Friends Around the World :: Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The first attempt to conquer what is now known as Nicaragua was by the Spaniard Gil González Dávila, whose Central American exploits began with his arrival in Panama in January 1520.

Nicaragua became a part of the Mexican Empire and then gained its independence as a part of the United Provinces of Central America in 1821 and as an independent republic in its own right in 1838. The strip of the Caribbean coast known as the Mosquito Coast was claimed by the United Kingdom and its predecessors as a protectorate from 1655 to 1850; this was delegated to Honduras in 1859 and transferred to Nicaragua in 1860, though it remained autonomous until 1894.

In 1961 Carlos Fonseca and two others founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Upon assuming office in 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for joining with Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador.

Daniel Ortega is the current (83rd) President of Nicaragua, but he previously served as the 79th President, between 10 January 1985 and 25 April 1990. For much of his life, he has been a leader in the FSLN.

These pictures come from the beautiful coastal community of San Juan Del Sur:

All of the photographs above are courtesy of our friend K. Dwulit.