ABSTRACT
The restoration of public order and the establishment of a police service constituted a thorny problem for the revolutionary government. Any assessment of the economic performance of the Sandinista regime must consider not only the revolutionary program but also the external pressures emanating from the United States. The revolutionary government's employment, salary, and social service policies sought to improve the standard of living of the poor and to redistribute income, goods, and services more toward workers. The first goal of the income policy was to get Nicaraguans back to work by increasing industrial and agricultural production as well as public-sector construction. One cultural goal difficult to achieve was the integration of the Atlantic zone into Nicaragua. Government spokesmen and some others expressed optimism about the potential for economic development in the Atlantic zone and for the integration of the region's people into the national culture and society.
