U.S. Intervention Timeline: Nicaragua

Timeline draft 1. Revisions, verification expected.

1821 Nicaragua and other Central American colonies gain their independence from the Spanish Crown.

1847 British sailors invade San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua.

1850 The United States and Great Britain sign the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty without Nicaraguan consent. They are granted access to an inter-oceanic trade route through Nicaraguan territory.

1855 Nicaraguan Liberal forces to crush the Conservative opposition hire William Walker, a North American adventurer with a small band of followers. Walker captures Granada.

1856 Walker assumes the Nicaraguan presidency and seeks U.S. annexation. As president, his first decree is to sanction slavery in Nicaragua.

1870 Nicaragua protests U.S. intervention and demands reparations for damages incurred in the 1855-armed conflict.

1893 The Liberal Party seizes power and names José Santos Zelaya president of Nicaragua. Lewis Hanke, an U.S. agent, intervenes in support of the Conservative cause.

1907 U.S. war ships take possession of the Fonseca Gulf.

1909 Two U.S. mercenaries are shot with authorization from the Nicaraguan Nationalist government. U.S. officials respond with the Knox Note, which legitimizes North American intervention in Nicaraguan affairs.

1910 U.S. troops impose a puppet government in Nicaragua. Liberal President, José Santos Zelaya is forced out of office and Adolfo Díaz is made provisional president.

1912 Díaz requests U.S. military assistance to control civil unrest. Nicaraguans resist U.S. occupation and the national hero, Benjamin Zeledón dies.

1914 Nicaraguan president, Emiliano Chamorro signs the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty with the U.S. administration. In exchange for $3 million, the U.S. acquires the right to build a canal across Nicaraguan territory, lease the Great and Little Corn Islands, and establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty provokes anti-North American sentiment and guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua, and elicits protest from other Central American countries.

1925 When U.S. forces withdraw from Nicaragua, rebellions ensue; and the marines return to quell the disturbances.

1927 Liberal candidate, Gen. José Moncada wins the presidential elections, which are monitored by U.S. officials. Moncada, who had fought against U.S. intervention, enters into negotiations with Henry L. Stimson, personal envoy of President Coolidge.

1927 Augusto César Sandino, Commander of the Army to Defend the National Sovereignty, rejects Moncada's pact with Stimson. Sandino launches a guerrilla war against U.S. forces in Nicaragua.

1927-1934 After five hundred battles fought against U.S. marines and sympathizers, Sandino successfully expels U.S. armed forces from Nicaragua.

1934 The U.S. withdraws, leaving Nicaraguan military officer, Anastasio Somoza as Commander of the National Guard.

1934 Under the tutelage of Arthur Bliss Lane, U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, Somoza masterminds the assassination of Augusto César Sandino.

1936 Anastasio Somoza founds a brutal dictatorship, fueled by U.S. funds, which is passed from father to son to brother for over 43 years.

1941 Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Nicaragua enters World War II on December 9, 1941.

1945 In June, Nicaragua is recognized as a charter member of the United Nations.

1948 Nicaragua joins the Organization of American States. Somoza dispatches an interventionist military force to Costa Rica.

1954 Somoza sends mercenary forces to Guatemala to help U.S. forces oust socialist president, Jacobo Arbenz.

1955 Somoza pulls Nicaraguan troops from the Dominican Republic, who have intervened with U.S. military operations.

1956 Anastasio Somoza is assassinated and succeeded by his son, Luis Somoza Debayle.
For four years after his son's regime, close associates of the Somoza family maintain political control of Nicaragua.

1960 The U.S. dispatches its Caribbean Float to Nicaragua and Guatemala to protect administrations from popular sector uprisings
1961 US mercenaries depart from Nicaragua's Puerto Cabezas and invade Playa Girón, Cuba. They suffer a historical defeat known as the "Bay of Pigs."

1966 Somoza Debayle makes René Schick president . During a visit to the U.S., Schick volunteers Nicaragua to serve as an U.S. military base for invading Cuba.

1967 Somoza Debayle establishes a military autocracy, silencing his opposition through the National Guard.

1967 Somoza Debayle offers soldiers from his National Guard to fight in the Vietnam War.

1968 Nicaraguan functionaries, sent by Somoza Debayle, help overthrow Panamanian president, Arnulfo Arias.

1971 Somoza Debayle steps down from government, but retains the post, Chief of the Armed Forces. A governing coalition is formed, which is comprised of a Conservative and two Liberal executives.

1972 A devastating earthquake strikes Managua, leaving 6,000 dead and 20,000 injured. Somoza Debayle embezzles money from international relief funds. Martial law is declared; and Somoza Debayle is made Chief Executive of the Nicaraguan government. U.S. marines are sent to Nicaragua to insure Somoza's regime is instituted.

1974 Somoza is decreed president of Nicaragua.

1978 By the end of the decade, Nicaragua experiences an economic slowdown and circumstances are ripe for a revolution. Joaquín Chamorro, editor of the anti-Somoza newspaper, La Prensa, is assassinated. The public holds Somoza responsible. Led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), anti-Somoza guerrilla forces launch a violent uprising against the military. Nicaragua is plunged into a near civil war.

1979 The corrupt, repressive, US-backed dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle is overthrown and is succeeded by the Sandinistas. The Sandinistas will implement reforms that significantly improve social conditions. For instance, the literacy rate will improve from 25% to 80%, student enrollment will more than double by 1984, the number of school teachers will more than quadruple, and the percentage of people with access to health services will dramatically increase. [Media Monitors, 9/24/2001; Woodward, 1985; Rosset and Vendermeer, 1986; Keen, 1992] An Oxfam report entitled, The Threat of a Good Example, on the Sandinistas will conclude in 1985 “In Oxfam's experience of working in seventy-six developing countries, Nicaragua was to prove exceptional in the strength of that government commitment [of meeting the basic needs of the poor majority].” This should be contrasted with Nicaragua's neighbors at the time ( Guatemala and El Salvador). which has “military dictatorships responsible for the sheer institutionalization of state terror, installed and propped up by the US,” the report notes. “Tens of thousands of civilians were regularly slaughtered by government death squads trained and armed by the CIA. The vast majority of the populations were impoverished.” [Media Monitors, 9/24/2001; Mitchell and Schoeffel. eds. 2002. Sources Nicaragua the threat of a good example?]
People and organizations involved Anastasio Somoza Debayle

1983 The CIA responds to the Sandinista revolution, under US President Ronald Reagan, by creating a paramilitary force to “stop the flow of military supplies from Nicaragua to El Salvador,” despite little evidence of this actually occurring. During the '80s the force mounts raids on Nicaragua, attacking schools and medical clinics, raping, kidnapping, torturing, committing massacres, and mining harbors. By the late '80s, the paramilitary force grows to around 50,000. [The Guardian, 7/26/2000; Media Monitors, 9/24/2001; Rosset and Vendermeer, 1986; Keen, 1992]
People and organizations involved Ronald Reagan

1984 US President Ronald Reagan publicly claims to end aid to the Contras in accordance with a congressional ban. However his administration continues the support, leading to the Iran-Contra scandal. [CNN, 2001; The Guardian, 7/26/2000; Keen, 1992; Rosset and Vendermeer, 1986]
People and organizations involved Ronald Reagan

1984 Elections are held in Nicaragua and the Sandinistas win with 67% of the vote. International observer teams comment that they are the fairest elections to have been held in Latin America in many years. [Media Monitors, 9/24/2001; Los Angeles Times, 5/25/1998; Keen, 1992; Rosset and Vendermeer, 1986]

1984 The Associated Press discloses a 90-page CIA-produced training manual called “Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare” giving advice for the contras on political assassinations, blackmailing, mob violence, kidnappings and blowing up public buildings, and calling for “implicit terror.” [CNN, n.d.; CNN, n.d.; Keen, 1992; Rosset and Vendermeer, 1986 Sources Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare]

1985: FSLN's presidential candidate, Daniel Ortega takes office and declares a state of national emergency, suspending civil rights. The Iran-Contra Affair begins. This U.S.-orchestrated operation secretly channels funds to the Contras soldiers, which is in direct violation with the Boland Amendment.

1986 Nicaragua appeals to the World Court in The Hague to end US efforts to destabilize its government. The court rules in its favor, ordering America to end its interventionist policy in Nicaragua and to pay massive reparations. America ignores the World Court's ruling, not paying a cent and instead escalates the war. [Keen, 1992; Rosset and Vendermeer, 1986, pg 289-293]

1987 The International Court of Justice (ICJ) decides on the amount owed by the US to Nicaragua—$17 billion. The US continues to ignore the ruling. [Counterpunch, 9/13/2002; Tiscali Encyclopedia, n.d.]

1987 The UN General Assembly calls on the US to comply with the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) judgment that the US pay Nicaragua $17 billion in reparations. The US continues to ignore the ruling. The UN will repeat its demand the following year. [Sources UN General Assembly Resolution 43/11, UN General Assembly Resolution 42/18]

1988: Nicaragua is a disaster zone, ravaged by civil war and the onslaught of Hurricane Hugo. President Ortega agrees to the first round of peace talks with Contra leaders. A temporary truce is reached in March.

1988 US President Ronald Reagan announces that he will no longer seek military aid for the Contras. [Tiscali Encyclopedia, n.d.]

1990 Elections are held in Nicaragua, and the Sandinistas lose to US-backed Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, after the US spends $9 million on her election campaign including bribing Nicaraguans to vote for her. [Tiscali Encyclopedia, n.d.; Boston Globe, 10/20/1996; Wake-Up Magazine, n.d.]
People and organizations involved Violeta Barrios de Chamorro

1991: The UNO coalition governs Nicaragua. They severely cut government spending on successful, Sandinista-led social programs in such areas as health care and education. On July 1st, right wing sectors attack Sandinista land reforms, which have redistributed land to small-scale farmers. The impact is felt across the nation.

1997: Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo, the Liberal Party's conservative candidate, wins the presidential elections- 49 to 39 percent over FSLN opponent, Daniel Ortega.

1997 Nicaragua is crippled by the highest per capita debt in the world. If the US were simply to honor the World Court ruling, the debt would be paid off three-fold. [Oxfam, n.d.]

Timeline References:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/arts/nicaragua/discovery_eng/timeline/
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=nicaragua

Comments

[Court]

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[Rachel]

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[Pickel Juice]

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[penny]

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[Yolanda]

You forgot to mention how the Sandinistas while in government turned out to be extreme communists and how they stole the lands and homes of all the Nicaraguans who went into exile during their rule. The "suspending civil rights" falls short on the accounts.

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[David]

Hey Penny,

I'm nicaraguan and I know the situation better than you because I lived in the country during the war in the 80's. I have also studied the history from both the U.S. perspective and the Nicaraguan perspective.

The sandinistas were not extreme communists who stole land. They were not even communists. That was a Reagan propaganda. The Sandinistas were socialists. If you study politics you will find that there is a very big distinction between the two forms of government.

The Sandinistas did take land away from people but it was to stabalize the economy of the country. Nicaragua had extremely rich people who were a minority of the population and extremely poor people who made the majority of the population. Any time such situations exist and your country has a long history of overall poverty and interventions from richer countries, stabalizing the economic structure is not a bad idea.

[Pat]

That's All.

[Pat]

overall pretty good

[Jason Osborne]

Great! Very informative. People have a tendency to overlook the U.S. role in destabalizing democratic governments in the Third World and particularly in Latin America.

[Carlos corea]

You forgot something: on July 1854 the USS Cyane destroyed the Nicaraguan city of Greytown. After that, the USA demanded US$24,000.00 from Nicaragua-for "damages"