Autonomy in nicaragua

Since the 1979 Revolution, Nicaragua's Sandinista government has been engaged in the reconstruction of political and administrative institutions throughout the country. Problems of administrative development have been especially acute along the Atlantic Coast, which has not only been geographically separate from the Pacific Coast, but ethnically and culturally distinct as well. U.S. intervention into the region since 1981 has intensified Sandinista efforts to accommodate indigenous demands for autonomy. The result has been the establishment of limited self-government involving a regional coordinator and council structure. Although many problems remain unresolved, the Nicaraguan experience offers a novel approach to a number of the policy and administrative issues involving indigenous minority populations within modern nation-states.