Word: somoza
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Somoza no longer had a rival. Within two years he was ready to strike for the top in a revolution that was quick and successful. In 1936 he put a stooge in office, then had himself elected President. Though the Marines had laid down the rule that the Guardia be half Liberal, half Conservative, Tacho kicked out the Conservatives, put his own pals in key spots. In 1939 he got himself elected for eight more years. And he went to Washington...
...prime President Roosevelt for the visit, Sumner Welles sent him a long solemn memorandum about Somoza and Nicaragua. According to a story told around Washington, Roosevelt read the memo right through, wisecracked: "As a Nicaraguan might say, he's a sonofabitch but he's ours...
That Washington visit was a landmark in Nicaraguan history. It helped take away much of the bitter feeling left over from dollar diplomacy days. It cemented Tacho's affection and admiration for the U.S. Throughout World War II, the U.S. had no stauncher friend than Somoza's Nicaragua...
...Somoza may wonder now why he ever got involved in such a silly business. Over in the Dominican Republic, Dictator Trujillo brazened it out, elected himself a fourth time. Somoza, on the other hand, found that Leonardo Argüello, the stooge he had got elected, did not intend to be a stooge. Argüello began calling on Guardia officers to declare their loyalty to him. Almost half of them did. Then Argüello overreached himself: he gave Tachito Somoza a dressing down, banished him from the capital. Papa Tacho moved in. Argüello fled...
Though a bit shocked at the casual way Tacho switched Presidents, the U.S. State Department recognized the regime (TIME, May 17). Thus Somoza was in a position to buy U.S. warplanes and to start closing the lead gained by Guatemala's air force during his stay in the doghouse. He was also busily spreading the word that the Guatemalans, the Caribbean Legion and everybody else conspiring against him were Communists...