Somoza

=<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/24/bring_the_war_home_the_long">https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/24/bring_the_war_home_the_long</a>Nearly one year since hundreds of torch-bearing white supremacists held a deadly march and rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has reiterated Trump’s defense of the violent white supremacists, saying, “I think what’s important about that conversation is, it’s not that one side is right and one side is wrong. Anybody that is advocating violence, we need to work to mitigate.” Organizers from Unite the Right, the group that held the rally in Charlottesville, have announced they will hold a repeat rally on the anniversary of last year’s deadly event, with plans to descend on Washington, D.C.. For more on white supremacist violence in the United States, we speak with Kathleen Belew, assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago. Her new book is titled “Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America.”VN vet mercenaries in c am death squads?  try out anti-democratic tacticssomoza son trained in US?=

<a href="http://www.alternet.org/print/investigations/billionaire-brothers-behind-americas-predator-drones-and-their-very-strange-past">http://www.alternet.org/print/investigations/billionaire-brothers-behind-americas-predator-drones-and-their-very-strange-past</a>

<div class="byline news-politics"><a href="http://nsfwcorp.com">Not Safe for Work Corporation</a> [1] / By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/yasha-levine">Yasha Levine</a> [2]</div>

<h1 class="node-title">The Billionaire Brothers Behind America's Predator Drones -- And Their Very Strange Past</h1>

</div>

<div class="story-date">April 24, 2013  |  </div>

This article first appeared at the <a href="https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/blue-brothers/">Not Safe for Work Corporation</a> [3].

Gray Butte, CA: It's around 1 p.m. when my buddy Dave and I finally spot the General Atomics drone base, way out in the wastelands of the Mojave Desert.

We're on the border of San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties. There's not much around for miles--nothing but sandy soil, rocks, Joshua trees, an abandoned trailer here and there, heaps of trash and tires. There's also a salvage yard full of airplane parts a few miles down the road, as well as a dairy plant and a foul-smelling high density feed lot crammed with miserable dairy cows reeking of shit and piss, baking in the desert sun. Next door to that is a trailer with a sign offering baby goats for sale.

We stop short of the gate, pulling over on the shoulder. Dave is a Victorville native whose dad was in the Air Force. He' s been around drones since they started popping up here in the 1990s. Right after high school, he even scored a brief gig with the infamous Pinkertons, guarding an early prototype of the Predator. But today in our drop-top Mustang rental car--a perfect car for drone hunting--Dave and I look just like a couple'a tourists. I pretend to fumble with the roof controls while we check out the scene.

From afar, the base itself doesn't look like much--just a jumble of low-slung prefab structures and warehouses and random industrial machinery flanked by vivid green alfalfa crop fields, and a solar field just beyond. That base could be anything. But it isn't just anything. We are looking at what used to be an abandoned WWII-era airfield, but today ranks as possibly the largest private drone base in the United States.

General Atomics took the base over in 2001 and converted it into a testing and quality control facility for its drone fleet. This is where the company tests experimental drone technology--like the newfangled stealth bomber jet drone. But mostly the base is where General Atomics techs assemble and test their Predator and Reaper drones before breaking them down again and shipping them to eager customers in the Air Force, Border Patrol, National Guard and the CIA.

The Guardian estimated that U.S. armed forces had about 250 General Atomics drones in 2012. And a good number of them first came through Grey Butte.

As we peer through the outer perimeter fence of the base, I can make out a couple of Reapers parked outside, their motors revving up louder and faster, as they were about to take off. The fence has a couple of smallish signs warning people to stay the fuck away, or else. Beyond the whirring Reapers we see warehouses, hangers, an air control tower and stacks of long rectangular plastic crates that are used to transport the disassembled Predators.

At one point, we spot a Predator hovering very high overhead. It circles a few times and then disappears from view.

I'm suddenly paranoid.

When people talk or think about drones these days, it's usually in very crude, naive, B-sci-fi ways: vague images of big brother robots menacingly hovering over us, observing, recording and tracking our every move…

But I'm not so much spooked by the Predator drones hovering above me, as I am by the spooky brothers who make them: Linden Stanley and James Neal Blue, the mysterious Blue brothers who own and run General Atomics.

You probably don't know about the Blue brothers, and neither did I until a few months ago. There's very little current information available about their lives, and the parts that are known are murky and incomplete.

What we do know with a fair amount of certainty is that Linden Stanley Blue and James Neal Blue were born to a wealthy family in Colorado during the Great Depression, went to Yale, served as Air Force pilots, and have been involved in some very heavy business activities since then: They've enriched uranium, dumped radioactive waste on a Native American reservation, infiltrated and spied on environmental activists, operated plantations with one of the South America's most brutal dictator clans and tried to turn Telluride, the quaint Colorado ski town, into a giant McTractHome development.

Today the Blue brothers reside in separate mansions in the wealthy, pasty-white beach enclave of La Jolla -- the Beverly Hills of San Diego -- not far from the headquarters of General Atomics. The brothers are both approaching 80, and are extremely wary of the press.

The Blue's weren't always as shy of the spotlight as they are today.

Back in 1957, Neal Blue and his brother Linden made the cover of <a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/0580392d-fa10-4126-83b2-b805e07f75bb/5e9ba5733844ef3a0fdad7e3964dfd9c">LIFE magazine</a> [4] as "The Flying Blue Brothers.” It showed them crammed into the cockpit of a small blue single-prop plane, with big creepy smiles, ready to fly around the perimeter of South America.

<blockquote>The Blue brothers of Yale make a hazardous hemispheric odyssey

The tiny plane above, dodging through cloud openings among the treacherous peaks of the Colombian Andes, is the vehicle of a unique, exciting modern odyssey. Last summer, piloted alternately by Yale men Neal and Linden Blue (left), the Blue Bird flew 25,000 miles in 110 days--from Denver. Colo, to Mexico, down along the rugged west coast of South America, across the Andes to Argentina, back north again over the Caribbean to Miami, and at last to New Haven. The log of their trip was packed with colorful and hazardous incident. With oxygen but without a supercharger in their single-engined plane, they Hew at dangerous altitudes of 16,000 feet They made 44 stops along the way, dropping in on affable plantation owners and friendly head-hunters; they landed lightheartedly where no plane had ever been before and then were forced down dangerously where no plane should have been.</blockquote>

One of these "affable plantation owners” was none other than Anastasio Somoza, the brutal dictator whose family had run Nicaragua like their own private slave plantation for three generations, until being ousted in from power in 1979 after a bloody popular uprising led by the Sandinistas.

One of the LIFE spreads is a picture of the brothers hanging up hammocks to dry on their plane, with a caption explaining that "the boys and their bedding had got soaked when they slept out in a tropical shower” in Nicaragua, "where they interviewed the late President Somoza.”

The Blue brothers did more than just interview President Somoza, they went into business with his family, partnering up on several agricultural ventures, including cocoa and banana plantations, as well as a 100,000-acre ranch of some kind. The details are murky, but it seems the partnership continued until the very end of Somoza rule.

These are the same Somozas whose security forces were caught on camera <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwhCXqe6Vm0">executing</a> [5] an American reporter for ABC News in 1979, shooting him point-blank in the head as he lay on the ground face-down. That reporter had come to Nicaragua to cover the revolution. When American TV showed the reporter getting his brains blown out, that was the last straw forcing Carter to withdraw U.S. backing for the Somoza family.

Their hold on power collapsed, the Sandinistas took over Nicaragua, and the Blue brothers' business partners went into exile in the U.S. The execution of a nosy journalist wouldn't have interested the Blue brothers much, but losing their agricultural holding to a bunch of commie peasants wounded their pride. It's a wound that festers to this very day.

In 1961, four years after making the cover of LIFE magazine, the Blue brothers again made national headlines--this time, in connection with Communist Cuba.

It was another bizarre story, but the gist of it is this: Linden Blue was on his way to Nicaragua when, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to fly his private prop plane straight over Fidel Castro's Havana. This happened at a time of escalating tensions. The U.S. had just closed down its embassy in Havana and severed diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, Castro had advanced knowledge that the CIA's was planning its Bay of Pigs invasion, which was just a month away. Not surprisingly, as Linden flew over Havana, he was intercepted by a Cuban fighter jet, forced to land, and thrown in jail along with his sole passenger, a buddy/business partner who worked as an executive for a baby food company.

Here's a clip from a 1961 story in the <a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/7143e569-c762-4138-873d-f7fefb819360/158ed8e24e9bd0da677dff58e0796beb">Miami News</a> [6] published after their release 11 days later:

<blockquote>They had set out from Key West on March 24 In Blue's twin-engine private plane on a flight to Managua, Nicaragua, where Blue is partner in a banana plantation. [Donald] Swenson, executive for a baby food manufacturing firm, said he went along to see the plantation and possibly to enter into a business relationship with Blue. They were about 70 miles from Havana when Blue, piloting the plane, contacted the Havana airport by radio to ask permission to fly over the area on his way to Nicaragua. "About 20 miles from Havana, they ordered me to remain near the city at 8,000 feet,” Blue said. ”Shortly after that an American-made jet fighter appeared. He came very close once, apparently to check on our plane's identification marks." Next, Blue was ordered to land. I was in no position to argue about it," he said. Blue and Swenson were hustled away to a large house in the city. They soon learned that they were at the head-quarters of the Cuban secret police.</blockquote>

Linden Blue and his buddy Gerber were released on April 5. Less than two weeks later, the CIA launched the Bay of Pigs invasion--an operation in which Nicaragua's Somoza clan happened to play a crucial role, allowing the CIA to use Nicaragua as a base of operations. The Cuban exile "army” trained in Nicaragua, and part of their invasion was launched from there.

H'mmm, makes me wonder about that plantation business the Blue brothers were running in Nicaragua. Was it simply a cover for clandestine spook work? Or was it a legitimate business? Maybe it was both?

The Blue brothers are coy about their intelligence connections. In 2007, Neal told the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/business/yourmoney/15atomics.html?pagewanted=all">New York Times</a> [7] that he and his brother were "enthusiastic supporters” of the CIA-run Contra army in the 1980s, a brutal death squad that terrorized Nicaraguan peasants and sabotaged infrastructure in order to destabilize the Sandinistas' rule. That raised an obvious question about intelligence connections; but Neal Blue "declined to discuss if they have worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Wink, wink. Nod, nod.

Then, in 1982, Linden Blue, was <a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/8323e516-25bf-41ed-b5cb-6f2bf83c9708/2cb3f933c30b83d2954187c824fb6682">appointed</a> [8] CEO of Beech Aircraft Corporation, which at the time had just been bought out by mega-military contractor Raytheon, the world's premier manufacturer of guided missiles.

Two years later, his brother Neal bought up most of the valley below Telluride and hatched plans to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/action/printArticle?id=655255">subdivide and turn</a> [9] the small ski town into a massive McMansion subdivision. The plan ultimately failed, but Neal fought with local residents for 25 years to push it through, even lobbying the Colorado's legislature to pass a retroactive law that would allow him carry out his plans--a law that was later struck down by Colorado's Supreme Court.

But the Blue brothers really came into their own after <a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/2c62af88-bd76-4192-979c-2cd5ae0e0442/559680074ded2e29c32b50f6e3817177">buying General Atomics</a> [10] from Chevron in 1986 for a reported $60 million.

At the time, General Atomics was a struggling company primarily involved in building civilian nuclear reactors, and losing out to bigger, badder nuclear behemoths like Westinghouse.

After packing their company's "advisory panel” with big names like Reagan's loopy Secretary of State, Gen. Alexander Haig, the Blue brothers began expanding into nuclear-related technologies: nuclear waste disposal, maglev trains and, most lucratively, mining and enriching uranium.

They acquired the <a href="http://www.ga.com/nuclear-fuel/rio-grande-resources">largest known uranium deposit</a> [11] in the United States, located in New Mexico. They also bought a decrepit uranium processing facility in Oklahoma that had had a radioactive leak the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1963288/">size of Three Mile Island</a> [12] just a few years earlier. But General Atomics kept operating the leaky facility, cranking out specialized uranium metal used in fuel rods and armor-piercing munitions for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/25/us/troubled-nuclear-factory-is-to-be-shut-in-oklahoma.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm">five more years</a> [13] before finally shutting it down after the plant experienced yet another major release of radioactive material. An investigation found that ground water near the plant was 35,000 times above the legal limit, and that the company had known the plant was leaking radioactive waste but did nothing.

General Atomics also developed a massive uranium operation in Australia, where it owned one of the country's largest uranium mines. In 2001, it was discovered that the company had hired private spooks to infiltrate an Australian environment group that had been protesting one of its mines.

Here's the Australian branch of Friends of the Earth describing what happened:

<blockquote>The infiltrator, known as Mehmet, had previously infiltrated green groups as part of an undercover police operation before he moved into the private sector to set up his own security company, Universal Axiom. He also provided personal protection to visiting GA executives. When asked about the company's tactics, a Heathgate spokesperson said the company was privately owned and had a policy of not responding to media questions.</blockquote>

Neal Blue bragged to Fortune Magazine in 2008 that he had snapped up uranium deposits in Australia for nothing in the 80s, when uranium mining was still illegal in that country, "gambling” that a new government would eventually rewrite the laws and make the Blue brothers a lot of money--which of course they did.

”For our size, we possess more significant political capital than you might think,” Blue once told a defense trade mag.

Indeed.

That "political capital” is a big reason GA's Predator drones are now a household name.

A few years after buying General Atomics, Neal Blue set up a special "advanced technology projects” division in order to identify and develop undervalued military technology.

Such a venture required some serious connections and lobbying muscle, so Neal found the perfect man for the job: former Navy admiral Thomas J. Cassidy Jr.

Cassidy had a cameo role in Tom Cruise's "Top Gun,” a movie which was made with massive support from the U.S. Navy. Cassidy was a celebrity, but was also very experienced in navigating the halls of the DoD. A few years before he was hired by General Atomics, Cassidy had been disciplined in a major <a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/c44107ee-599e-414b-9b4e-5f91fed8c81e/87f30aa1690e4c1697b41058a931c2ee">corruption scandal</a> [14] triggered by reports that the Navy had been buying ashtrays from Grumman Aerospace Corp for $659 a pop under his command.

So in 1992, Cassidy and the Blue brothers realized that locally-manufactured UAVs were gonna be the next big thing, and decided to get in early on the UAV racket. A decade later, their little company dominated the drone market, producing the cheapest and most dependable product.

To hear the Blue brothers tell it now, they all but invented the Predator drone. Neal told Fortune magazine in 2008 he got the idea to build drones decades ago, while fighting Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

<blockquote>Back then Blue was a Denver oilman and real estate investor who happened to spend a lot of time thinking about how to defeat communists. He was particularly interested in seeing the overthrow of the Soviet-backed Sandinistas, who had recently seized control of Nicaragua. He had known the Somozas, the ousted ruling family, from his cocoa and banana days, and, well, he hated Reds. Crippling the regime, Blue figured, was simple: just send GPS-equipped unmanned planes on kamikaze missions to blow up the country's gasoline storage tanks. "You could launch them from behind the line of sight,” he recalls matter-of-factly, "so you would have total deniability.” Blue pauses, leans back in his white-leather swivel chair, and quickly adds that he had nothing to do with any of the Reagan-era operations there - nor, of course, did he launch his own attack.</blockquote>

It's a nice story, except for all the bullshit.

The Predator drone was actually created by Israeli named Abroham Karem, who had helped design Israel's first drones for use in the Yom Kippur war. In the 1980s, Karem moved to Orange County and set up a small shop with DARPA funding to replicate and improve the technology here.

His company was called Leading Systems, and had already developed a working Predator drone prototype that was cheaper and more reliable than what good ol' boy defense companies like Lockheed Martin could crank out. Karem made an elegant and efficient product it, but it wasn't getting much love in the DoD.

It needed a power-salesman and a lot of money to grease the procurement process. And that's what the Blue brothers, and their man Cassidy, brought to the table.

"Behind its success in winning government contracts has been a formidable and at times controversial lobbying effort,” wrote the Financial Times.

H'mmm… "formidable and at times controversial” is one way of putting General Atomics' lobbying efforts. Another way would be to say the company flooded Congress with money.

A 2006 <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/06/05/5608/top-gun-travel">investigation</a> [15] by the Center for Public Integrity found that General Atomics was among the biggest sponsors of congressional trips, outspending other defense contractors by 50 times or more--and that's not counting the roughly $2.5 million a year it spends on lobbying.

San Diego-based General Atomics largely targeted congressional staff members, spending roughly $660,000 on 86 trips for legislators, aides and their spouses from 2000 to mid–2005, according to an analysis of travel disclosure records by the Center for Public Integrity, American Public Media and Northwestern University's Medill News Service.

While on trips to Turkey in 2004 and Australia in 2005 -- some valued at more than $25,000 -- staffers attended meetings with officials of foreign governments being solicited to buy the company's unmanned spy plane, the Predator.

Among those aides was J. Scott Bensing, chief of staff to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee's Airland subcommittee. Two of his trips cost more than a combined $46,000.

Bensing said that he and his wife, Lia, went to Italy and Turkey in 2004 and Australia in March 2005 on the company's tab. His disclosure forms list more than $37,000 in transportation expenses and nearly $4,400 worth of meals for the two weeklong trips.

Bensing indicated on his forms that the Australia trip's purpose was to discuss "the international war on terror,” while the Turkey trip included discussions on "NATO interoperability and other international military issues.” However, other aides who went on the trips indicated that staffers also sat in on meetings with officials of foreign governments interested in buying the Predator and other robotic planes developed by General Atomics.

"I was not there to advocate [for General Atomics],” he said. "That was not our purpose. It certainly wasn't why I was there.” Bensing asserted that he did not go on the two trips to help sell aircraft. He said the meetings were focused on national security, and that if the Predator came up in conversation, it was because foreign officials raised the topic.

One of General Atomics' biggest fans was Rep. Randy "Duke” Cunningham, a Republican whose district included General Atomics headquarters in San Diego. Cunningahm's office took more than $50,000 worth of trips from 2002 to 2005.

In 2006, Cunningham got eight years for evading taxes and accepting a couple of million in bribes, including a house and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2005/07/01/1230/breaking-agents-swarm-mzm-headquarters-cunninghams-rented-boat/?mobile=nc">a boat</a> [16] christened the "Duke-stir,” from a couple of defense contractors not connected with General Atomics. Cunningham was the poster boy for Bush-era defense corruption: He even worked out a bribe-scale which valued the bribe amount based on the size of contracts he secured for his clients.

While staffers denied their roles as drones salesmen, General Atomics' Admiral Cassidy was more honest, explaining that this was simply a sensible way of doing business: "[It's] useful and very helpful, in fact, when you go down and talk to the government officials to have congressional people go along and discuss the capabilities of [the plane] with them.”

Cassidy admitted that "Without congressional support in the beginning, I am not sure the Predator would have ever seen the light of day.”

Neal Blue explained this practice to the Center for Public Integrity in similar terms: "A somewhat smaller enterprise is at a disadvantage in competing with very large embedded defense companies. It became imperative upon us to find a better way … independent of the bureaucratic procurement grind.”

General Atomics does not disclose its financial information, but stats gleaned from public data show that they took in just under $5 billion from U.S. taxpayers from 2000 to 2009. Current annual revenue is estimated to between $600 million and $1 billion, with about 80 percent coming from government defense contracts.

Today, General Atomics dominates 25% of the UAV market--a market that will only keep getting bigger and bigger.

Recently, General Atomics tested a new stealth jet bomber drone that will compete with Lockheed Martin's RQ–170 Sentinel--the one that got hacked into by Iran's cyber-mullahs and redirected to land in Tehran.

I wanted to ask the Blue brothers about all of these things, given the still escalating controversy in this country about the use of drones, both abroad and here at home. I'd tried getting in touch with the Blue brothers through official channels, of course. But my request for an interview, or a tour of the base, was denied. Their press person explained that GA's owners are "very selective” when it comes to granting interviews. Which is why I'd come to the base in person, in the somewhat optimistic attempt to talk my way inside for a look around.

I didn't even make it to the gate.

The moment Dave and I step out of the car, two security guards materialize out of a trailer and come racing out of the gate towards the car, yelling.

"You can't stand here! You can't stand here!"

"Isn't this public property?" I ask, doing my best impression of a confused tourist.

"Yes, but you can't stop here. You have to move."

"Why? What is this place?"

I can't tell you that, sir. Please, sir. Move."

"I think they're from Securitas," explains Dave. "That's what the Pinkertons are called these days."

I slam the car into reverse, gunning the Mustang away from the base, back out into the desert. Finally we stop and I look left and right, ahead and behind, expecting to see a General Atomics' security goon bearing down us, ready to drape sacks over our heads and drag us to some private black site dungeon from which we'd never emerge.

But there's nothing. Not even a drone in the sky. Just a couple of vultures circling overhead.

</div>

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<div class="tags">See more stories tagged with:

<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/drones-0">drones</a> [17],</div>

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/blue-family">blue family</a> [18]</div>

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<div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/investigations/billionaire-brothers-behind-americas-predator-drones-and-their-very-strange-past">http://www.alternet.org/investigations/billionaire-brothers-behind-americas-predator-drones-and-their-very-strange-past</a></div>

Links:

[1] http://nsfwcorp.com

[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/yasha-levine

[3] https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/blue-brothers/

[4] https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/0580392d-fa10-4126-83b2-b805e07f75bb/5e9ba5733844ef3a0fdad7e3964dfd9c

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwhCXqe6Vm0

[6] https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/7143e569-c762-4138-873d-f7fefb819360/158ed8e24e9bd0da677dff58e0796beb

[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/business/yourmoney/15atomics.html?pagewanted=all

[8] https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/8323e516-25bf-41ed-b5cb-6f2bf83c9708/2cb3f933c30b83d2954187c824fb6682

[9] http://www.smh.com.au/action/printArticle?id=655255

[10] https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/2c62af88-bd76-4192-979c-2cd5ae0e0442/559680074ded2e29c32b50f6e3817177

[11] http://www.ga.com/nuclear-fuel/rio-grande-resources

[12] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1963288/

[13] http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/25/us/troubled-nuclear-factory-is-to-be-shut-in-oklahoma.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm

[14] https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/c44107ee-599e-414b-9b4e-5f91fed8c81e/87f30aa1690e4c1697b41058a931c2ee

[15] http://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/06/05/5608/top-gun-travel

[16] http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2005/07/01/1230/breaking-agents-swarm-mzm-headquarters-cunninghams-rented-boat/?mobile=nc

[17] http://www.alternet.org/tags/drones-0

[18] http://www.alternet.org/tags/blue-family

[19] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B

===

Nicaragua — Anastasios Samoza II, the CIA-backed dictator, falls. The Marxist Sandinistas take over government, and they are initially popular because of their commitment to land and anti-poverty reform. Samoza had a murderous and hated personal army called the National Guard. Remnants of the Guard will become the Contras, who fight a CIA-backed guerilla war against the Sandinista government throughout the 1980s.

----

Anastasio ("Tachito") Somoza Debayle (Spanish pronunciation: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_Spanish" title="Wikipedia:IPA for Spanish">[anasˈtasjo soˈmoθa ðeˈβaile]</a>) (5 December 1925  – 17 September 1980) was a Nicaraguan dictator and officially the 73rd and 76th <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_Nicaragua" title="List of Presidents of Nicaragua" class="mw-redirect">President</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a> from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardia_Nacional_%28Nicaragua%29" title="Guardia Nacional (Nicaragua)" class="mw-redirect">National Guard</a>, he was ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979. He was the last member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somoza" title="Somoza" class="mw-redirect">Somoza</a> family to be President, ending a dynasty that had held power since 1936.

...

<h2>The assassination</h2>

Somoza was assassinated near his exile home on September 17, 1980. He was 54 years old. Somoza Debayle was ambushed by a seven-person Sandinista <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando" title="Commando">commando team</a> (four men and three women). This was known as "Operation Reptile."

The Sandinista team had two Soviet-made machine guns, two AK-47 assault rifles, two automatic pistols, and an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPG-7" title="RPG-7">RPG-7</a> rocket launcher with four anti-tank grenades and two rockets. The leader was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina">Argentinian</a> Marxist revolutionary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Gorriar%C3%A1n_Merlo" title="Enrique Gorriarán Merlo">Enrique Gorriarán Merlo</a> (code named "Ramon"), an ex- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Revolutionary_Army_%28Argentina%29" title="People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)">Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo</a> member. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-3">[4]</a> One of the team members said: "We cannot tolerate the existence of millionaire playboys whilst thousands of Latin Americans are dying of hunger. We are perfectly willing to give up our lives for this cause."

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The Somoza family was an influential <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_dynasty" title="Political dynasty" class="mw-redirect">political dynasty</a> who ruled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a> as an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_dictatorship" title="Hereditary dictatorship" class="mw-redirect">hereditary dictatorship</a>. Their influence exceeded their combined 43 years in the de facto presidency, as they were the power behind the other presidents of the time through their control of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_%28Nicaragua%29" title="National Guard (Nicaragua)">National Guard</a>. They ultimately fell to a revolution led by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front" title="Sandinista National Liberation Front">Sandinista National Liberation Front</a>.

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Although his four-year term was to end in 1971, Anastasio Somoza Debayle amended the constitution to stay in power until 1972. Increasing pressures from the opposition and his own party, however, led the dictator to negotiate a political agreement, known as the Kupia-Kumi Pact, which installed a three-member junta that would rule from 1972 until 1974. The junta was established in May 1972 amidst opposition led by Pedro Joaqu�n Chamorro Cardenal and his newspaper La Prensa. Popular discontent also grew in response to deteriorating social conditions. Illiteracy, malnourishment, inadequate health services, and lack of proper housing also ignited criticism from the Roman Catholic Church, led by Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo. The archbishop began to publish a series of pastoral letters critical of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's government.

On December 23, 1972, a powerful earthquake shook Nicaragua, destroying most of the capital city. The earthquake left approximately 10,000 dead and some 50,000 families homeless, and destroyed 80 percent of Managua's commercial buildings. Immediately after the earthquake, the National Guard joined the widespread looting of most of the remaining business establishments in Managua. When reconstruction began, the government's illegal appropriation and mismanagement of international relief aid, directed by the Somoza family and members of the National Guard, shocked the international community and produced further unrest in Nicaragua. The president's ability to take advantage of the people's suffering proved enormous. By some estimates, his personal wealth soared to US$400 million in 1974. As a result of his greed, Anastasio Somoza Debayle's support base within the business sector began to crumble. A revived labor movement increased opposition to the regime and to the deteriorating economic conditions.

Anastasio Somoza Debayle's intentions to run for another presidential term in 1974 were resisted even within his own PLN. The political opposition, led by Chamorro and former Minister of Education Ramiro Sacasa, established the Democratic Liberation Union (Uni�n Democr�tica de Liberaci�n--Udel), an opposition group that included most anti-Somoza elements. The Udel was a broad coalition of business groups whose representation included members from both the traditional elite and labor unions. The party promoted a dialogue with the government to foster political pluralism. The president responded with increasing political repression and further censorship of the media and the press. In September 1974, Anastasio Somoza Debayle was reelected president.

==wikiAnastasio "Tachito" Somoza DeBayle (Spanish pronunciation: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Spanish" title="Help:IPA for Spanish" style="background: none; text-decoration: none !important;">[anasˈtasjo soˈmosa ðeˈβaile]</a>; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was a Nicaraguan politician and officially the 73rd and 76th <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_Nicaragua" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Presidents of Nicaragua" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">President of Nicaragua</a>from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardia_Nacional(Nicaragua)" class="mw-redirect" title="Guardia Nacional (Nicaragua)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">National Guard</a>, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979. He was the last member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somoza_family" title="Somoza family" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Somoza family</a> to be President, ending a dynasty that had been in power since 1936. After being overthrown in an insurrection led by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FSLN" class="mw-redirect" title="FSLN" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">FSLN</a>, he fled Nicaragua and power was ceded to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junta_of_National_Reconstruction" title="Junta of National Reconstruction" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Junta of National Reconstruction</a>. He was eventually assassinated while in exile in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguay" title="Paraguay" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Paraguay</a>.<div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="background: none; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline; line-height: 1.3;">Contents</h2>  [<a role="button" tabindex="0" id="togglelink" style="background: none; cursor: pointer;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#Name" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">1Name</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#Early_years" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">2Early years</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#Presidency" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">3Presidency</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#Fall" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">4Fall</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#Assassination" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">5Assassination</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#In_popular_culture" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">6In popular culture</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">7See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#Bibliography" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">8Bibliography</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#References" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">9References</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;">Name[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Name" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>As is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_naming_customs" title="Spanish naming customs" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">customary in most Spanish-speaking countries</a>, he was given both his parents' last names, Somoza being his father's last name and DeBayle being his mother's last name. DeBayle is of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_people" title="French people" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">French</a> origin.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;">Early years[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Early years" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Anastasio Somoza DeBayle, nicknamed "Tachito" (Spanish: Little Tacho) by his father, was the third child of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Garc%C3%ADa" title="Anastasio Somoza García" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">Anastasio Somoza García</a> and Salvadora DeBayle. At the age of seven, he was enrolled at the Instituto Pedagógico La Salle, run by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_the_Brothers_of_the_Christian_Schools" class="mw-redirect" title="Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">Christian Brothers</a>. One of his classmates was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Joaqu%C3%ADn_Chamorro_Cardenal" title="Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[1]</a> who would grow up to become one of the most prominent opponents of the Somoza dynasty. From the age of ten, Tachito was educated in the United States. He and older brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Somoza_Debayle" title="Luis Somoza Debayle" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">Luis Somoza Debayle</a>, both attended <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St.Leo_University" class="mw-redirect" title="St. Leo University" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">St. Leo College Prep</a> (Florida) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Salle_Military_Academy" title="La Salle Military Academy" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">La Salle Military Academy</a> (Long Island). He passed the examination for West Point, entered the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academy" title="United States Military Academy" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">United States Military Academy</a> on July 3, 1943, and graduated on June 6, 1946.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[2]</a> Two years after his return from West Point, he fathered a daughter, Patricia, who was later sent to a series of schools abroad.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[3]</a> Also after his return, he was appointed chief of staff of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard(Nicaragua)" title="National Guard (Nicaragua)" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">National Guard</a>, (Nicaragua's national army), by his father, who had previously given many important posts to family members and close personal friends. As commander of the Guard, Somoza was head of the nation's armed forces, effectively the second most powerful man in Nicaragua. On 10 December 1950, he and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Portocarrero" title="Hope Portocarrero" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">Hope Portocarrero</a>, an American citizen and his first cousin, were married at the Cathedral in Managua by Archbishop Jose Antonio Lezcano. Over 4,000 guests attended the ceremony. The reception was given by President Anastasio Somoza García in the luxurious and modern Palacio de Comunicaciones. They had five children:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Portocarrero" title="Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Julio Somoza Portocarrero</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Carolina Somoza Portocarrero</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Carla Somoza Portocarrero</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Roberto Somoza Portocarrero</li></ul>Following his father's assassination on 21 September 1956, Somoza's elder brother, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Somoza_Debayle" title="Luis Somoza Debayle" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Luis</a>, took over the presidency. Anastasio had a large hand in the government during this time and saw to it that the presidency was held by politicians loyal to his family from 1963 to 1967.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;">Presidency[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Presidency" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>On 1 May 1967, shortly before the death of his brother, Anastasio Somoza was himself elected president for the first time. While Luis had ruled more gently than his father had, Anastasio was intolerant of opposition of any sort, and his regime soon resembled his father's in all significant respects.When someone suggested educating the workforce, Somoza famously replied, “I don’t want an educated population; I want oxen.”<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-Thomas_H.Holloway_2011_408-4" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[4]</a>His term in office was due to end in May 1972, due to a law which disallowed immediate re-election. However, prior to that, Somoza worked out an agreement allowing him to stand for re-election in 1974; he would be replaced as president by a three-man junta consisting of two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Liberal_Party" class="mw-redirect" title="Constitutional Liberal Party" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Liberals</a> and one <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_of_Nicaragua" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative Party of Nicaragua" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Conservative</a> while he retained control of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard(Nicaragua)" title="National Guard (Nicaragua)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">National Guard</a>. Somoza and his triumvirate drew up a new constitution that was ratified by the triumvirate and the cabinet on April 3, 1971. He then stepped down as president on May 1, 1972. However, as head of the National Guard, he remained the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_facto" title="De facto" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">de facto</a> ruler of the country.On 23 December 1972, an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Nicaragua_earthquake" title="1972 Nicaragua earthquake" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">earthquake</a> struck the nation's capital, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managua" title="Managua" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Managua</a>, killing about 5,000 people and virtually destroying the city. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law" title="Martial law" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Martial law</a> was declared, making Somoza the country's ruler in name as well as in fact once again. He then took over effective control as head of the National Emergency Committee. He reportedly embezzled many of the funds sent from across the world to help rebuild Managua.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-Frank_J.Coppa_2006_284-5" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[5]</a>Indeed, some parts of Managua have never been rebuilt or restored, including the National Cathedral. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente" title="Roberto Clemente" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Roberto Clemente</a>, whose ill-fated trip to Managua was intended to safeguard earthquake supplies, died in a plane crash while traveling to Nicaragua.Somoza also allegedly was selling Nicaraguan blood plasma abroad, at the time of the earthquake, when medical supplies, including blood products, were desperately in short supply.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[6]</a>Somoza was re-elected president in the 1974 election. By this time, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church" class="mw-redirect" title="Roman Catholic Church" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Catholic Church</a> had begun to speak against his government. (Indeed, one of his fiercest critics was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Cardenal" title="Ernesto Cardenal" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Ernesto Cardenal</a>, a leftist Nicaraguan priest who preached <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology" title="Liberation theology" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">liberation theology</a> and would become the Sandinista government's Minister of Culture.) By the late 1970s, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">human rights</a> groups were condemning the record of the Somoza government, while support for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front" title="Sandinista National Liberation Front" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Sandinistas</a> was growing inside and outside the country.In July 1977, Somoza had a heart attack, and went to the US to recuperate.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[7]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;">Fall[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Fall" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_revolution" class="mw-redirect" title="Nicaraguan revolution" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Nicaraguan revolution</a></div>In 1975 Somoza Debayle launched a campaign to crush the Sandinistas; individuals suspected of supporting the Front were targeted. The Front, named after <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_C%C3%A9sar_Sandino" title="Augusto César Sandino" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Augusto César Sandino</a> (a Nicaraguan rebel leader in the 1920s), began its guerrilla war against the Somozas in 1963 and was funded by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Soviet Union</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Cuba</a> under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro" title="Fidel Castro" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Fidel Castro</a>. Support for the Sandinistas ballooned after the earthquake, especially when U.S President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter" title="Jimmy Carter" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Jimmy Carter</a> withdrew American support for the regime for human rights reasons.At this point, the opposition to the Somozas included not only Sandinistas, but other prominent figures such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Joaqu%C3%ADn_Chamorro_Cardenal" title="Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Pedro Chamorro</a> (assassinated on January 10, 1978). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel" title="Israel" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Israel</a> was the last supplier of weapons to the Somoza regime, because during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_War_of_Independence" class="mw-redirect" title="Israeli War of Independence" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">Israeli War of Independence</a> in 1948, Somoza's father provided substantial financial support for Israel. Carter forced the Israeli government to call back a ship carrying weapons vital to the survival of the Somoza regime.Because of his status, most of his family members were forced to flee into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras" title="Honduras" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Honduras</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala" title="Guatemala" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Guatemala</a>, and the United States. It is uncertain where the remaining Somozas live given the fact that they changed their names to protect their own lives.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]On July 17, 1979, Somoza resigned the presidency and fled to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami" title="Miami" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Miami</a> in a converted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-46_Commando" class="mw-redirect" title="C-46 Commando" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Curtiss C-46</a>. He took with him the caskets of his father and brother and much of Nicaragua's national treasure<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-David_Kunzle_1995_4-8" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[8]</a> leaving the country with a $1.6 billion <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_debt" class="mw-redirect" title="Foreign debt" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">foreign debt</a>, the highest in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America" title="Central America" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">Central America</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-John_Byrne.2C_Leigh_Glover.2C_Cecilia_Martinez_2009_43-9" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[9]</a> After Somoza had fled, the Sandinistas found less than $2 million in the national treasury.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-John_Pilger_2001_498-10" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-John_Pilger_2001_498-10" style="background: none; text-decoration: none;">10]</a>Somoza was denied entry to the U.S. by President Carter. He later took refuge in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguay" title="Paraguay" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Paraguay</a>, then under the dictatorship of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner" title="Alfredo Stroessner" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Alfredo Stroessner</a>. He bought a ranch and a gated house at Avenida de España no. 433 in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asunci%C3%B3n" title="Asunción" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Asunción</a>. Somoza's regime lasted only another day, when the Sandinistas captured Managua.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;">Assassination[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Assassination" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Somoza was assassinated near his exile home on September 17, 1980. He was 54 years old. Somoza Debayle was ambushed by a seven-person Sandinista <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando" title="Commando" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none;">commando team</a> (four men and three women). This was known as "Operation Reptile".The Sandinista team had two Soviet-made machine guns, two AK-47 assault rifles, two automatic pistols, and an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPG-7" title="RPG-7" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">RPG-7</a> rocket launcher with four anti-tank grenades and two rockets. The leader was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Argentinian</a> Marxist revolutionary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Gorriar%C3%A1n_Merlo" title="Enrique Gorriarán Merlo" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Enrique Gorriarán Merlo</a> (code named "Ramon"), an ex-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Revolutionary_Army_(Argentina)" title="People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo</a> member.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasio_Somoza_Debayle#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[11]</a> One of the team members said: "We cannot tolerate the existence of millionaire playboys while thousands of Latin Americans are dying of hunger. We are perfectly willing to give up our lives for this cause."

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<h1 property="dc:title" datatype="" class="node-title">7 Fascist Regimes Enthusiastically Supported by America</h1>

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<div class="byline world">By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/alex-henderson">Alex Henderson</a> [1] / <a href="http://alternet.org/">AlterNet</a> [2]</div>

<div class="story-date">February 4, 2015</div>

</a></div><a class="at-share-btn at-svc-email" style="transition: none; margin: 0px 2px; display: inline-block; max-width: 32px; max-height: 32px; background: rgb(115, 138, 141);">

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</a><div class="the_body body_world clearfix"><a class="at-share-btn at-svc-email" style=" transition: none; -webkit-transition: none; margin: 0px 2px; display: inline-block; max-width: 32px; max-height: 32px; background: rgb(115, 138, 141);">

</a><a class="at-share-btn at-svc-email" style=" transition: none; -webkit-transition: none; margin: 0px 2px; display: inline-block; max-width: 32px; max-height: 32px; background: rgb(115, 138, 141);">President Barack Obama inspired a great deal of debate when, in December, he asserted that it was time for the United States to begin to normalize relations with Cuba and start loosening the embargo that has been in effect since the early 1960s. And many hard-right Republicans and neocons, from Texas’ Ted Cruz and Florida’s Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate to House Speaker John Boehner, have been </a><a href="http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/26/ted-cruz-marco-rubio-surround-rand-paul-opposing-obamas-cuba-policy/">vehemently critical</a> [3] of Obama’s stand. Boehner has insisted that “relations with the Castro regime should <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/marco-rubio-cuba-obama_n_6342348.html">not be revisited, let alone normalized</a> [4], until the Cuban people enjoy freedom,” and Cruz has maintained that because Fidel and Raul Castro are “brutal dictators,” the embargo must remain. But given the United States’ long history of supporting one fascist dictatorship after another in Latin America, the embargo of Cuba has been the height of hypocrisy on the U.S.’ part. While it’s true that Amnesty International has often been critical of the Castro regime over the years, many of the other Latin American dictatorships that Amnesty International has criticized have been U.S. allies—and Cuba has hardly had the market cornered on human rights abuses in Latin America.

Below are seven of the worst fascist regimes in Latin America that the U.S. enthusiastically supported.

1. Chile: Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s Military Junta, 1973-1990

In 1970, socialist Salvador Allende was democratically elected president of Chile as the leader of the Unidad Popular (a coalition of leftist parties). Allende had been in office for three years when far-right forces in the Chilean military staged an armed insurrection with the help and encouragement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Richard Nixon Administration (Allende, who evidently committed suicide by shooting himself, was found dead in the presidential palace in Santiago on September 11, 1973). A U.S.-backed military dictatorship under Gen. Augusto Pinochet (a fascist greatly influenced by Spain’s Gen. Francisco Franco and Italy’s Benito “Il Duce” Mussolini) came to power, and thousands of Allende supporters were killed and tortured during Pinochet’s reign of terror. Not until 1990, after <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/674313.stm">17 years of fascist rule</a> [5], was democracy restored in Chile.

2. Guatemala’s Military Dictatorships

For decades, the U.S. supported harsh military dictatorships in Guatemala, and its reasons for doing so can be summed up in three words: United Fruit Company. The UFC, a huge American corporation, made considerable profits from fruit plantations in various Latin American countries, including Guatemala—and when Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz (who won by a landslide in Guatemala’s 1951 election) pushed a program of agrarian reform, the UFC lost some of the uncultivated land it had in that country. Árbenz was popular among indigenous Mayans but very unpopular with the UFC, which lobbied the U.S. government to remove him from power. The UFC got its way: in a coup orchestrated by the U.S. State Department and the CIA, Árbenz’ democratically elected government was overthrown in 1954 and replaced by the repressive military dictatorship of Col. Carlos Castillo Armas. And the U.S.-backed military regimes that followed Armas’ assassination in 1957 proved to be even worse. Tens of thousands of Guatemalans were slaughtered by fascist military forces and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/efrain-rios-montt-convicted_n_3256070.html">far-right death squads</a> [6] in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The CIA/State Department-orchestrated overthrow of Árbenz in 1954 might have been great for UFC profits, but it led to considerable bloodshed in Guatemala.

3. Nicaragua: The Somoza Dynasty, 1930s-1979

The fascist regimes of Mussolini in Italy and Franco in Spain became the blueprint for a long list of fascist dictators in Latin America, from Juan María Bordaberry in Uruguay to Tuburcio Andino in Honduras to Fulgencio Batista (another U.S. ally) in Cuba. And the Mussolini/Franco model of governing was also a major influence on the Somoza dynasty, which ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist for decades and did so with the blessing of the U.S. government. Torture was the norm under the Somozas.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, revolutionary Augusto Sandino led a rebellion against U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua; Sandino’s assassination by Nicaraguan National Guard forces under Gen. Anastasio Somoza, Sr. in 1934 was followed by the long-lasting<a href="http://www.pri.org/stories/2011-11-09/new-somoza-nicaragua">rule of the Somoza family</a> [7]—which, in 1979, was overthrown by the Sandino-influenced Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) or Sandinista National Liberation Front . The Somozas were close allies of the U.S., and although so-called “free elections” were held in Nicaragua during the Somoza years, the reality is that the Somozas operated a U.S.-backed <a href="http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/resources/torture/grossman.html">military dictatorship</a> [8] with little in the way of checks and balances.

After coming to power in 1979, the FSLN went from being an armed insurgent movement to being an actual political party and have since competed with other parties in Nicaraguan elections. The Sandinistas were detested by the Ronald Reagan Administration and the CIA, who aggressively supported the Contras (a rightist coalition that included remnants of the Somoza regime) in their efforts to overthrow the new government. Reagan often denounced Sandinista President Daniel Ortega as heavy-handed and dictatorial, which was truly ironic in light of the cozy relationship the U.S. had with the Somozas for many years.

4. El Salvador’s Military Dictatorship: 1979-1992

Like its neighbor Guatemala, El Salvador has a very painful history—and one of the most painful parts is the civil war that lasted from 1979-1992. During those 13 years, a U.S.-supported military junta wasn’t shy about using <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/world/4-salvadorans-say-they-killed-us-nuns-on-orders-of-military.html">death squads and torture</a> [9] in its efforts against the leftist guerillas of el Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional or FMLN. The same American politicians who insisted on maintaining a boycott of Cuba had no problem with supporting the Salvadoran junta, which did not except U.S. citizens from its brutality: on December 2, 1980, three American nuns (Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clarke and Ita Ford) and American lay missionary Jean Donovan were kidnapped and killed by one of the death squads while doing charitable work in El Salvador. Donovan had, in March 1980, attended the funeral of Archbishop Óscar Romero, a Catholic priest who was assassinated after being critical of the junta—and to the death squad’s members, that alone made all of the women enemies. But despite the killings of Romero, Donovan, Clarke, Kazel, Ford and countless others, U.S. support for the junta continued under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Sr. And by the time a ceasefire was declared in 1992 (when the FMLN became a legal political party), thousands of Salvadorans had been killed and/or tortured.

5. Argentina: The Dirty War, 1976-1983

The military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976-1983 was infamous for its human rights abuses: an estimated 30,000 people were killed. And one U.S. politician who was on very friendly terms with the junta, according to declassified U.S. State Department documents, was <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/01/new-memo-kissinger-gave-green-light-argentina-dirty-war">Henry Kissinger</a> [10] (secretary of state during the administrations of Nixon and Gerald Ford). Meeting with Argentina’s foreign minister, Admiral César Augusto Guzzetti, in 1976, Kissinger assured him that he could <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/06/argentina.usa">count on U.S. support</a> [11]. Kissinger obviously knew what type of brutality the junta was capable of, but he didn’t care: like so many other U.S. politicians during the Cold Way, he had no problem with butchers in Latin America as long as they were staunchly anti-communist.

6. Bolivia: The Hugo Banzer Dictatorship, 1971-1977

When the policies of Bolivia’s socialist president, Juan José Torres, angered the Nixon Administration in the early 1970s, the U.S. helped to overthrow him and install the fascist military dictatorship of Gen. Hugo Banzer. The Banzer regime lasted until 1977, and during Banzer’s rule, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/may/06/guardianobituaries.bolivia">torture and false imprisonment</a> [12] were common. Torres fled Bolivia after the coup and settled in Argentina, where he became one of the early casualties of the Dirty War: in June 1976, Torres was kidnapped and killed by one of the Argentinean junta’s death squads.

Torres’ killing was part of Operation Condor, an unholy alliance of fascist forces and military juntas whose stated goal was to eradicate any type of Marxism in South America. Pinochet, Guzzetti, Banzer, Bordaberry and Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner were all participants in the program, which the CIA enthusiastically promoted.

7. Paraguay: The AlfredoStroessner Regime, 1954-1989

Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, who was in power from 1954-1989, was a strident anti-communist—and that was enough for the U.S., which pumped millions of dollars into his regime in the 1950s and 1960s and had a close relationship with the Paraguayan military for many years. Torture, kidnappings and other human rights abuses were common under the Stroessner regime, which authorized Pastor Milciades Coronel (who oversaw Stroessner’s secret police) to commit numerous atrocities. In 1975, Stroessner even listened on the phone while Miguel Soler, head of the Paraguayan Communist Party, was being <a href="http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/18450">dismembered with a chainsaw</a> [13] by Coronel’s policía secreta.

Alex Henderson's work has appeared in the L.A. Weekly, Billboard, Spin, Creem, the Pasadena Weekly and many other publications. Follow him on Twitter @alexvhenderson.

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Links:

[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/alex-henderson

[2] http://alternet.org

[3] http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/26/ted-cruz-marco-rubio-surround-rand-paul-opposing-obamas-cuba-policy/

[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/marco-rubio-cuba-obama_n_6342348.html

[5] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/674313.stm

[6] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/efrain-rios-montt-convicted_n_3256070.html

[7] http://www.pri.org/stories/2011-11-09/new-somoza-nicaragua

[8] http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/resources/torture/grossman.html

[9] http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/world/4-salvadorans-say-they-killed-us-nuns-on-orders-of-military.html

[10] http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/01/new-memo-kissinger-gave-green-light-argentina-dirty-war

[11] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/06/argentina.usa

[12] http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/may/06/guardianobituaries.bolivia

[13] http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/18450

[14] mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on 7 Fascist Regimes Enthusiastically Supported by America

[15] http://www.alternet.org/

[16] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B

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