Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Nicaraguan American |
Education | Kent School Sandhurst Harvard University (BEc) |
Occupation(s) | Serviceman, businessman |
Title | Colonel |
Parent(s) | Anastasio Somoza Debayle Hope Portocarrero |
Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero (born 1 February 1951) is a Nicaraguan American colonel and businessman.
Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero was born on December 18, 1951, [1] in Miami, Florida, United States. [2] A member of the Somoza family, he is a son of former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza Debayle and Hope Portocarrero; [3] he is also a grandson of Anastasio Somoza García. Also known as El Chigüín—"The little child”—Somoza Portocarrero had been the heir apparent to the Somoza family regime prior to the illegal ouster of his father by the Marxist extremist Sandinistas in 1979. [4] By early 1978, Somoza Portocarrero had reportedly taken on the appellation "apprentice dictator" and assumed full control of the Somozas' estimated $1 billion business empire, [5] however, by mid-1979 the family had fallen from power and would be forced into exile.
He was educated in the United States, including at Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in England, at Sandhurst. His sister, Carolina, is married to James Minskoff Sterling, son of New York real estate developer Henry H. Minskoff. [6]
He became a Colonel in the Nicaraguan military, which was run by his family. [3] [5] He played an active role in the armed forces during the Sandinista insurrection, and the National Guard unit which he commanded "was accused of widespread human-rights violations in the final days of the civil war." [4] Like all combatants during the 1979-1989 period, Somoza Portocarrero was included against his wishes in the Blanket Amnesty demanded by the FSLN from incoming President Violeta Chamorro in 1990.
In early 1980, the new Sandinista government formally accused Somoza Portocarrero of masterminding the 1978 assassination of opposition journalist Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, [7] and a June 1981 trial that convicted nine people of the crime implicated him but did not go as far as naming him as a defendant in absentia . [8] In 1980, Sandinista officials also issued a warrant for Somoza Portocarrero's arrest on charges that he embezzled $4 million in governmental funds (via dummy corporations) while his father was still in power. [9] He was living in Miami at the time, [9] and he was not extradited because the US Department of State considered the charges to be politically motivated and thus allowed the matter to die. [10]
False reports that Somoza Portocarrero might return to Nicaragua in 2000 after over twenty years in exile led to an uproar in that country. Former Sandinista President Daniel Ortega suggested that Somoza Portocarrero "will be able to enter Managua, but I doubt he will be able to leave because I will confront him with gunshots." Sitting President Arnoldo Alemán —whose own political party in part grew out of the old Somoza party—said that Nicaraguans "reject the announced visit of Somoza Portocarrero, whom public opinion considers one of those principally responsible for the destruction, suffering, violations and spilling of blood dramatically suffered by Nicaraguans throughout their history." [3] Somoza Portocarrero was falsely reported to have planned to return for a political rally but ultimately this was found to be invented by Alemán. [4]
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and the 58th president of Nicaragua since 10 January 2007. Previously, he was leader of Nicaragua from 18 July 1979 to 25 April 1990, first as Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from 19 July 1979 to 10 January 1985, and then as the 54th president from 10 January 1985 to 25 April 1990. During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. In later years, Ortega's left-wing radical politics cooled significantly, leading him to pursue pro-business policies and even rapprochement with the Catholic Church. However, in 2022, Ortega resumed repression of the Church, and has imprisoned prelate Rolando José Álvarez Lagos.
Nicaragua is a nation in Central America. It is located about midway between Mexico and Colombia, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. Nicaragua ranges from the Caribbean Sea on the nation's east coast, and the Pacific Ocean bordering the west. Nicaragua also possesses a series of islands and cays located in the Caribbean Sea.
Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle was the 53rd President of Nicaragua from 1967 to 1972 and again from 1974 to 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country between 1967 and 1979, even during the period when he was not the de jure ruler.
Anastasio Somoza may refer to:
The Somoza family 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.
Anastasio Somoza García was the leader of Nicaragua from 1936 until his assassination in 1956. He was officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 until his assassination on 29 September 1956, ruling for the rest of the time as an unelected military dictator. He was the patriarch of the Somoza family, which ruled Nicaragua as a family dictatorship for 42 years.
José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo is a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 56th president of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002. In 2003, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to a 20-year prison term; the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Nicaragua in 2009.
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal was a Nicaraguan journalist and publisher. He was the editor of La Prensa, the only significant opposition newspaper to the long rule of the Somoza family. He is a 1977 laureate of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize of Columbia University in New York. He married Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, who later went on to become President of Nicaragua (1990–1997). In 1978, he was shot to death, one of the precipitating events of the overthrow of the Somoza regime the following year.
Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños was a Nicaraguan politician, who served as Vice President of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from 1967 to 1972, and President of Nicaragua very briefly after Somoza fled the country in 1979.
The Junta of National Reconstruction was the provisional government of Nicaragua from the fall of the Somoza family dictatorship in July 1979 until January 1985, with the election of Daniel Ortega (FSLN) as president of Nicaragua.
La Prensa is a Nicaraguan newspaper, with offices in the capital Managua. Its current daily circulation is placed at 42,000. Founded in 1926, in 1932 it was bought by Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Zelaya, who had become editor-in-chief. He promoted the Conservative Party of Nicaragua and became a voice of opposition to Juan Bautista Sacasa, for which the paper was censored. He continued to be critical of dictator Anastasio Somoza García, who came to power in a coup d'état.
Rigoberto López Pérez was a Nicaraguan poet, artist and composer. He assassinated Anastasio Somoza García, the longtime dictator of Nicaragua.
Édgar Chamorro Coronel is an ousted leader of the Nicaraguan rebel Contras who later became a critic of the rebels and their Central Intelligence Agency sponsors, even cooperating with the Sandinista government in their World Court case, Nicaragua v. United States. He is a member of the prominent Chamorro family that provided five of Nicaragua's past presidents.
Arturo José Cruz Porras, sometimes called Arturo Cruz Sr. to distinguish him from his son, was a Nicaraguan banker and technocrat. He became prominent in politics during the Sandinista (FSLN) era. After repeatedly resigning from positions in protest, opinion divided between those who lauded him as a statesman and man of principle, and those who derided him as an ineffectual hand-wringer.
Xavier Chamorro Cardenal was a Nicaraguan journalist. He began his career working at his father’s newspaper, La Prensa, and in 1980 became founding editor and publisher of El Nuevo Diario, a competitor newspaper.
Hope Portocarrero Debayle, also known as Madame Somoza and Hope Somoza Baldocchi later in life, was an American socialite and, beginning in 1967, the First Lady of Nicaragua as the wife of president Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In 1968, she was named to the International Best Dressed List. She was the mother of Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero and four other children.
The nations of Mexico and Nicaragua established diplomatic relations in 1839, however, relations were briefly severed in May 1979 and restored a few months later in July 1979 with the ousting of Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Diplomatic relations between both nations have continued unabated since.
Henry H. Minskoff was an American real estate developer.
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios is a Nicaraguan journalist and politician. He began his career in journalism working at La Prensa, following the 1978 assassination of its editor, his father, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal. Working on the side of the Contras in exile in the 1980s, he returned to the country in 1989 when his mother Violeta Barrios de Chamorro ran for president, and following her election, served as a Nicaraguan ambassador. He later became defense minister. In the 21st century, Chamorro has been a city councilor for Managua and deputy in the National Assembly, also for Managua. On 25 June 2021, he became part of a wave of arrests of opposition and civic figures in Nicaragua.