Anastasio Somoza García

Anastasio "Tacho" Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination. Anastasio Somoza started a dynasty that maintained absolute control over Nicaragua for 44 years.

The son of a wealthy coffee planter, Somoza was educated in the United States. After his return to Nicaragua, he helped oust President Adolfo Díaz. He became the foreign secretary and took the title of "General." With the help of the US Marine Corps, which occupied Nicaragua at the time, Somoza became the head of the National Guard. This gave him the power base to remove his wife's uncle, Juan Bautista Sacasa, from the presidency, and make himself president in 1937. In 1947, an ally nominally succeeded him, but he retained power.

A month after his successor had been inaugurated, Somoza used the military to carry out a coup. The president was declared 'incapacitated' by Congress and Somoza served in his stead. Returning to power in his own name in 1951, he maintained an iron grip on his own Liberal Party while making a deal with the Conservatives; thus, he faced no opposition. This left him free to amass a huge personal fortune. On 21 September 1956, he was shot by poet Rigoberto López Pérez. Mortally wounded, he was flown to the Panama Canal Zone where he died a week later. His eldest son Luis Somoza Debayle took over, to be succeeded by his younger brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who was forced to flee in 1979 and assassinated in exile in Paraguay the following year.

Anastasio Somoza

Anastasio Somoza may be:

Nicaraguan dictators:

Also:

Somoza family

The Somoza family was an influential political dynasty who ruled Nicaragua as an authoritarian family dictatorship from 1936 to 1979.

History

Anastasio Somoza Garcia was the first president who won the presidential election and took over the country. Although they only held the presidency for 30 of those 43 years, they were the power behind the other presidents of the time through their control of the National Guard. Their regime was overthrown by the Sandinista National Liberation Front during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The Nicaragua revolution was led by the Sandinistas and was a violent war against the Somoza's. The Sandinista's ended up winning. Jos. Three of the Somozas served as President of Nicaragua. They were:

Other members of the Somoza family include:

Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza DeBayle (Spanish pronunciation: [anasˈtasjo soˈmosa ðeˈβaile]) (5 December 1925  – 17 September 1980) was a Nicaraguan politician and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979. He was the last member of the Somoza family to be President, ending a dynasty that had been in power since 1936. After being overthrown in an insurrection led by the FSLN, he fled Nicaragua and power was ceded to the Junta of National Reconstruction. He was eventually assassinated while in exile in Paraguay.

Name

As is customary in most Spanish-speaking countries, he was given both his parents' last names, Somoza being his father's last name and DeBayle being his mother's last name. DeBayle is of French origin.

Early years

Asunción

Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (Spanish pronunciation: [asunˈsjon], Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.

The Ciudad de Asunción is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San Antonio, Limpio, Capiatá and Villa Elisa, which are part of the Central Department. The Asunción metropolitan area has more than 2 million inhabitants. The Municipality of Asunción is listed on the Asunción Stock Exchange, as BVPASA: MUA, a unique feature of any city.

It is the home of the national government, principal port, and the chief industrial and cultural centre of the country.

History

Asunción is one of the oldest cities in South America and the longest continually inhabited area in the Rio de la Plata Basin; for this reason that it is known as "Mother of Cities". It was from Asunción that the colonial expeditions departed to found other cities, including the second foundation of Buenos Aires and of other important cities such as Villarrica, Corrientes, Santa Fe and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.