Sandinista National Liberation Front in the context of Augusto Cesar Sandino

The Junta of National Reconstruction (Spanish: Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional) was the provisional government of Nicaragua from the fall of the President Somoza in July 1979 until January 1985, with the election of Daniel Ortega (FSLN) as president of Nicaragua.

The North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It was created along with the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region by the Autonomy Statute of 7 September 1987 through a division of the former Zelaya Department. It covers an area of 33,106 km and has a population of 541,189 (2021 estimate). It is the largest autonomous region or department in Nicaragua. The capital is Puerto Cabezas. It contains part of the region known as the Mosquito Coast.

The North Autonomous Caribbean Coast has a Regional Council of representatives of different political parties, such as the Sandinistas (FSLN) and YATAMA (ethnic indigenous party), as well as all the municipalities. They hold sessions in an Assembly in Puerto Cabezas.

José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (/ɔːrˈteɪɡə/ or-TAY-gə, Spanish: [daˈnjel oɾˈteɣa]; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician who has been the co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the president of Nicaragua from 1985 to 1990 and from 2007 to 2025. He previously led Nicaragua as the first coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from 1979 to 1985. Ortega leads an authoritarian government, and has been regularly described as a dictator by the international community.

Ortega came to prominence with the overthrow and exile of US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979 during the Nicaraguan Revolution. As a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) Ortega became leader of the ruling Junta of National Reconstruction. A Marxist–Leninist, Ortega pursued a program of nationalization, land reform, wealth redistribution, and literacy programs during his first period in office. Ortega's government was responsible for the forced displacement of 10,000 indigenous people. In 1984, Ortega won Nicaragua's presidential election with over 60% of the vote as the FSLN's candidate. During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. Throughout the 1980s, Ortega's government faced a rebellion by US-backed rebels, known as the Contras. After a presidency marred by conflict and economic collapse, Ortega was defeated in the 1990 Nicaraguan general election by Violeta Chamorro.

The Contras (Spanish: La contrarrevolución, lit. 'the counter-revolution') were the anti-communist right-wing rebels who waged a guerilla war against the Marxist Sandinista National Liberation Front and the Junta of National Reconstruction, which came to power after the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979. The Contras war against the Sandinista government lasted from 1979 until 1990 and was one of the highest profile conflicts of the Cold War.

Following the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979, which led to the fall of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaragua's president by the Sandinistas, various groups were formed in opposition to the Sandinistas, including by Samoza allies and former members of the National Guard, and also by Anti-Somozistas' groups whom had previously been aligned with and fought alongside the Sandinistas. The United States and several other countries provided military assistance and financial aid to the Contras. In 1981, the CIA and Argentina's Secretariat of Intelligence persuaded several Contra groups to unite into the larger Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN).

Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Aslatakanka (lit. 'Sons of Mother Earth'; YATAMA) was an Indigenous party mainly active on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast. YATAMA had its roots in the MISURASATA (Miskito, Sumo and Rama Sandinista Alliance) and the MISURA/KISAN organisations. In 1988, in response to the Central American peace accords, the remnants of MISURASATA and MISURA/KISAN in Honduras, Costa Rica and Miami reorganized as YATAMA, united by the traditional Miskitu leaders Steadman Fagoth and Brooklyn Rivera.

YATAMA participated in several regional elections since 1990. Its best electoral result was in the autonomous elections on the Caribbean Coast in 1990 where they won 26 Regional Council member seats (out of 90). The party was in an alliance with the FSLN from 2006 until 2014.

General elections were held in Nicaragua on 5 November 2006. The country's voters went to the polls to elect a new President of the Republic and 90 members of the National Assembly. Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was elected president with 38% of the vote, defeating Eduardo Montealegre (Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance) with 28%, José Rizo (Constitutionalist Liberal Party) with 27%, Edmundo Jarquín (Sandinista Renovation Movement) with 6%, and Edén Pastora (Alternative for Change) with 0.3%. The FSLN also emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly, winning 38 seats.

The election have been characterized as a critical juncture in Nicaragua's history, as Nicaragua has experienced democratic backsliding since Ortega's victory in the election, as Ortega has centralized power and repressed the political opposition.