ABSTRACT
The history of Central America is a depressing mixture of violence, exploitation, and neglect. In the last centuries before the Spanish conquest, Aztec influence from Mexico became an important factor, but Central America remained divided into a host of disparate tribal groups with distinct languages and cultural patterns. Independence came to Central America with a minimum of actual conflict. The economic rigors of the depression had combined with rising population pressures and the activities of Central America’s strongest Communist Party to generate a major uprising by rural, largely Indian, peasants. The Somozas became the richest as well as the most enduring family in Central America’s political history, corruption became the dominant national institution, and the military became a private guard. By late 1977, tensions were rising throughout Central America, and with the exception of Costa Rica, existing political systems became subject to increasing strain.
