This book explores the pernicious nature of US engagement with Nicaragua from the mid-19th century to the present in pursuit of control and domination rather than in defense of democracy as it has incessantly claimed. In turn, Nicaraguans have valiantly defended their homeland, preventing the US from ever maintaining its control for long.

Led by Daniel Ortega, the Sandinistas established democracy in Nicaragua with the country’s first free and fair elections in 1984. Once again, the US attempted to subvert democracy by organizing Somoza’s former National Guardsmen into a terrorist group known as the Contras.  Directed and funded by the CIA, the Contras would terrorize Nicaragua for nearly 10 years.

In 1990, the Sandinistas stood for early election and the war-weary voters selected Violeta Chamorro. The Sandinistas relinquished office peacefully stepped, ceding the government to Chamorro. For 17 long years, from 1990 to 2007, neo-liberal governments, beginning with Violetta Chamorro, governed Nicaragua.  Backed by the US, these governments neglected the people, leaving almost half of the country un-electrified, without decent education or health care, and in poverty. When Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas returned to power in 2007 through elections, they immediately established free health care and education,  built infrastructure throughout the country, and began to eradicate poverty. Now, almost all of the country is electrified; poverty and extreme poverty have been greatly diminished; and the UN has ranked Nicaragua 5th in the world for gender equality three years in a row.


“Kovalik’s book, written from the perspective of someone who has been visiting the country for decades and immersing himself in the Nicaraguan reality of daily life, is a refreshing reminder that it is still possible to write truthfully about history.” MAX BLUMENTHAL, The Grayzone"