José Santos Zelaya

José Santos Zelaya ( born November 1, 1853 in Managua, Nicaragua, † May 17, 1919 in New York, United States) was a Nicaraguan politician and 1893-1910 President of the country.

Zelaya was a member of Nicaragua's Liberal Party. He had a number of advanced programs to improve education, road and he introduced steam navigation. However, his desire for personal power often led to decisions contrary to democratic principles.

In 1894 he occupied by military means the Miskito coast, which had long been the subject of a dispute after the United Kingdom had declared it a protectorate. Zelaya's plan worked, as the British Empire did not go to war for the small, remote and worthless piece of land and finally recognized the sovereignty of Nicaragua for the area.

In the years 1902 and 1906 José Santos Zelaya was re-elected as president.

The way through the Isthmus of Central America to build a canal, since about 1820 was under discussion. Nicaragua was there in the focus of interest, to the United States focused their interest on Panama. Zelaya then began with Germany and Japan on the construction of a canal in Nicaragua to negotiate, but without success.

José Zelaya also pursued plans for revival of the Central American Confederation, and the United Provinces of Central America called to be president of this association in the hope itself. To achieve this aim, he supported liberal federalist factions in other Central American countries.

Between Zelaya and the U.S. government, there was more and more discrepancies. The U.S. government also began to support the conservative opposition in Nicaragua. 1907 U.S. warships took a some of Nicaragua's seaports. Zelaya's allies fought against the conservatives and U.S. funded mercenary. In October 1909 executed Zelaya some officers captured rebels, among them two U.S. mercenaries. The U.S. government took the opportunity for a formal intervention. Early December, U.S. Marines landed on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, on December 17, 1909, Zelaya resigned and went into exile in Mexico. He was replaced by the United States -backed regime. The U.S. Marines stayed in Nicaragua until 1925.

The former department of Zelaya (now divided into two parts: Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte and ) José Santos Zelaya was named after.