History
		A Historical Timeline of Nicaragua
		Statistics
		Current statistics of Nicaraguan society
		Fair Trade
		Learn about the Fair Trade movement in Nicaragua and check out our Fair Trade campaign
		Plan Puebla Panama
		Get the facts about this project and how it affects Nicaragua
		Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
		Based on the failed model of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), CAFTA will expand corporate rights over some of the poorest countries in the region.

Pre-colonial Nicaragua consisted of two basic culture groups.

One group in the central highlands was linguistically and culturally similar to the Aztecs of Mexico. Oral history, ethnohistorical accounts and archeological excavations have demonstrated these cultural ties. Most people of central and western Nicaragua spoke dialects of Pipil, a language closely related to Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec. The culture and food of the peoples of western Nicaragua also confirmed a link with the early inhabitants of Mexico; the staple foods of both populations were corn, beans, chili peppers, and avocados, still the most common foods in Nicaragua today.

The other group lived in Nicaragua's Caribbean lowlands migrated north from what is now Colombia. The various dialects and languages in this area are related to Chibcha, spoken by groups in northern Colombia. They practiced hunting fishing, and slash-and-burn agriculture for sustenance. Root crops such as: cassava, maiz and sweet potato were the staple foods. The people of eastern Nicaragua appear to have traded with and been influenced by the native peoples of the Caribbean, as round thatched huts and canoes, both typical of the Caribbean, were common in eastern Nicaragua.

A Brief History

The 1979 Sandinista revolution that toppled one of history's most long lived and brutal dictatorships launched Nicaragua into international attention. Over two decades later, after the U.S.-backed Contra counter-revolutionary war, the Sandinistas are no longer in power but still maintain an ever-present force in Nicaraguan politics and grassroots communities. Since the politically tumultuous 1970s and 1980s, life has not been easy in Nicaragua. Due to the misguided neoliberal economic agreements signed with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a majority of Nicaraguans find themselves without work, health care, education and other basic social services that were once provided during the revolutionary period. Some regions of Nicaragua have also been devastated in recent years by natural disasters, famine and a severe recession in the global coffee industry that has hit Nicaraguan campesinos especially hard.

Despite the hardships that they face, ordinary Nicaraguans have not given up hope and continue to struggle to improve their well-being. Understanding first-hand the dire consequences of adhering to the neoliberal economic model, Nicaraguans are currently resisting with their Central and South American neighbors against the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Today there are women maquiladora workers and trade unionists fighting for equality in the factories and struggling to organize unions in Managua's harsh sweatshop zones. Nicaraguan campesinos have also been in the forefront of the growing Fair Trade movement, allowing them to receive enough money from their crops to support their own families.