Word: somozaism
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...Somoza decided early on to negotiate. He had little alternative: the Sandinistas not only were controlling events, but more important, were reflecting a widespread public mood. As the discussions dragged on through the night and into the next day, conditions in the overcrowded, ill-equipped palace became intolerable. Hostages who could not wait to use any of the four toilets in the palace found relief in wastebaskets behind the speaker's lectern in the Chamber of Deputies. During the first night, 300 people escaped by pushing out an air conditioner and climbing out a window. The guerrillas later released...
...from the bus and the guerrillas waving their rifles, it looked like a victory parade," reported TIME Mexico City Bureau Chief Bernard Diederich from the scene. "All along the eight-mile route, thousands of Nicaraguans assembled to catch a glimpse and cheer them on like conquering heroes. 'Down with Somoza!' and 'Viva Sandinista!' they shouted. Thousands of others waited at the terminal. 'Yes, they are our heroes,' said one youth. 'To hell with Somoza!' " At the airport, the commandos, who had settled for $500,000 after winning their other demands, armed their newly released comrades with weapons taken from...
...doubted that they would. The seizure of the palace was only the latest and most dramatic episode in a relentless civil war waged between the oppressive Somoza government?which has usurped the country's riches, denied it political freedom and brooked few critics?and a mostly unarmed population weary of Somoza family rule. The still unsolved murder last January of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, a prominent newspaper editor and a leading critic of the regime, helped to unite a widely factionalized opposition. Despite official denials, suspicions persist that Chamorro's assassination was ordered by Somoza...
...July international pressure forced Somoza to allow the return of "the Twelve," a group of intellectuals, businessmen and churchmen who had signed a document in Costa Rica calling for the government's ouster. The Catholic hierarchy's call a month later for a pluralistic "national government" to replace Somoza was immediately seconded by every major business organization in the country. The businessmen were worried by Nicaragua's growing fiscal problems, mounting foreign debt and Somoza's proposal for new taxes. Said William Baez, executive secretary of the Nicaraguan Institute of Development: "Somoza foments Communism solely by remaining in power...
...determined dictator, 52, has vowed time and again to stay on until his current six-year term expires in 1981. At a press conference following the Sandinista assault, Somoza, under obvious strain, insisted that he did not intend to change his mind. He said he had capitulated "to save human lives," and warned that "ideologies other than traditional ones" threatened to divide his country "into democratic and Communist peoples." But concern is growing that his failure to step down will provoke more strife. At week's end his political opponents launched a nationwide general strike that they hoped would continue...