Nicaragua
Political,
Economic and
Development
Needs

Political History
Settled as a Spanish colony from

Panama in the early 16th century.
 Independence from Spain declared in
1821
 Country became an independent
republic in 1838.
 British occupation of Caribbean Coast
in the first half of the 19th century,

1978: Violent opposition to

governmental manipulation
and corruption was wide
spread
1979: Marxist Sandinistas

come to power
1980’s: USA sponsor of anti-

Sandinista contra
Free elections in 1990, 1996,

and 2001 - Sandinistas
defeated
Voting in 2006:return of

former Sandinista President
Daniel Ortega Saavedra.
Overall - Nicaragua's

infrastructure and economy
shaken

Economy
Nicaragua has widespread

underemployment
 Third lowest per capita
income in the Western
Hemisphere.
 Annual GDP growth has
been too low to meet the
country's needs
 Early 2004: Nicaragua
secured some $4.5 billion
in foreign debt reduction
under the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC) initiative

October 2007: the IMF approved a new

poverty reduction and growth facility
(PRGF) program that should allow for
social spending and investment.
 Energy shortages preventing growth

GDP: $16.17 billion (2007 est.)

 GDP growth rate:4%
 GDP per capita: $2,800
Industries: food

processing, chemicals, machinery and
metal
products, textiles, clothing, petroleum
refining and
distribution, beverages, footwear, wood
Agriculture:

coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, co
rn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans;
beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products

Environment
Destruction of Nicaraguan

 A Pro to the Contra War
•Nicaraguan Institute for Natural
Resources and Environment (Instituto
de Recursos Naturales--Irena) in the
1980s
•Conservation methods not permanent
– soon fell to destructive power of
Contra War

Environmental efforts

 Consequences of Increasing Poverty
 “Although in the 1990s Nicaragua's
tropical forests were less than 1 percent
the size of the Amazon rain forest in
Brazil, Nicaraguan rain forests were
disappearing at a rate ten times faster
than that of the Amazon.
If that rate continues,
the Nicaraguan rain
forest will have
disappeared by 2010.”

Development Needs
Better class structure needed – more even

distribution of resources
Stable economy, social programs,

industries, foreign aid and government
Economic growth and social reform

End of political unease – during times of

revolution, funds re-directed to national
defense
Nicaragua's economy saw sustained

improvements in stabilization and growth.
Reducing poverty requires attention to

growth of the rural economy

Sources
http://worldfacts.us/Nicaragua.htm
1.
http://www.acdi-
2.
cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-
129124155-NRR
http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua
3.
http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2004/latin_
4.
america_caribbean/nicaragua.pdf
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-
5.
bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0030)