Anastasio Samosa President of Nicaragua in 1936-1947 and 1950-1956, de facto dictator Date of Birth: 01.02.1896 Country: Nicaragua

Biography of Anastasio Somoza

Anastasio Somoza was the President of Nicaragua from 1936-1947 and 1950-1956, effectively serving as a dictator. He was born on February 1, 1896, and was known as Tacho in his childhood. Somoza developed a passion for gambling, wine, and women at an early age. His father sent him to business school in Philadelphia, but instead of studying, Anastasio engaged in reselling used cars and spent his earnings on gambling.

Upon his return to Nicaragua, Somoza's father purchased a tavern for him and arranged his marriage to Salvador, the daughter of Dr. Luis H. Debayle and Casimira Sacasa, the sister of future Nicaraguan President Juan Sacasa. However, the marriage did not change Somoza's behavior, and soon the tavern was sold due to gambling debts, followed by the loss of the San Marcos estate inherited from his father. In order to improve his financial situation, Anastasio became involved in counterfeiting.

In 1921, he was arrested alongside his accomplice and future Chief of Staff of the National Guard, Camilo Gonzalez. In 1926, military formations of the Liberal Party removed President Adolfo Diaz from power. Debayle and Sacasa were influential figures in the Liberal Party and helped Somoza rise to prominence.

Somoza combined his duties as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of President Jose Maria Moncada with service as a translator for the US Marine Corps expeditionary force in Nicaragua. The last American Chief Director of the National Guard, General Calvin B. Matthews, recommended Somoza for his position. In November 1932, the new President Juan Batista Sacasa appointed General Somoza as the commander of the National Guard.

While Sandino led a guerrilla war against the American occupiers for seven years, Somoza gradually took control of the National Guard. Somoza managed to gain the trust of General G. Abaunza, the Chief of Staff. On February 16, 1934, Sandino arrived in Managua and held negotiations with the president on February 19. The results of these negotiations can be judged by the letter published in the press the next day, written by Sacasa to Sandino. In it, the president announced his decision to appoint General O. Portocarrero, a friend of Sandino, as the civilian and military chief of four Segovian departments.

Upon learning of these decisions, Somoza sought advice from the US ambassador to Nicaragua. The American ambassador stated that the US government wanted Sandino eliminated.

On February 21, 1934, the national hero of Nicaragua was killed. That same night, National Guardsmen stormed a cooperative and began a massacre of unarmed Sandinistas, which lasted until morning. Over three hundred people, mostly women and children, were killed. Only a few managed to escape. Now, no one stood in Somoza's way to power.

The bloodshed that night marked the beginning of a grand terror. During its relatively short existence, the National Guard destroyed 300,000 Nicaraguans, over 10% of the country's population.

Somoza's main concern was that his nephew, Ramon, remained the commander of the Acosasco fortress in Leon. In order to seize power in the country, Ramon had to be eliminated quickly, as Sacasa had already put forward his own candidates. These candidates were supported by conservative leader Chamorro, who tried to negotiate with Somoza by proposing an intermediate candidate for the 1936 elections and then having Somoza take over after two years. When Tacho rejected this proposal, the old general turned to the liberals.

Meanwhile, Somoza was negotiating with Sacasa. Tacho agreed to give up his claim to the presidency on the condition that he could appoint his candidate and that the liberals would fully submit the National Guard to his will. Sacasa did not object in principle but rejected three of Somoza's candidates. Tacho then accused Ramon Sacasa of insubordination, and the National Guardsmen surrounded the Acosasco fortress and demanded its surrender.

At the same time, Somoza laid siege to the presidential palace in Managua. Ramon intended to fight, but the cowardly president, fearing defeat, ordered him to lay down his weapons. A few days later, Sacasa, Espinosa, Chamorro, and other opponents of Somoza fled Nicaragua, thus clearing Tacho's path to power.

In September 1936, presidential elections were held. Initially, the electoral commission reported that Somoza received 79,000 votes, while his opponent, Leonardo Arguello, received 1,200. However, these numbers were deemed unconvincing by the winner. The final count "showed" that only 169 people voted for Arguello, while 107,000 voted for Tacho.

On January 1, 1937, Somoza officially assumed the presidency of Nicaragua for a four-year term.

Somoza banned the activities of opposition political parties, with the only allowed party, the Liberal Party, being completely under his control.

With absolute power over Nicaragua, Somoza focused all his energy on personal enrichment. By 1939, his capital had reached $4 million. By 1944, Somoza owned vast amounts of property and income, deserving its own separate list: 51 cattle ranches, 46 coffee plantations, 400 tobacco estates, the San Urbina gold mines, 50% of the shares of the only cement factory in Nicaragua, 50% of the shares of the "Momotombo" match factory (Somoza banned lighter imports to eliminate competition), the "Novedades" newspaper, half of all wood processing factories, four power plants, income properties in Mexico, Miami, and Costa Rica, the largest dairy companies in the country ("Salud" and POLAKSA), and four meat packing plants.

In addition, Somoza annually appropriated $175,000, paid by foreign companies operating in Nicaragua, as his own personal tax revenue.

Under Somoza's rule, the National Guard became the arbiter of justice in Nicaragua, controlling the arms trade, alcohol, drugs, medicine, organized prostitution, gambling houses, radio and television, tax collection, and rural justice.

During World War II, Somoza severed ties with Nazi Germany and acquired German properties at a bargain price. He implemented a progressive Labor Code, allowed the Nicaraguan Socialist Party to operate, and even established diplomatic relations with the USSR.

After World War II, anticipating the activation of his opponents, Somoza made promises of reforms that ultimately remained empty. Somoza revised the Constitution of Nicaragua in his favor four times and changed ministers like gloves. As a follower of Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito, who gave him their portraits with touching inscriptions, he quickly transformed into a "democrat" with the entry of the US into World War II, and later established contacts with the Zionists, making their man, I. Arazy, his special envoy for Western Europe.

In early April 1954, a group of guardsmen attempted a coup in Managua with the intention of physically eliminating Somoza. The dictator learned about this in time and suppressed the uprising, ordering the burning alive of captured rebels. His victims numbered in the thousands, and during the rule of his successors, in the tens of thousands.

On September 21, a fiesta was held in Leon, the second-largest city in Nicaragua, at the local Workers Club to celebrate the announcement of the dictator as a candidate for another presidential term. The instigator of the celebration was present. In the midst of the evening, while a toast was being made to the candidate's upcoming success and the orchestra played the popular mamba tune "Caballo Negro" (Black Horse), one of the dancers (Rigoberto with his partner) quietly approached the president's table and severely wounded Somoza with four shots.

After the assassination attempt, Somoza was airlifted to a hospital in the US-controlled Panama Canal Zone, where surgeons sent by President D. Eisenhower arrived. Despite their efforts, Somoza died on September 29. Thus, 60-year-old Tacho ended his days ignominiously. During his lifetime, he said, "I plan to stay in power for 40 years, but if the US decides otherwise, I am ready to leave the presidential palace tomorrow." He held power for just over 20 years and left this world not by the will of the Americans but their opponents.