U.S. Involvement in Nicaragua - A Historical Timeline

1850 through 1911- US involvement in Nicaragua is primarily confined to private entrepreneurial measures.

1850 Cornelius Vanderbilt established the Accessory Transit Company to take “gold rushers” westward - first by ocean to the San Juan River, upriver to Lake Nicaragua, a stagecoach to the Pacific, and the Pacific Line to San Francisco.

1855 Civil war between Nicaraguan Liberals and Conservatives.  American William Walker arrived with 58 American mercenaries to support the Liberals.  After the capture of Granada at the year’s end, Walker became president of Nicaragua and immediately seized Vanderbilt’s boats and property.  Vanderbilt supported Walker’s Conservative opponents which led to Walker’s ouster in 1857.  Thus, last years of Nicaraguan civil war were fought by two private American armies.  In 1857, Conservatives came into power and remained in control until 1893 with the rise of the Liberal leader Zalaya.

1904 Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine announced: Americans would use international police power against foreign powers interfering in the Western Hemisphere.

1909 Zalaya’s government opened negotiations with the Japanese about a canal through its territory.  U.S. supported the Conservative opposition that led to Conservative revolution and election of Conservative Diaz to presidency in 1910.

1910 U.S. financial interests operated the railway and central bank in Nicaragua; U.S. government supervised the collection of customs duties.  U.S. controlled between 75-80% of trade in Nicaragua and Americans accounted for $1 million in private investments - $17.3 million in investments by 1929.

1912 through 1980 - US involvement in Nicaragua involves direct intervention in its political and economic affairs.

1912 Diaz asked for U.S. military aid to keep the peace.  12,000 Marines arrived, not only to help keep the Conservatives in power, but to protect growing U.S. economic interests in Nicaragua.

1924  U.S. State Department designed and implemented Nicaraguan elections.

1925   Liberals elected and forced the Marines to withdraw after 13 years.  Civil war broke out between Liberals, who supported nationalism, and Conservatives, who supported U.S. intervention.

1926   U.S. State Department accused Mexico of supplying arms to Nicaraguan rebels.  U.S. government gave commander of the Liberal forces, Jose Moncada, an alternative: face American armed forces who would end the civil conflict and bring their men into power - or agree to place appropriate Liberals in the Nicaraguan cabinet, hold American-supervised elections, and allow U.S. to create and train a Nicaraguan national guard.

1928 Moncada elected to presidency.  Rebel leader Augusto Sandino refused to accept election and withdrew to the jungle where they became targets of the National Guard and marines.

1933   Marines leave Nicaragua.  Sandino began peace negotiations with newly elected Liberal government of Juan Bautista Sacasa, believing Sacasa could control Anastasio Somoza’s National Guard, and would protect his cooperative farm efforts.

1934   Sandino assassinated by National Guardsmen with implicit U.S. approval.  His men and family were then murdered.

1936   President Sacasa, recognizing the National Guard was out of control, asked U.S. government for help.  U.S. declared support for the Guard.  In late 1936, Somoza lead a successful coup and U.S. representatives attended his inauguration.  Somoza remained president until 1947, then retained control over the military for the next three years, and was reelected to the presidency in 1950.  During next 20 years, Somoza met all U.S. political and economic demands, thus relinquishing the chance for Nicaraguan self-sufficiency and true independence.

1956   Somoza assassinated and his son, Luis, elected president by Nicaraguan Congress.  Anastasio, the other son, controlled the National Guard that operated a campaign of terror against actual and perceived opponents of Somoza’s dictatorship.

1961  Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) created by student activists who formed strong ties with rural peasants.  Together, they hope to overthrow the basic structures of Nicaraguan society and replace it with a socialist government.

1962   Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress doubled economic assistance to Somoza’s regime and raised military assistance sevenfold.

1967 Luis died; Anastasio and his National Guard assumed power.
1972 National Guard entered into war with rural activists and FSLN.  FSLN used terrorism from below to fight terrorism initiated from above.

1978  U.S. responded to massive terrorism at hands of National Guard by reducing aid and embassy personnel and encouraging negotiations to replace Somoza with an anti-Communist president.

1979  U.S. supported an IMF loan to Somoza for $65.6 million.  In July, Sandinistas won their revolution after 7 years of fighting.  Over 4,000 National Guardsmen fled to Honduras.  U.S. lost its historical alliance with Nicaragua.

1980 through 1990 and ??? - US involvement in Nicaragua
involves creating and financing an organization designed to undermine and destroy the Nicaraguan government.

1981  At his inauguration, President Reagan promised to restore American strength in Latin America.  Sandinistas caught smuggling weapons to neighboring guerrillas in El Salvador.  Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega agreed to stop selling arms.  U.S. cuts economic aid to Nicaragua.

• In November, Reagan signed National Security Decision 17 to create a “war by proxy” and give the CIA $19 million to develop a paramilitary force comprised of former National Guardsmen. 
• Counterrevolutionaries (Contras) were born and U.S. began supporting terrorism aimed to overthrow the Sandinistas, as well as a campaign to veto international loans that could help Nicaragua’s agricultural, industrial and social development.

1982   Congress moved to cut money to Contras.  President sought continued support for Contras by bringing in new leadership of Edgar Chammaro.

• Congress passed the Boland Amendment providing funds for Contras but forbidding funds to overthrow the Sandinistas.

1983   Contras "war" suffering, forcing American intelligence community to admit Contras could not win war on their own.  CIA director Casey decided to conduct sabotage missions on economic targets.  CIA wrote and distributed “Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare” manual.

1984   World Court unanimously ruled U.S. should immediately halt any attempts to mine or blockade Nicaraguan ports and voted 14-1 that Nicaragua’s political independence “Should be fully respected and should not be jeopardized by any military or para-military activities.”  Reagan declared U.S. would not accept World Court decisions regarding Central America for two years.

• In October 1984, Congress passed a Second Boland Amendment designed to end all aid to the Contras.  The Amendment barred the CIA, Dept. of Defense, and “any other agency or entity” from “supporting, directly or indirectly, military and paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization, or individual.”

1985   Reagan determined that the Boland Amendment and other laws regarding Contra support did not apply to himself or the members of his immediate staff.  He instructed National Security Advisor Robert MacFarlane, “I want you to do whatever you have to do to help [the contras] keep body and soul together.”

• Reagan committed to “freedom in Nicaragua” by declaring, “They are our brothers, these freedom fighters, and we owe them our help.”  In May, Reagan ordered economic sanctions against Nicaragua, claiming that Nicaragua was exporting terrorism and subversion.  In June, Congress gave $27 million in “humanitarian aid” to the Contras.
• MacFarlane assigned the Contra task to Oliver North, a Marine officer on the NSC staff.  North began by raising funds from private American citizens; asking foreign nations like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa to help them secure money and arms; and helped arms dealers Richard Secord, a former Air Force major general, and Albert Hakim, an Iranian businessman, create The Establishment – a business operation that camouflaged a web of dummy corporations and employed pilots who normally engaged in the drug trade to make their shipments to the Contras.

1986   20,000 Nicaraguans had died, 20,000 were wounded, and more than 300,000 were homeless as result of the war.  In August, despite the fact that the majority of Americans did not support U.S. efforts in Nicaragua, Congress voted $100 million for the Contras.  In the fall, the Iran/Contra affair became public knowledge.

1988 Sandinistas expelled U.S. diplomats from the country for orchestrating anti-Sandinista demonstrations.  In March, Sandinistas and Contras negotiated a cease-fire.  No peace agreement was reached, but fighting decreased somewhat.

1989 Contra leadership began to self-destruct and embarrass the U.S.  The Bush administration announced an agreement with the Democrats - Congress would appropriate $4.5 million monthly for a year for food, clothing, shelter, and medical supplies, and Bush would freeze aid to any Contra unit that staged an attack.  Mid-year, Sandinistas promised to hold free, open, and internationally-supervised elections.

• When the Nicaraguan government refused to extend the cease-fire, fighting resumed between the government and the Contras.

1990 In February, Violeta Chamorro of the National Opposition Union - a group of 14 anti-Sandinista parties - was elected president and received American support and backing.  Shortly thereafter, the US promised massive economic aid.  General Humberto Ortega maintained control over the army. 

• In March, the US ended its embargo against Nicaragua.
• In May, the new government and Contras signed a cease-fire agreement: government would turn over 7,722 square miles to the Contras as well as give $47 million of the $300 million American aid to help form "development zones" in the new Contra territory.
•   In June, Contra troops were disbanded.

1990 to 1995 Congress cut assistance to Nicaragua, which had averaged $150 million a year from 1990-1994, to about $30 million in 1995.

1992   In an attempt to win the release of U.S. aid, Chamorro's government fired 12 top police commanders accused of "excesses" during the Sandinista years.  In December, the Bush administration released $54 million of $104 million suspended aid.

1994   Rival factions met together in the Nicaraguan legislature.  In November, the legislature approved several constitutional reforms.

1995   In February, General Humberto Ortega turned command of the army over to General Joaquin Cuadra.  In May, 18 bombings of Catholic churches, all rumored to have ties to the Sandinistas.

1996   In January, Arnoldo Aleman, the presidential candidate of the Liberal Alliance - a union of four liberal parties - escaped an assassination attempt.

• In October, Aleman elected president on a free market platform.  Began to dismantle remnants of the Sandinista centralized economy - especially the land redistribution program whereby small and medium-sized farms were created out of three-fourths of the farmland owned by the wealthy.  Much of Aleman's support came from those people who lost their land under Sandinistas and wanted it back - including 1,000 claims filed by U.S. citizens, many of whom were Nicaraguans who fled during the socialist era.

1998   Nicaragua had about 4.5 million people, eight out of ten who lived in poverty.  Since the free market programs of Chamorro, most citizens had grown poorer.  Nonetheless, Nicaragua had one of the most democratic land distribution programs in Latin America - small and medium-sized farmers owned three-fourths of all the land.

2001   Nicaragua had about 5 million people, eight out of ten who continued to live in poverty.

• Nicaragua's Defense Minister Jose Adan Guerra announced that more U.S. Army Reservists would arrive in the country early in 2002 to carry out a range of "socially useful projects." In total 3,600 troops would be involved in building six clinics and four schools and upgrading 75 kilometers of roads. The force will have $1 million to buy materials and employ teams of local people, provide training workshops in basic health care, give free medical and dental consultations, and distribute free medicines.
• In late October, the treaty between the United States and Nicaragua to combat drug trafficking went into effect, thus marking the first U.S. support for Nicaragua's military since the country was run by the dictator Somoza in the 1970s. It was also announced that the U.S. was training Nicaraguan officers at the School of the Americas during 2002.
• Daniel Ortega, former Sandinista comandante, made another bid for power, running for president with a new Sandinista image - that of a businessman who was willing to compromise with his right-wing opponents.  On November 4, Nicaragua elected Liberal Party candidate Enrique Bolaños Geyer over Ortega by a margin of more than 13 percent.

2006   In November, Daniel Ortega became the democratically elected president of Nicaragua.  Prior to his election, American officials made thinly veiled threats that the U.S. would impose economic sanctions and other punitive measures if Ortega was reelected, arguing that Ortega had not changed despite his embrace of Catholicism, pronouncements in favor of a market economy and efforts to cast himself as the candidate of "reconciliation."