Nicaragua’s continuing struggle to gain some control over its own destiny

Nicaragua is the largest of the Central American countries. From the beginning, its contacts with outsiders have been problematic and at times disastrous. Within three decades of the Spanish conquest of the region in 1524, the population was reduced from a million people to a few tens of thousands, for the most part because of old world diseases from which the indigenous people had no immunity. Most of the survivors of this early health catastrophe were sold into slavery.

Although Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821, it has never been free from the domination of larger powers. Both England and the United States took an interest in the region because of the possibility of putting a canal through the area. Also it became a transit point for many people during the gold rush who were interested in the quickest rout to California. Increasingly the United States gained ascendancy’s in the area, and as early as 1912 the marines were sent to the area to assure that the political control of Nicaragua would be in the hands of people sympathetic to U.S. Interests.

In 1934 General Somoza, who was trained and supported by the U.S., arranged for the assassination of his liberal opponent. In 1937 he installed himself as president through fraudulent elections. From 1937 to 1979 the Somoza family ruled the county with an almost total disregard for the needs of the people, and with the blessing of the United States. The international aid that was provided to the area found its way into the pockets of the Somoza clan. With trade, the economy grew, but the main beneficiaries of this growth were the Somoza clan and their supporters. The mass of the population lived in poverty.

In 1979 the Sandinistas toppled the Somoza clan and established a socialist system that addressed for the first time the educational and health needs of the majority of the people. They also established the Statutes on Rights and Guarantees, which served as the nation’s new constitution and guaranteed the basic individual right and freedoms to all the citizens of the country. Nicaragua expanded its trade with non-communist countries, but showed a willingness to trade with Cuba and other communist countries as well. This did not please the United States which suspended economic aid to Nicaragua in 1981. Later in that year the United States began training and arming the infamous Contras. This was followed by a trade embargo in 1985. In effect the United States declared war on Nicaragua because it did not like the manner in which it handled its internal affairs. Even the congress of the United States found the machinations of the CIA to be unacceptable during the Iran Contra scandal. Despite being subjected to this economic and military attack sponsored by the U.S., the Sandinistas managed during their decade in power to reduce illiteracy from 50% to 13% and to reduce infant mortality to a third of what it was under the Somoza regime.

In 1990 Violeta Chamorro was elected president of Nicaragua. This was the candidate of the U.S. Financed and supported UNO coalition. Although she showed a willingness to work with the Sandinistas, she also demonstrated her commitment to comply with the mandates of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In this way her election was able to bring an end to the war. The struggle for social and economic justice then shifted to the political sphere. It was very likely the hope to end the military struggle that was devastating the country, and to move the conflict to the political sphere, that facilitated Chamoro’s election.

The UNO party implemented all the familiar current policies of neoliberal economics. They privatized public enterprises, including health services. They implemented the austerity programs which led to severe cuts in public spending. They relied heavily on large scale farming for export rather than on local production for local consumption. All of the political groups that have controlled the country since then have also followed these policies. The consequences for the majority of the population has been disastrous. As an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica summed it up, “although inflation was brought under control by harsh austerity programs, unemployment and the suffering of the poor majority increased markedly.” Once again the poor of Nicaragua are waiting for the wealth that will be created by policies of the rich to begin to trickle down.