Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-08
Turbulent Central America
TNT-RivaIry of Leon and Granada
Bv Frederic il HaSkin

G=,N order to understand what has
| lLa n happened of late i'm Nicaragua
/ lSM I'll the reader must remember that
| lM esI almost from the day they were
| i'm founded there has existed a
l9S1 bitter rivalry between the cities
of Leon and Granada. THESE
are the two most important cities in
| the republic, and from time immemorlal
| have been competitors in business. But
their opposition has not halted there.
; In opinion, in intellectual actlNltles,
| and above all, in politics, they nave
! been arrayed against each other. IN
| fact, the early history of Nicaragua Is
| merely a chronicle of revolutions To-
mented first by one and then by the
other. In fact, the early history OF
| Nicaragua is merely chronicle or
revolutions fomented first by one ano
then by the other of these cities. Leon
I'has been a stronghold of the Liberal
party since 1921. Granada has been just
as consistently Conservative. The Varl-
Gus contests for the presidency have
been, generally speaking, struggles be-
tween the candidates of the two cities.
Leon it is true, has had the advantage
of population, but Granada has always
been the richer and more cultured, and
so in political influence they have been
nearly equal.
But for a good many years Granada
was in the asCendency. After the dis
solution of the Union of the Central
American republics in 1888 the control
of the Conservative party-that is to
say, of Granada-fell into the hands of
a half dozen families-the Chamorros,
the Zavalas, the Cardenases, the Cua-
dras and the Sacasas, more especially.
Among the Liberals there were no such
dynasties. Their leaders stood quite
alone. When at rare intervals they
forged their way to office it was
through individual prowess, rather
than with the help of influential family
connections; and when they fell, as they
usually did after a brief tenure of
power, to be displaced by Conservative
candidates, they left no heirs. But the
Conservatives had trouble among them
selves. Sometimes they did queer
things. 1t was a Chamorro for in
stance, who brought Walker into Nj
caragua, and who was afterward shot
by the great American adVenturer
In time the presidential succession
became practically restricted to the
families of Chamorro. Zavala and Car
denas The Liberals in Leon looked
around for a leader. They found him
in Trinidad CabanaS of Honduras. one
of the curious things about Central
America Is llltI IL yOu oil Z q NitiH@NAi VI
one of the little republics you are a
citizen of all the rest and can dabble
in their politics as freely as you can
in your own countries. So Trinidad was
warmly welcomed in Leon, and made
himself an important place in Nicara-
guam politics-that is, until Don Fruto
Chamorro went in search of his scalp.
Don Fruto, having disposed of Cabanas,
made himself supreme dictator, and the
.1Ix ra
out in the cold.
Supreme dictator was the style af-
fected by the rulers of Nicaragua down
to the time of President Zavala. Ia
vala promulgated a constitution and as
sumed the presidential title. His pre-
decessors had been irresponsible des-
pots. holding themselves accountable to
God, and not very much accountable
even in that direction. But ZaVala saw
the signs of the times He it was who
tried to smooth out the animosities of
Leon and Granada He brought to-
gether the representatives of the two
cities and induced them to locate the
capital of the republic at Managua.
This town was acceptable to the rival
cities, possibly for the fact that it was
small, insignificant and unhealthy
place. Managua has continued to be
the capital, though it hasn't improved
very much over what it was in Zavala's S
time, and is still inferior in practically
every point to Leon and Granada. But
this we'll intentioned plan did not allay
the iealousies of the two cities, and
down to the present day their quarrels
have been a frequent cause of blood
shed and revolution.
Jose Santos Zelaya late president of
Nicaragua, is one of the boldest, most
skillful and most unscrupulous poll
ticians that have ever flourished in Cen
tral America or elsewhere. For sixteen
wears he maintained himself in power
by playing upon the inherited hatreds
of these two cities. If his growing un-
popularity led to a revolutionary out
break in Leon he melted Granada to
suppress it; and Granada, anxious to
feed fat the ancient grudge, hurried to
do his bidding. And when Granada re-
belled, as it did once in a while, Leon
was only too willing to even up the
score. BY deftly balancing the factions
Zelaya made himself the master of
Nicaragua, and one of the most for
midable figures in Central America.
On assuming the presidency. one of
Zelayas first acts was to institute his
now famous policy of concessions. OF
course there is a good deal of reticence
about the way in which these conces-