Genocide In Nicaragua

In 1909 then Nicaraguan President Adolfo Diaz took power and called for the “Platt Amendment.” The amendment ensured the United States involvement in Cuban affairs, both foreign and domestic, and gave the U.S. legal standing in claims to certain economic and military territories on the island. Diaz was a business man and he had an agenda that conflicted with that of the U.S. As a result of this conflict, the U.S. drove Diaz into exile. At this point, the major problems of Nicaragua were that they were a country in ruins with a weak export economy and $1.6 billion in debt. Nicaragua experienced the lowest per capita income in Central America. As a result, approximately 600,000 of its citizens were homeless and there was genocide.
Both Cuba and Nicaragua had an “eternal debt with the United States” and in 1911 Cuba and the United States signed the Knox-Castrillo Convention which provided a loan from the United States to fund the Nicaraguan debt. In 1916 the Bryan-Charmorro Treaty was signed giving the United States exclusive rights to build a Hydroelectric Plant Dam in Cuba. The main investor was the United States. By the end of the 1920s, Nicaragua …show more content…
The FSLN fought for land reform, national unity, women’s rights, social justice and independence from foreign policy. Additionally, while other movements fought for education, the FSLN specifically targeted illiteracy. The Nicaraguan people were the most illiterate people in Central America. The FSLN helped the people of Nicaragua by improving health, education, literacy, land ownership, citizen participation, business practices and other services for the public. After witnessing the injustices and seeing that the power that the movement was gaining, the movement received support from the masses; members of all social classes, as well as the church, took part in the