Nicaragua has had many troubles throughout history. When they were just a budding civilization, the Spanish colonized it and forced the original tribe called the Nicaro into slavery. The Nicaraguans (or Nicas) lived in slavery for decades until the Spanish ended up ignoring them and conquering other countries. Nicaragua along with the rest of Central America became independent.
The Nicaraguans had no idea how to create a government for the people since they had always been ruled by another power. After a few failed governments and a few more decades, the United States stepped in.
An American named William Walker entered Nicaragua and made himself supreme ruler. He legalized slavery, gave large portions of land to American business, and made English the official language. When his term was up, he would reelect himself. After pocketing most of Nicaragua’s finances, Walker fled the country.
During the Cold War, the US was scared of communism. At the time, Nicaragua had accepted donations from Russia and Cuba. We considered this a threat to democracy and sent our marines over. We also set a trade embargo on Nicaragua, devastating their economy. In the mid-eighties, Nicaragua’s inflation soared to up to 36,000%
The US finally agreed to end the embargo if we agreed upon a new leader they picked. They picked one America liked, but just in case the US sent a man to lead the army. America picked Somoza, a health inspector and used car dealer. He went behind the leader’s back, took over the country, and became the dictator of Nicaragua. He had a dynasty that lasted for 42 years. Roosevelt said “Somoza may be a bitch, but he’s our bitch”. Somoza later fled the country leaving Nicaragua in extreme poverty.
After a long period of disorder and a few wars between the Sandinistas and the Contras, Nicaragua finally has established a democracy. Their country is now in the process of healing, slowly but surely.