User:English group nicaragua revolution

A general history outline of the revolution to put in powerpoint: 1)	In 1828-1838, Nicaragua lost the support of neighboring countries and became susceptible to outside takeover of other countries with the collapse of the Central American Federation. *MAP* At this point, conservative and liberal Nicaraguan parties had different ideas of how to re-engineer stability in their state and were in constant struggle for political power. Liberal president JOSE SANTOS SELAYA come to power in 1893.  Zelaya encouraged outside investment in Nicaragua as the best way to strengthen Nicaragua’s economy; and by the early twentieth century, the U.S. had monopolized many of Nicaragua’s resources.  Zelaya became concerned about the possibility of an American takeover in Nicaragua and Zelaya began to stake his country’s claim on its own resources. 2)	The U.S. did not appreciate this anti-American attitude and our government decided we needed to protect our investment interest by removing the current liberal, anti-American imperialism Nicaraguan government and replace it with a more accepting, conservative government. In 1909, a conservative revolt caused political unrest in the state. Not only did the U.S. encourage this revolt, but we sent U.S. Marines to Nicaragua to protect the rebels. At this point, Zelaya had no choice but to surrender from his political rule into order to prevent a full-scale war in the state. 3)	Conservative president ADOLFO DIAZ came to power in 1911, with the help of strong U.S. support. Diaz was seen by much of Nicaragua as a puppet president whose strings were pulled by the U.S.  There were many revolts against Diaz throughout his rule, so the U.S. Marines continued to remain stationed in Nicaragua in order to protect Diaz and conservative groups.  As long as the conservatives were in power, the U.S. would remain a huge force in Nicaragua.  4)	In 1927, the U.S. decided a new political strategy was necessary to better protect their interest. The U.S. decided to allow Nicaragua to hold their own presidential elections to make the people feel as if they had the power to guide the political direction of their state. Because the U.S. closely supervised these elections, they were not worried when the next liberal president was elected. At this point, the U.S. had build up so much economic, political and military influence in the state that they knew a liberal president would not have an impact on their interests. 5)	AUGUSTO CESAR SANDINO, a liberal officer in Nicaragua who was fed up with the U.S. taking control of Nicaragua, built his own army made of poor workers and farmers and managed to force the U.S. Marines out of Nicaragua in 1933. In order remain a military influence in the state, the U.S. formed the NICARAGUAN NATIONAL GUARD (NNG) and handpicked ANASTACIO SOMOZA GARCIA to lead the NNG.  After overthrowing the latest liberal president, Somoza elected himself president and from 1937 to 1979, he and his sons would rule the state. 6)	Nicaragua became heavily influenced by communism during the Cold War when the Soviet Union began to spread communist ideology to Latin America. The idea of communism much easier to sell to a politically weak state, so the Soviet Union took advantage of the fact that Nicaragua was on the brink of a revolution to spread their ideals. 7)	The communist ideology was readily accepted by liberals in Nicaragua and feared by the U.S., who thought Nicaragua would become a threat to the U.S. if they became a communist state. 8)	The Somoza dynasty was filled with corruption and human brutality. The U.S. did not need to interfere during the Somoza dynasty because their influence in Nicaragua went unchallenged as long as Somoza was in power. Fed up with decades of unfair treatment by the Somoza family and the increasing American presence, the Nicaraguan people began to organize a rebellion against the Somoza dynasty.

Reagan accused the Sandinistas of importing Cuban-style socialism and aiding leftist guerrillas in El Salvador. On November 23 of that year, Reagan signed the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support the Contras with $19 million in military aid. The effort to support the Contras was one component of the so-called Reagan Doctrine, championed by American conservatives, which called for providing U.S. military support to movements opposing Soviet-supported, communist-led governments.

In 1984 Nicaragua filed a suit in the World Court against the United States in Nicaragua v. United States, which in 1986 resulted in a guilty verdict against the US, calling on it to "cease and to refrain" from the unlawful use of force against Nicaragua through direct attack by US forces and through training, funding and support of the terrorist forces. The US was "in breach of its obligation under customary international law not to use force against another state" and was ordered to pay reparations (see note 1). The US response to this ruling was to dismiss the jurisdiction of the court and escalate the war.

Communication between Halley and Bianca was through blackboard and yahoo e-mail.

Just some notes to get started.... Nicaragua serves as a global backdrop in Animal Dreams. In the author's note, Kingsolver specifies that her portrayal of Nicaragua and of the US role there are meant to directly reflect the political reality of the 1980s. Nicaragua, whose capital is Managua, is the largest country in Central America. In 1979, the socialist Sandinistas and the National Liberation Front (FSLN) overthrew Anastasio Somoza, ending a 46-year dictatorship by the Somoza family. Headed by Daniel Ortega, the FSLN established a socialist government. They nationalized all of the major industry and launched a number of programs to support small farms through agrarian reform, as well as to establish strong national education and health care programs. The CIA secretly organized and supplied an anti-Sandinista army, known as Contras, and U.S. armed forces conducted joint maneuvers with Honduras and Costa Rica along the Nicaraguan border. Supposedly, these exercises were meant to stop the suspected flow of arms from Nicaragua to rebels in nearby El Salvadoran. In fact, American policy hoped to provoke a revolt that would overthrow the Sandinistas altogether. Research the history of the Nicaraguan contras during the 1980s. Were the contras the evil force described in Animal Dreams, or were they freedom fighters opposing communist tyranny as many in the United States believed?

Nicaragua serves as the global backdrop in Animal Dreams, with the 1979 Nicaraguan revolution as the setting for the main character’s sister, Hallie. In the Author’s Note, Barbara Kingsolver expresses gratitude for the American volunteers who worked to bring a new social order in Nicaragua after the 1979 revolution. In Animal Dreams, Hallie, the sister of the main character, travels to Nicaragua to use her mater’s degree in integrated pest management to teach farmers how to grow crops. This is her way of being part of the new society that emerged from the revolution. As you will read later in the novel, American volunteers were instrumental in joining forces with the Nicaraguan Sandinista group in order to bring forth a new society.

Opponents of the revolution were known as “contras”, which m