José Santos Zelaya

José Santos Zelaya

José Santos Zelaya (born November 1, 1853 in Managua , Nicaragua , † May 17, 1919 in New York , USA ) was a Nicaraguan politician and president of the country from 1893 to 1910.

Zelaya was a member of Nicaragua's Liberal Party. He had a number of progressive programs to improve education , road construction, and he introduced steam navigation . However, his urge for personal power often led to decisions contrary to democratic principles.

In 1894 he occupied the Miskito Coast by military means , which was the subject of disputes long after the United Kingdom declared it a protectorate . Zelaya's plan worked, as the British Empire refused to wage war for the small, distant and worthless piece of land and eventually recognized Nicaragua's sovereignty for the area.

In 1902 and 1906, José Santos Zelaya was re-elected as president.

The possibility of building a canal through the isthmus of Central America had been under discussion since around 1820. Nicaragua was the focus of interest until the US turned its attention to Panama . Zelaya then began to negotiate with Germany and Japan about building a canal in Nicaragua , but without success.

José Zelaya also pursued plans to revive the Central American Confederation , also known as the United Provinces of Central America, in the hope of becoming president of this association himself. To get closer to this goal, he supported liberal federal splinter parties in other Central American states.

There was more and more disagreement between Zelayas and the US government. The US government also began to support the conservative opposition in Nicaragua. In 1907, US warships captured some of Nicaragua's seaports . Zelaya's allies fought against the Conservatives and US-funded mercenaries . In October 1909, Zelaya's officers executed some captured rebels, including two US mercenaries. The US government took this as an occasion for formal intervention . At the beginning of December, US marines landed on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, on December 17, 1909, Zelaya resigned and went into exile in Mexico . He was replaced by a US-supported regime. The US Marines stayed in Nicaragua until 1925.

The former Department of Zelaya (today divided into: Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Sur and Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Norte ) was named after José Santos Zelaya.

predecessor	Office	successor
Joaquín Zavala	President of Nicaragua July 25, 1893 - December 21, 1909	José Madriz

Web links

• Biography (spanish)