THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY,   Nicaragua has suffered from political   instability, civil war, poverty, foreign   intervention, and natural disasters.   Governments since colonial times   have been unable to bring stability   and sustainable economic growth.   Personal and foreign special   interests have generally prevailed   over the national interests, and   foreign intervention in Nicaraguan   political and economic affairs,   especially by the United States, has   resulted in various forms of populist   and nationalist reactions. The legacy   of the past can be seen today in the   attitudes toward foreign influence.   Although the upper and middle   classes tend to emulate North   American life-styles and be   supportive of United States policies,   the Nicaraguan poor are highly   suspicious of the culture and political   intentions of the United States.

  Since precolonial times, Nicaragua's   fertile Pacific coast has attracted   settlers, thus concentrating most of   the population in the western part of   the country. The Caribbean coast,   because of its proximity to the West   Indies, historically has been the site   of foreign intervention and non-  Hispanic immigration from black and   indigenous groups from the   Caribbean and from British settlers   and pirates. 

  During most of the twentieth century,   Nicaragua has suffered under   dictatorial regimes. From the mid-  1930s until 1979, the Somoza family   controlled the government, the   military, and an ever expanding   sector of the Nicaraguan economy.   On July 19, 1979, Somoza rule   came to an end after the triumph of   an insurrection movement led by the   Sandinista National Liberation Front   (Frente Sandinista de Liberacion   Nacional--FSLN). However, the   predominance of the FSLN led to the   development of a different kind of   authoritarian regime that lasted for   more than a decade. During the   1980s, Nicaragua was the center of   Cold War confrontation in the   Western Hemisphere, with   the former Soviet Union and Cuba   providing assistance to the   Sandinista government, and the   United States supporting anti-  government forces. 

  A regional peace initiative brought   an end to civil war in the late   1980s.  The Sandinistas lost in the   1990 elections, and a new   government headed by President   Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was   installed in April 1990.

  Economy.