Home > José Santos Zelaya

Zelaya was of Nicaragua's liberal party and enacted a number of progressive programs, including improving public education, building railroads, and establishing steam ship lines. However his wish for personal power often led him to policies contrary to democratic principles.

In 1894 he seized the Mosquito CoastThe article is about the geographical area. For the film or novel see The Mosquito Coast. The Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area of present-day Nicaragua long dominated by British interests. Although its name sometimes applies to the whole e, by military force; it had long been the subject of dispute, home to a native kingdom claimed as a protectorateProtectorate of Oliver Cromwell See The Protectorate. 19th Century revival of term The British revived the term after 1815, in ordering and validating their de facto occupation of Corfu and the seven Ionian islands during the last days of Napoleonic hegem by the British EmpireThe British Empire in the early decades of the 20th century, held sway over a population of 400 500 million people (roughly a quarter of the world's population), and covered nearly 30 million square kilometres, (roughly two-fifths of the world's land area. Zelaya's gamble paid off, and the United Kingdom, not wishing to go to war for this distant land of little value to the Empire, recognized Nicaraguan sovereignty over the area.

José Santos Zelaya was reelected president in 1902Events January-April January 28 The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. France, Loisy's L'evangile et l'Eglise which inaugurates the Modernist Crisis February 11 Police beat up universal suffrage and again in 1906Events January 8 Landslide in Haverstraw, New York kills 20 January 31 Earthquake in Ecuador (8. 6 in Richter scale) February 11 Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer nos''. February 15 Representatives of the Labour Representation Committee in t.

The possibility of building a canalCanal du Midi in Toulouse, France Canals are man-made waterways, usually connecting existing lakes, rivers, or oceans. They are used for transportation, often by barges or narrowboats on smaller canals, and by ships on ship canals that connect to the ocea across the isthmus of Central AmericaCentral America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. Some geographers classify Central America as a large isthmus, and in this geographic sense it sometimes in had been the topic of serious discussion since the 1820sEvents and Trends Nationalistic independence movements helped reshape the world during this decade: Greece declares independence from the Ottoman Empire ( 1821). Several countries declared their independence from Spain and Portugal: The Republic of Gran C, and Nicaragua was long a favored location (See: Nicaragua Canal). When the United States shifted its interests to Panama, Zelaya negotiated with Germany and Japan in an unsuccessful effort to have a canal constructed in his state.

José Zelaya had ambitions of reuniting the United States of Central America (see: History of Central America), with, he hoped, himself as national president. With this aim in mind he gave aid to liberal federalist factions in other Central American nations.

The Zelaya administration had growing friction with the United States government, which started giving aid to his Conservative opponents in Nicaragua. In 1907 U.S. warships seized some of Nicaragua's sea ports. Zelaya's allies fought the conservatives and U.S. funded mercenaries battling against them. In October of 1909 officers of Zelaya's government executed some captured rebels; two United States mercenaries were among them, and the U.S. government declared their execution grounds for formal intervention. At the start of December United States Marines were landed on Nicaragua's Caribbean Sea coast. On 17 December, 1909, Zelaya resigned and left for exile in Mexico. A U.S. sponsored conservative regime was installed in his place. The U.S. Marines stayed in Nicaragua through 1925.

The Nicaraguan province of Zelaya is named after José Santos Zelaya.

See also: History of Nicaragua; List of Presidents of Nicaragua