After the departure of U.S. troops in 1933, National Guard Commander Anastasio Somoza Garcia outmaneuvered his political opponents--including Sandino, who was assassinated by National Guard officers--and took over the presidency in 1936. Somoza and his two sons who succeeded him sought to maintain close ties with the United States
The Somoza dynasty, beset by corruption, ended in 1979 with a massive uprising led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which had conducted a low-scale guerrilla war against the Somoza regime since the early 1960s
Soon after taking power the FSLN pushed out rival factions and established an authoritarian dictatorship under leadership of Daniel Ortega. U.S.-Nicaraguan relations deteriorated rapidly as the regime nationalized many private industries, confiscated private property, supported Central American guerrilla movements, and maintained links to international terrorists, including the Colombian guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA) separatist group, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The United States suspended aid to Nicaragua in 1981. Later the Ronald Reagan administration provided assistance to the Nicaraguan resistance (Contras) and in 1985 imposed an embargo on U.S.-Nicaraguan trade
In response to both domestic and international pressure, Ortega’s Sandinista regime entered into negotiations with the Nicaraguan resistance leaders and ultimately agreed to nationwide elections in February 1990
In these elections, Nicaraguans elected as their President the National Opposition Union (UNO) candidate, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, widow of the slain journalist and editor of the daily newspaper La Prensa, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro. She defeated Ortega, the Sandinista Party candidate
During President Chamorro's nearly 7 years in office, her government achieved major progress toward consolidating democratic institutions, advancing national reconciliation, stabilizing the economy, privatizing state-owned enterprises, and reducing human rights violations
Despite a number of irregularities--which were due largely to logistical difficulties and a complicated electoral law--the October 20, 1996 presidential, legislative, and mayoral elections were judged free and fair by international observers and by the national electoral observer group Etica y Transparencia (Ethics and Transparency). This time Nicaraguans elected former Managua Mayor Arnoldo Aleman, leader of the center-right Liberal Alliance. Aleman defeated Sandinista Party candidate Daniel Ortega.
The first transfer of power in modern Nicaraguan history from one democratically-elected president to another took place on January 10, 1997, when the Aleman government was inaugurated
Aleman’s administration was marred by graft and corruption. At the end of his term, Aleman entered into a political pact (el Pacto) with Daniel Ortega to divide control of state institutions between them and perpetuate themselves in power
Nicaragua held presidential and legislative elections in November 2001
Enrique Bolanos of the Liberal Constitutional Party was elected to the Nicaraguan presidency on November 4, 2001, defeating Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega by 14 percentage points. President Bolanos was inaugurated on January 10, 2002. His administration sought to deliver on campaign promises to reinvigorate the economy, create jobs, fight corruption, and support efforts against terrorism
However, political attacks from both the left and the right severely blunted his administration’s efforts to shrink traditional sources and bases of political patronage and corruption
FSLN candidate Daniel Ortega won the presidential elections of November 5, 2006, with 38% of the vote, defeating a divided opposition. ALN candidate Eduardo Montealegre garnered 29%; Jose Rizo of the PLC received 26%; and MRS' Edmundo Jarquin polled fourth with 6%
Ortega was inaugurated on 10-Jan-2007
The November 2008 municipal, March 2010 regional, and November 2011 presidential and legislative elections were marred by significant irregularities and were denounced by domestic and international observers as severely flawed
The FSLN-controlled Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) claimed that Daniel Ortega was re-elected with 62% of the vote and that the FSLN party received 63 seats in the National Assembly to claim a legislative supermajority. International and domestic organizations also raised concerns regarding the constitutional legitimacy of Ortega’s reelection.
Sources:
CIA World Factbook issued in (February 2012)
http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/nicaragua/historyU.S. Dept. of State Country Background Notes ( published in February 2012)