Some might say that Nicaragua has been merely a pawn in the US battle against Soviet-Cuban Communist control in Latin America. Relationships between the US and Nicaragua go back to the Gold Rush and Cornelius Vanderbilt's attempts to expedite the travel between the two coasts of the US. Vanderbilt bought the rights to shuttle fortune-seekers across Nicaragua to avoid their having to cross the width of the United States or travel around Cape Horn. Eventually, controversy among the Nicaraguan people led to a civil war in 1853. The US was further drawn into the conflict when the left-wing army hired an American, William Walker, to fight for them. Walker and his mercenaries quickly conquered Grenada, the stronghold of the Conservative parties and found themselves in charge of the army. Walker, however, had his eyes on the presidency, which he eventually took.
Walker was not the end of US intervention in Nicaragua. The government had aligning aspirations with Cornelius Vanderbilt and decided to build their can
Throughout this period of relative peace in Nicaragua, many dominos are being set up around them throughout Central America. In 1959, Castro controls Cuba and the US begins to worry about the communist influence in Latin America.
In 1972, corruption really starts to eat away at the Somoza regime and it is clear a power struggle is looming. Without US intervention, the Sandinistas launch their major offensive in 1979 and force Somoza into exile. Shortly thereafter, Ronald Reagan is elected in the US and he puts fighting communism a the top of his priority list. Reagan uses this motive to launch covert anti-Sandinista operations in Nicaragua as well as plant seeds of revolution in other communist countries throughout Latin America. In 1983, the US officially invaded Grenada and the US began restoring a government they deemed fit to rule the country.
3. Jenkins, Tony. Nicaragua and the United States; Years of Conflict. New York: Watts, 1989.
From 1893 - 1909, a general by the name of Zelaya had exclusi
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