Word: somozaism
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When the Marines withdrew in 1933, they left behind a "non-partisan constabulary force" of local recruits organized, trained and supplied by the U.S. Because of his facility in the English language, Anastasio Somoza, an ambitious Nicaraguan officer, was designated to command this National Guard. One of Somoza's first actions was to order the execution of Sandino, who naively believed his struggle was at an end. With this action Somoza cleared the way for his own political ascension, based on the military force and diplomatic support granted to him by the U.S. Somoza I--there are several in this...
...dictator's oldest son, Luis, immediately assumed the presidency, and Luis's younger brother, Anastasio Somoza II, a West Point graduate, became commander in chief of the National Guard. Luis governed until 1963 when a puppet president succeeded him. It was then the younger Somoza's turn. In 1967 General Somoza installed himself as president, stepping out only long enough in the early '70s to make the necessary manuevers to permit his "re-election" in 1974. Like his father, the current Somoza's base of power rests with the 7500-member National Guard faithfully trained and supplied by the United...
Forty-one years of control over Nicaragua have netted for the Somoza family one of the largest single fortunes in the world. Conservative estimates place the family's assets between $400 and $600 million. According to the London Economist, General Somoza owns at least one-fifth of the arable land in Nicaragua and runs more than 40 companies. Very few commercial transactions take place in Nicaragua that do not, directly or indirectly, involve one of the Somozas. U.S. corporations have long learned to pay their dues; the Harvard Business School's Nicaraguan branch recently presented the dictator with an honorary...
Inevitably, the political situation is explosive, and the guerrillas' numbers and supporters are rapidly multiplying. Somoza lives in fear of his subjects and of the guerillas' dexterity. Tanks and barricades surround the dictator's urban ranch. When he goes out for dinner, his mess steward prepares his food beforehand lest someone attempt to poison him. Any area Somoza visits is literally placed under military siege several hours before his arrival, and he is protected by 200 bodyguards armed with Belgian automatic firearms and knives. When he makes a public speech, Somoza speaks from behind an enormous protective contraption referred...
...Named for Augusto Cesar Sandino, a guerrilla leader who fought against occupying U.S. Marines in the late 1920s and was executed in 1934 by the founder of Nicaragua's ruling dynasty, Tachito's father Anastasio ("Tacho") Somoza Garcia...