Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Somoza Era
When the marines headed home in 1933, the enemy became the new US-trained Guardia
Nacional, whose aim was to put down resistance by Sandino's guerrillas, as is documented
in Richard Millett's comprehensive study
Guardians of the Dynasty: A History of the US-
Created Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua and the Somoza Family
. This military force was
led by Anastasio Somoza García.
Somoza engineered the assassination of Sandino after the rebel leader was invited to
Managua for a peace conference. National guardsmen gunned Sandino down on his way
home. Somoza, with his main enemy out of the way, set his sights on supreme power.
Overthrowing Liberal president Sacasa a couple of years later, he established himself as
president, founding a family dynasty that would rule for four decades.
After creating a new constitution to grant himself more power, Somoza García ruled Ni-
caragua for the next 20 years, sometimes as president, at other times as a puppet president,
amassing huge personal wealth in the process (the Somoza landholdings attained were the
size of El Salvador).
After his assassination in León, Somoza was succeeded by his elder son, Luis Somoza
Debayle. In 1967 Luis died, and his younger brother, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, assumed
control, following in his father's footsteps by expanding economic interests throughout Ni-
caragua.
