Somoza Debayle

Before the Sandinistas took control of Nicaragua from the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, Nicaragua had recognized only Taiwan. This changed in 1985, when the Sandinistas switched recognition to China in 1985. When a more conservative administration took power in the 1990's, Nicaragua ...

Anastasio Somoza Debayle years ago. Now, he is creating his own authoritarian system. Ortega came to power in 1979, following the Sandinistas' victory in Nicaragua, then lost the presidency to Violeta Chamorro in 1990. He won it back again in 2007 and has been in power ever since. The last time ...

Although Luis Somoza's rule was not as bad as his father's but the restrictions on civil liberties remained and corruption was still widespread. Luis's brother, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the future president was head of the National Guard at the time and was considered the second most powerful man in the ...

On July 17, 1979, Anastasio Somoza Debayle fled Managua with his wife and mistress, two zinc coffins carrying the bodies of his father and brother, his top military and civilian aides, eight parrots and every cordoba he could plunder from the national reserves of Nicaragua's central bank. He left behind ...

Lawrence A. Pezzullo, an American diplomat who in 1979 negotiated the abdication of Anastasio Somoza DeBayle as leader of Nicaragua and the demise of the dictatorial dynasty that had led the country with Washington's sponsorship for four decades, died on Wednesday in Baltimore. He was 91.

La Prensa repeatedly pointed out that Ortega's 16 years in power tied him with two of the country's most infamous dictators, one of them being Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle. Ortega's Sandinista comrades shed much blood in their successful war to oust Somoza, and now Ortega was being compared ...