In the 1980s, due to Red Scare paranoia and an attempt to put down socialism in the region, the U.S proceeded to wage an undeclared war against the left-wing Sandinista movement by funding the Contra groups until it was defeated in the election in 1990.

Another time they just stayed long enough to burn down San Juan del Norte because – seven years earlier – the American minister to Nicaragua had been kept there overnight against his will before he was released just the following morning.

Most Marine landings involved supporting one Nicaraguan faction against another.In the traditional historiography by historians in the United States and in Latin America, William Walker's filibustering represented the high tide of antebellum American imperialism.

His brief seizure of Nicaragua in 1855 is typically called a representative expression of Manifest destiny with the added factor of trying to expand slavery into Central America.

[2] According to Benjamin Harrison, Wilson was committed in Latin America to the fostering of democracy and stable governments, as well as fair economic policies.

The original draft also asserted the duty of the United States to intervene militarily in case of domestic turmoil – but that provision was rejected by Democrats in the Senate.

The Somoza Regime, which included the Nicaraguan National Guard, a force highly trained by the U.S. military, declared a state of siege, and proceeded to use torture, extrajudicial killings, intimidation and censorship of the press in order to combat the FSLN attacks.

The CIA funneled logistical, military, and financial support to Contras in neighboring Honduras, waging a guerrilla war to topple the Sandinista Administration in Nicaragua.

[11] In July 1988, the Sandinista government expelled US Ambassador Richard Melton and several embassy staff, prompting reciprocal actions by the United States.

U.S. assistance is focused on strengthening democratic institutions, stimulating sustainable economic growth, and supporting the health and basic education sectors.

In response to Hurricane Felix, the United States provided over $400,000 in direct aid to Nicaragua to support recovery operations from the damage inflicted in September 2007.

Assistance has been focused on promoting more citizen political participation, compromise, and government transparency; stimulating sustainable growth and income; and fostering better-educated and healthier families.

The Millennium Challenge Compact is intended to reduce poverty and spur economic growth by funding projects in the regions of León and Chinandega aimed at reducing transportation costs and improving access to markets for rural communities; increasing wages and profits from farming and related enterprises in the region; and increasing investment by strengthening property rights.

[23] In 1987, United States Senator Bob Dole visited Managua and criticized President Daniel Ortega for two of Nicaragua's political prisoners.

Ortega offered to free the two political prisoners, who were opposition lawyers, in exchange for the freedom of the founder of School of the Americas Watch, Roy Bourgeois.