Word: somozaism
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...young rebels, mostly teenagers, then went around accumulating-by force, in some cases-small arms, rifles and shotguns from residents of the city. By Sunday morning, Aug. 27, los muchachos (the boys) had enough firepower to start what they described as the "people's war against the Somoza regime...
...street corner, three masked youths demanded identification. Armed with small revolvers, they stressed that 'this is the people's fight.' While they are sympathetic to the Sandinistas, they said that few of them were actually members of the rebel organization. 'We all want Somoza to go,' added a youth, echoing a sentiment heard over and over in the town...
From his bunker in Managua, Somoza defended the Guard's actions in Matagalpa. The general, a graduate of West Point who speaks English fluently, compared the rebels to "Bronx street gangs-just juvenile delinquents." While admitting that the general strike had grown worse, he insisted he would not resign before his term ends in 1981. To do otherwise, he said, would "betray the aspirations of the people of Nicaragua to live in a free society...
...Somoza's refusal to step down presents a dilemma for American policymakers. The U.S. has long supported the dynasty as a stronghold of antiCommunism; Somoza often paraded around Central America as if he were a U.S. proconsul. Washington is anxious to change that image, but it does not want to see a power vacuum that could be filled by a pro-Castro regime. The U.S. has, however, taken soundings of Nicaragua's neighbors. Said an Administration official: "The consensus is that the sooner Somoza gets out, the better...
...politician: "The conservatives want it known that in Nicaragua there are democratic forces that represent the great majority of the people who have placed themselves in civil opposition to this government." Adds Alfonso Robelo Callejas, a wealthy industrialist: "We feel more than ever the urgency to get rid of Somoza and the government because his presence provokes such [terrorist] actions...