Nicaragua: The Sandinista Experiment and its Aftermath

Abstract

When the Sandinistas came to power in July 1979, leading a broad political coalition, they inherited an economy in deep crisis (Fig. 12.1). This crisis was the result both of poor economic management during the Somoza dictatorship and the economic consequences of the civil war. As Table 12.1 shows, except for the performance of its balance of payments, during the 1970s Nicaragua had the worst economic record of the Central American region. Its economy was the most stagnant (with an average GDP growth of just 0.5 per cent during this decade) and, in some respects, the most vulnerable of the region as measured, for example, by its large exports/GDP ratio (39 per cent, consisting mainly of primary commodities with high price volatility), or its large foreign debt/GDP ratio (85 per cent).

Hope is a waking dream.

(Aristotle)