-person [[Junta of National Reconstruction]], which included Sandinista militant [[Moisés Hassan]], novelist [[Sergio Ramírez]], businessman [[Alfonso Robelo]], and [[Violeta Barrios de Chamorro]], the widow of a murdered journalist. In September 1979, United States President [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] hosted Ortega at the White House, and warned him against arming other Central American leftist guerrilla movements.{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=80}} At the time, Ortega spoke truthfully when he denied Sandinista involvement in neighboring countries.{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=80}} When Ortega questioned the Americans about [[CIA]] support for anti-Sandinista groups, Carter and Deputy Secretary of State [[Warren Christopher]] said the reports were false.{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=80}} After the meeting, Carter asked Congress for $75 million in aid to Nicaragua, contingent on the Sandinista government's promise not to aid other guerrillas.{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=81}}

The FSLN came to dominate the junta, Robelo and Chamorro resigned, and in 1981 Ortega became the coordinator of the Junta.<ref>{{citation|contribution=Daniel Ortega|title=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=1993|edition=15th}}</ref> As the only member of the FSLN National Directorate in the Junta, he was the effective leader of the country. After attaining power, the FSLN embarked upon an ambitious programme of social reform. They arranged to redistribute {{convert|5|e6acre|km2|order=flip|abbr=off}} of land to about 100,000 families; launched a literacy drive, and made health care improvements that ended polio through mass vaccinations, and reduced the frequency of other treatable diseases.<ref>''Mastering Modern World History'' by Norman Lowe, second edition</ref> The Sandinista nationalization efforts affected mostly banks and industries owned by the extended Somoza family.{{sfn|DeFronzo|2011|p=263}} More than half of all farms, businesses, and industries remained in private hands. The revolutionary government wanted to preserve a mixed economy and support private sector investment.{{sfn|DeFronzo|2011|p=263}} The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) opposed the Sandinistas' economic reform.{{sfn|DeFronzo|2011|p=264}} The main organization of Nicaraguan big business was composed of prosperous families from the Pacific coast cities, who dominated commerce and banking.<ref>Baumeister,&nbsp;Eduardo. "The politics of land reform" in {{harvnb|Close|Marti i Puig|McConnell|2012}}, p.&nbsp;250.</ref> Ortega took a very hard line against opposition to his policies: On 21 February 1981, the Sandinista army killed 7 [[Miskito people|Miskito]] Indians and wounded 17.<!-- Where and why? Was their land being redistributed, too? --><ref name="OAS">{{Cite book|title=Report on the Situation of Human Rights of a Segment of the Nicaraguan Population of Miskito Origin|last=|first=|publisher=Organization of American States: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|year=1983|isbn=|location=|pages=|url=http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Miskitoeng/toc.htm|chapter=Part I: Origin and Development of the Controversy|chapter-url=http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Miskitoeng/part1.htm|access-date=14 October 2014|id=OEA/Ser.L./V.II.62 doc.&nbsp;10 rev.&nbsp;3|archive-date=27 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627180431/http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Miskitoeng/toc.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ortega's administration forced displacement of many of the indigenous population: 10,000 individuals had been moved by 1982.<ref name="OAS" /> Thousands of Indians fled to take refuge across the border in [[Honduras]], and Ortega's government imprisoned 14,000 in Nicaragua. [[Anthropologist]] Gilles Bataillon termed this "politics of ethnocide" in Nicaragua.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bataillon |first=Gilles |date=1983 |title=3. — Le Nicaragua |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1983_num_69_1_3063 |journal=Journal de la société des américanistes |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=201–203 |doi=10.3406/jsa.1983.3063}}</ref> The Indians formed two rebel groups – the Misura and Misurasata. They were joined in the north by Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) and in the south by former Sandinistas and peasantry who, under the leadership of [[Edén Pastora]], were resisting forced collectivization.<ref name="OAS" />

In 1980 the Sandinista government launched the massive [[Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign]] and said the illiteracy rate fell from 50% to 13% in the span of five months. Robert F. Arnove said the figures were excessive because many "unteachable" illiterates were omitted from the statistics, and many people declared literate were found to be unable to read or write a simple sentence. Richard Kraft said that even if the figures were exaggerated, the "accomplishment is without precedent in educational history". In 1980, [[UNESCO]] awarded Nicaragua the Nadezhda K. Krupskaya prize in recognition of its efforts.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000146007|title=Nicaragua's literacy campaign|last=Hanemann|first=Ulrike|date=March 2005|publisher=UNESCO|id=2006/ED/EFA/MRT/PI/43|access-date=9 March 2019|archive-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924233824/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000146007|url-status=live}}  Paper commissioned for the ''EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006, Literacy for Life''.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=Specifically states "The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to the EFA Global Monitoring Report or to UNESCO"|date=September 2016}} The FSLN also focused on improving the Nicaraguan health system, particularly through vaccination campaigns and the construction of public hospitals. These actions reduced child mortality by half,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/23/world/casualties-in-nicaragua-schools-and-health-care.html?pagewanted=all|title=Casualties in Nicaragua: Schools and Health Care|last=Kinzer|first=Stephen|date=23 March 1987|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-date=2 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102113506/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/23/world/casualties-in-nicaragua-schools-and-health-care.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref> to 40 deaths per thousand.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 July 2016 |title=La santé c'est d'abord un choix politique et gouvernemental |trans-title=Health is, above all, a political and governmental choice. |url=http://www.lecourrier.ch/141179/la_sante_c_est_d_abord_un_choix_politique_et_gouvernemental |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822130959/http://www.lecourrier.ch/141179/la_sante_c_est_d_abord_un_choix_politique_et_gouvernemental |archive-date=22 August 2016 |access-date=2 September 2016 |work=LeCourrier}}</ref> By 1982, the [[World Health Organization]] deemed Nicaragua a model for primary health care.{{sfn|DeFronzo|2011|p=264}} During this period, Nicaragua won the [[UNESCO]] prize for exceptional health progress.<ref name="nation100821"/>

In 1981, United States President [[Ronald Reagan]] accused the FSLN of joining with [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-backed [[Cuba]] in supporting [[Marxism|Marxist]] revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries, such as [[El Salvador]]. People within the Reagan administration authorized the [[CIA]] to begin financing, arming and training rebels as anti-Sandinista guerrillas, some of whom were former officers from Somoza's National Guard. These were known collectively as the [[Contras]]. This resulted in one of the largest political scandals in US history, (the [[Iran–Contra affair]]). [[Oliver North]] and several members of the Reagan administration defied the [[Boland Amendment]], selling arms to [[Iran]] and using the proceeds in order to secretly fund the Contras.

The Contra war claimed 30,000 lives in Nicaragua.<ref>Thomas Walker, ''Nicaragua: Living in the Shadow of the Eagle'', 4th Ed. (Westview Press, 2003)</ref> The tactics used by the Sandinista government to fight the Contras have been widely condemned for their suppression of civil rights. On 15 March 1982, the junta declared a state of siege, which allowed it to close independent radio stations, suspend the right of association, and limit the freedom of trade unions. Nicaragua's Permanent Commission on Human Rights condemned Sandinista human rights violations, accusing them of killing and forcibly disappearing thousands of persons in the first few years of the war.<ref>John Norton Moore, ''The Secret War in Central America'' (University Publications of America, 1987), p. 143</ref><ref>Roger Miranda and William Ratliff, ''The Civil War in Nicaragua'' (Transaction, 1993), p. 193.</ref>
[[File:Felipe González junto a Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega y Alfonso Guerra en el palacio de la Moncloa. Pool Moncloa. 16 de febrero de 1984.jpeg|thumb|right| Ortega (far right) with Spanish Prime Minister [[Felipe González]], Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]] and Spanish Deputy Prime Minister [[Alfonso Guerra]] in Madrid, 1984]]
At the [[1984 Nicaraguan general election|1984 general election]] Ortega won the presidency with 67% of the vote and took office on 10 January 1985. In the early phases of the campaign, Ortega enjoyed many institutional advantages, and used the full power of the press, police, and [[Supreme Electoral Council (Nicaragua)|Supreme Electoral Council]] against the fractured opposition.{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=242}} In the weeks before the November election, Ortega gave a U.N. speech denouncing talks held in Rio de Janeiro on electoral reform.{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=244}} But by 22 October, the Sandinistas signed an accord with opposition parties to reform electoral and campaign laws, making the process more fair and transparent.<ref>McConnell,&nbsp;Shelley&nbsp;A. "The uncertain evolution of the electoral system", in {{harvnb|Close|Marti i Puig|McConnell|2012}}, p.&nbsp;127.</ref> While campaigning, Ortega promoted the Sandinistas' achievements, and at a rally said that "Democracy is literacy, democracy is land reform, democracy is education and public health."{{sfn|Kinzer|1991|p=246}} International observers judged the election to be the first free election held in the country in more than half a century. A report by an [[Irish government]]ary delegation stated: "The electoral process was carried out with total integrity. The seven parties participating in the elections represented a broad spectrum of political ideologies." The general counsel of New York's [[Human Rights Commission]] described the election as "free, fair and hotly contested". A study by the US [[Latin American Studies Association]] (LASA) concluded that the FSLN (Sandinista Front) "did little more to take advantage of its incumbency than incumbent parties everywhere (including the U.S.) routinely do". However, the Reagan administration described the elections as "a Soviet-style sham", and contemporary North-American press coverage tended to cast doubt on the election's legitimacy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Soderlund |first1=Walter |title=Canadian and American Press Coverage of the 1984 Nicaraguan Election |journal=Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes |date=2014 |volume=13 |issue=26 |pages=87–102 |doi=10.1080/08263663.1988.10816610 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08263663.1988.10816610 |access-date=11 May 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Felipe González comparece en rueda de prensa con el presidente de Nicaragua. Pool Moncloa. 26 de abril de 1989.jpeg|thumb|Ortega and Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González in 1989]]
Thirty-three per cent of the Nicaraguan voters cast ballots for one of six opposition parties—three to the right of the Sandinistas, three to the left—which had campaigned with the aid of government funds and free TV and radio time. Two conservative parties captured a combined 23% of the vote. They held rallies across the country (a few of which were disrupted by FSLN supporters) and blasted the Sandinistas in harsh terms. Most foreign and independent observers noted this pluralism in debunking the Reagan administration charge—ubiquitous in the [[US media]]—that it was a "Soviet-style sham" election.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sandinistas won't submit to free elections |url=https://fair.org/?page=2479 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109021155/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2479 |archive-date=9 November 2006 |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=FAIR |language=en-US}}</ref> Some{{which|date=June 2021}} opposition parties [[boycott]]ed the election, allegedly under pressure from US embassy officials, and so it was denounced as being unfair by the Reagan administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remarks Following Discussions With President Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/search/speeches/speech_srch.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160306023919/https://www.reagan.utexas.edu/search/speeches/speech_srch.html |archive-date=2016-03-06 |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=www.reagan.utexas.edu}}</ref><ref name=sanctions>{{cite news|last1=Neikirk|first1=Bill|last2=Coffey|first2=Raymond|title=Reagan Puts Embargo On Nicaragua To 'Mend Their Ways'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/05/02/reagan-puts-embargo-on-nicaragua-to-mend-their-ways/|access-date=31 August 2015|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=2 May 1985|location=Chicago, Illinois|archive-date=13 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913113654/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-05-02/news/8501260877_1_nicaraguan-economy-church-mediated-dialogue-trade-embargo|url-status=live}}</ref> Reagan thus maintained that he was justified to continue supporting what he referred to as the Contras' "democratic resistance".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Aid to the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance |date=October 1987 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1079/is_n2127_v87/ai_6101573 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628114702/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1079/is_n2127_v87/ai_6101573 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2009 |work=US Department of State Bulletin |access-date=14 December 2006 }}</ref>

The illegal<ref>{{cite web |title=Nicaragua v United States of America - Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua - Judgment of 27 June 1986 - Merits - Judgments [1986] ICJ 1; ICJ Reports 1986, p 14; [1986] ICJ Rep 14 (27 June 1986) |url=http://www.worldlii.org/int/cases/ICJ/1986/1.html |access-date=2021-08-11 |website=worldlii.org |archive-date=29 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329112445/http://www.worldlii.org/int/cases/ICJ/1986/1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> intervention of the Contras continued (albeit covertly) after Ortega's democratic election. Peace talks between five Central American heads of state in July 1987 led to the signing of the [[Central American Peace Accords]], and the beginning of a roadmap to the end of the conflict. In 1988, the Contras first entered into peace talks with the Sandinista government, although the violence continued, as did their US support. Despite US opposition,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Goshko |first1=John M. |last2=Devroy |first2=Ann |date=9 August 1989 |title=U.S. Endorses Contra Plan As Prod To Democracy in Nicaragua |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/08/09/us-endorses-contra-plan-as-prod-to-democracy-in-nicaragua/f4604b0d-cc67-45ab-a554-df6d9ee1c8b1/ |access-date=11 November 2020 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124071957/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/08/09/us-endorses-contra-plan-as-prod-to-democracy-in-nicaragua/f4604b0d-cc67-45ab-a554-df6d9ee1c8b1/ |url-status=live }}</ref> disarmament of the Contras began in 1989.