Bluefields
city and port, eastern Nicaragua, just south of the mouth of the Escondido River and inland from its outer port of El Bluff. Named after the Dutch pirate Blewfeldt, who used it as a base in the 17th century, it was the capital of the British Mosquito Coast protectorate until returned to Nicaragua in 1850. U.S. Marines were stationed there (1912-25; 1927-32) at the request of the Nicaraguan president to quell revolutionary activity. The town's populace, long-accustomed to limited local autonomy, rioted against Sandinista military control in the early 1980s.
Learn more about Bluefields with a free trial on Britannica.com.