Word: somoza
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Died. Luis Somoza, 44, President of Nicaragua from 1957 to 1963, elder of Strongman Anastasio ("Tacho") Somoza's two sons, who with his brother "Tachito" continued the more or less benevolent dictatorship established by their father in 1937, espousing a policy of diligent economic progress coupled with blunt anti-Communism in foreign affairs; after a heart attack; in Managua...
...conquest, politics and business, Nicaragua for centuries has attracted the cheekiest and boldest of adventurers. Few have been cheekier, few bolder than the Somoza family, which for 31 years has, in one way or another, ruled Nicaragua. Last week, on the eve of an election that promised to install as President a third Somoza, chubby ex-General Anastasio ("Tachito") Somoza Jr., 41, the opposition tried its best to trigger a coup d'etat. The result was riot and death for Nicaraguans and a narrow escape for a handful of foreigners...
Exhausting the Bar. The trouble started with a noisy political rally in the capital of Managua, where Conservative Party Candidate Fernando Aguero harangued some 30,000 of his followers and called upon the country's 5,000-man army to join his anti-Somoza movement. As the crowd's mood grew uglier, troops moved in with rifle butts and bayonets. Before long, both sides were shooting. The highly emotional Aguero and 1,200 of his followers, mostly peasants just in from the country, fled to the nearby Gran Hotel, where they took 117 guests as hostages, including...
...rebels go free provided that they laid down their arms. Having exhausted the hotel's bar supply, the rebels packed up and left with only jeers for the soldiers rimmed around the hotel. The truce, however, was short-lived. When a new series of anti-Somoza demonstrations broke out, the government closed down two opposition papers and five Managua radio stations, searched homes and stores for arms and arrested 130 opposition leaders. Aguero himself ducked into hiding, then at week's end suddenly reappeared to announce that he still intended to run in the election, scheduled for next...
...Somoza fortune in Nicaragua is estimated to total some $100 million. The Somozas hold majority interests in the national airline, the steamship company, the gold mines, a steel-fabricating plant and the main port complex; they own cattle ranches, cotton warehouses and thousands of acres of real estate. They have neutralized most of their potential opponents by creating a system in which they have allowed even their opposition to grow rich on the prosperity-but not to share the power. So strong is the Somoza power and confidence, in fact, that the current Anastasio-who is ready to switch from...