E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.6 page 6 B. Political and social context 4. Between 1979 and 1990, Nicaragua experienced periods of revolution and counter-revolution which had a deep influence on the structure of the country’s political life. Following the triumph of the Sandinist revolution in 1979, the rule of the socialist Sandinist National Liberation Front (FSLN) from 1979 to 1990 was marked by the counter-revolutionary war pursued by the Contras, with external support, principally from the United States of America, and sustained by the claims of the Miskitos, Sumus and Ramas in the Atlantic region for autonomy. The indigenous people of the Atlantic region, who were the main instrument of the counter-revolution, fiercely opposed the Sandinist authorities, rejecting the Sandinist Government’s agrarian policy and demanding autonomy. The Sandinist Government finally agreed to negotiate with them during the peace process which began in 1984, and showed a readiness to listen to their demands. Settlement of the conflict resulted in guarantees of the rights of the indigenous peoples and other groups in the Atlantic region under the 1987 Constitution, and the creation of two autonomous regions, a largely Miskito one in the north and a largely Mestizo and Creole one in the south. 5. In 1990, the FSLN lost power to a coalition of centre-right parties. A difficult process of reconciliation between Sandinists, the democratic opposition and the Contras followed, marked by brief returns to rebellion by the Contras. The consolidation of democracy in Nicaragua continued with the presidential elections of 1996 and 2001. President Enrique Bolaños, of the Constitutional Liberal Party, won the most recent elections under the banner of a “New era”, during which he promises the people of Nicaragua progress towards greater well-being, overcoming poverty and improving health and education. This new era is also to be devoted to building a new relationship between the State and its citizens, based on a political and social ethic whose main pillars are justice for all, representative government, effective participation by the people, transparency and solidarity with the least well-off.3 Significant initiatives have been launched in the area of respect for human rights, in particular by enhancing the independence of the system of justice. 6. In Nicaragua, the social, economic and political rift between the Pacific and Atlantic regions is a reality, for historical and cultural reasons and also because of more recent factors such as the Sandinist revolution mentioned above, foreign influences and economic interests and ethnic demands. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the Atlantic coast of what was to become Nicaragua was under English influence, and from 1633 onwards the Miskitos became the allies of the English in their struggle against the Spanish settlements on the Atlantic coast. In order to gain the sympathies of the Miskitos, the English went so far as to crown a Miskito king and establish a protectorate along the Atlantic coast to enable them to control the region’s natural resources. In 1860, the British signed the Treaty of Managua with Nicaragua and dropped their claims along the Atlantic coast, leaving a kind of indigenous autonomous area there. The Miskitos’ strong sense of autonomy and the penetration of English-speaking culture which is characteristic of the Atlantic regions date from this period. Only in 1884 were the Atlantic regions formally incorporated into Nicaragua. 7. While the Mestizos are overwhelmingly Catholic, most of the members of the other ethnic groups belong to Protestant churches, notably the Moravian Protestant Church, which played a role with British administrators in shaping the institutions of the Atlantic coast.4