“No me vendo ni me rindo”: Nicaraguans Surviving U.S. Interference, Redefining Cultural Identities, and Overcoming Injustice Through Active Resistance

Abstract

The history of Nicaragua has been heavily influenced by centuries of colonization, corruption, battles to gain independence only to lose it to more powerful forces, and decades of US political involvement (General History of the Caribbean: The long nineteenth century: Nineteenth century transformations (Vol. IV), UNESCO Publishing, Paris, France, 2011). Nicaragua remains the poorest country in Central America and its citizens face many challenges in order to survive and make ends meet (Gomez, Determinantes de la pobreza urbana: El caso de Nicaragua, http://www.bcn.gob.ni/estadisticas/estudios/2014/DT-34_Determinantes_de_la_pobreza_urbana_2013.pdf, 2013; Instituto Nacional de Informacion de Desarollo [INIDE], Necesidades Basicas Insatisfechas (NBI) Encuesta Continua de Hogares 2009-2016, http://www.inide.gob.ni/ECH/Modulo de Vivienda - ECH 2009 - 2016 NBI FINAL.pdf, 2017a; INIDE, Informe de empleo: Encuesta continua de hogares (ECH) III Trimestre 2017. http://www.inide.gob.ni/ECH/Publicacion ECH III trimestre 2017.pdf, 2017b). Despite these obstacles, Nicaraguans have immigrated to the United States at much lower rates than their neighboring countries in Central America and only constitute about 0.7% of the immigrant population, equaling about 422,000 people (How the U.S. Hispanic population is changing, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/18/how-the-u-s-hispanic-population-is-changing/, 2017) of which only less than 18% have undocumented or unauthorized status (More than 100,000 Haitian and Central American immigrants face decision on their status in the U.S. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/08/more-than-100000-haitian-and-central-american-immigrants-face-decision-on-their-status-in-the-u-s/, 2017). Nicaraguans have fought to improve their country, prefer Nicaragua to neighboring countries with more robust economies, will never forget the terror the Somozas inflicted upon their land, and are still heavily influenced by the Sandinista revolution and ideology.