ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the origins of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, the revolutionary process, and the outcome of revolution in Nicaragua, as well as the implications of the 1990 elections for the development of democracy in Nicaragua. The legacy of Spanish colonialism in Nicaragua was similar in many respects to that in neighboring countries: an oligarchic society based on monopolization of land, forced Indian labor, and the violent economic and political exclusion of the majority of the population. In the aftermath of the 1972 earthquake, Anastasio Somoza continued to receive growing levels of economic and military aid from the United States, despite increasing elite and popular dissatisfaction. By 1936, Somoza had turned the National Guard into his own political tool and had forced President Juan Bautista Sacasa to resign. Throughout Central America, the consolidation of coffee production and its integration into the world economy generated important political changes.
