Nicaraguan President. The oldest son of dictator Anastasio Somoza, he was educated in the United States. Returning to Nicaragua after he graduated, Somoza entered congress in 1950 and was president of the chamber of deputies when he became first acting president, then president upon his father's assassination in 1956. He liberalized his father's regime somewhat, instituted social reforms, and improved the economy, chiefly through diversification and foreign loans. Somoza was a blunt anti-Communist and he gave a home in Nicaragua to military training camps for anti-Castro Cubans and the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion force embarked from the Nicaraguan port of Puerto Cabezas during his presidency. He pushed a reform law that prohibited his own reelection and prevented any member of his family from immediately succeeding him. After relinquishing the presidency to his chosen successor, Rene Schick Gutierrez, Somoza served in the senate. In 1967, he managed his brother's successful presidential campaign. Just weeks before his younger brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle was to be sworn in as president, Somoza passed away of a heart ailment.
Nicaraguan President. The oldest son of dictator Anastasio Somoza, he was educated in the United States. Returning to Nicaragua after he graduated, Somoza entered congress in 1950 and was president of the chamber of deputies when he became first acting president, then president upon his father's assassination in 1956. He liberalized his father's regime somewhat, instituted social reforms, and improved the economy, chiefly through diversification and foreign loans. Somoza was a blunt anti-Communist and he gave a home in Nicaragua to military training camps for anti-Castro Cubans and the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion force embarked from the Nicaraguan port of Puerto Cabezas during his presidency. He pushed a reform law that prohibited his own reelection and prevented any member of his family from immediately succeeding him. After relinquishing the presidency to his chosen successor, Rene Schick Gutierrez, Somoza served in the senate. In 1967, he managed his brother's successful presidential campaign. Just weeks before his younger brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle was to be sworn in as president, Somoza passed away of a heart ailment.
Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye
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