Somoza family

The Somoza family (Familia Somoza) is a political family which ruled Nicaragua for forty-three years – from 1936 to 1979. Their family dictatorship, founded by Anastasio Somoza García, was continued by his two sons Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Anastasio Somoza García served as the President of Nicaragua from 1937 until 1956. He was succeeded by his elder son, Luis Somoza Debayle, who held the presidency from 1957 to 1963. The younger Somoza son, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, had two presidential terms: 1967–1972 and 1974–1979. Although the Somozas did not hold the presidency for the full forty-three years, they continued to rule through puppet presidents and via their control of the National Guard. While the Somoza family moved towards modernizing Nicaragua, their rule featured repression and inequality. Over four decades, the Somoza family accumulated wealth through corporate bribes, land-grabbing and foreign-aid siphoning. The family received support from the government of the United States, and the leadership styles of each Somoza president differed. Ultimately, the Somoza family was overthrown by the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) during the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1961–1990. Widespread discontent with the Somoza regime, fostered in part by Soviet disinformation campaigns, emerged following the Managua earthquake of 1972. Anastasio Somoza Debayle declared himself the Head of the National Emergency Committee and used his power to participate in looting and in the mismanagement of international-aid funding. Discomfort increased in the light of the rise of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and in response to the Somoza government's human-rights violations. Various opposition groups emerged, and two key approaches to overthrow the dictatorship became clear. While the Broad Opposition Front ( Frente Amplio Opositor, FAO) attempted to reach a solution via negotiation, the FSLN pushed insurrection.

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Related concepts (9)

Nicaraguan Revolution

The Nicaraguan Revolution (Revolución Nicaragüense or Revolución Popular Sandinista) encompassed the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to oust the dictatorship in 1978–79, the subsequent efforts of the FSLN to govern Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, and the Contra War, which was waged between the FSLN-led government of Nicaragua and the United States–backed Contras from 1981 to 1990.

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution (Revolución cubana) was a military and political effort to overthrow the government of Cuba between 1953 and 1959. It began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in court, Fidel Castro organized an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953. The rebels were arrested and while in prison formed the 26th of July Movement.

Cuba

Cuba (ˈkjuːbə , ˈkuβa; Erekusú), officially the Republic of Cuba (República de Cuba reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.