Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979.

Anastasio Somoza Debayle, nicknamed "Tachito" (Spanish: Little Tacho) by his father, was born in 1925 as the third child of Anastasio Somoza García and Salvadora Debayle.

At the age of seven, he was enrolled at the Instituto Pedagógico La Salle, run by the Christian Brothers.

One of his classmates was Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, who later became a journalist and publisher of La Prensa newspaper and one of the most prominent opponents of the Somoza dynasty.

From the age of ten, Tachito was educated in the United States.

He was the last member of the Somoza family to be president, ending a dynasty that had been in power since 1937.

During this period, their father became president of Nicaragua, and served from 1937 to 1947, and again from 1950 into 1956.

He and older brother Luis Somoza Debayle both attended St. Leo College Prep (Florida) and La Salle Military Academy on Long Island.

Somoza attended La Salle with Lt. Andrew Edward Tuck III, uncle of American television host Stephen Colbert, and would stay at the family home in Larchmont during the holidays instead of returning to Nicaragua.

This led to Somoza going on several dates with Andrew Edward's sister and Colbert's mother, Lorna.

Somoza Debayle passed the examination for West Point, entered the United States Military Academy on July 3, 1943, and graduated on June 6, 1946.

After his return to Nicaragua, Somoza Debayle was appointed chief of staff of the National Guard (Nicaragua's national army), by his father.

The president had also appointed numerous family members and close personal friends to other important posts in his government.

As commander of the Guard, the young Somoza was head of the nation's armed forces, effectively the second-most powerful man in Nicaragua.

Two years after his return from West Point, Somoza Debayle had an affair and fathered a daughter, Patricia.

She was later sent to a series of schools abroad.

On 10 December 1950, Somoza married Hope Portocarrero, an American citizen and his first cousin.

Their wedding was held at the Cathedral in Managua and officiated by Archbishop Jose Antonio Lezcano.

Over 4,000 guests attended the ceremony.

The reception was given by Somoza's father, President Anastasio Somoza García, in the luxurious and modern Palacio de Comunicaciones.

The couple had five children:

Somoza and Hope attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Following their father's assassination on 21 September 1956, Somoza's elder brother, Luis, took over the presidency.

Anastasio also had a large hand in the government during this time; he helped ensure that the presidency was held by politicians loyal to his family from 1963 to 1967.

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.

Somoza Debayle succeeded his older brother, Luis Somoza Debayle, in office.

Anastasio was elected president in his own right on 5 February 1967 and took office on 1 May, a few weeks after his brother's death.

While Luis had ruled more gently than his father, Anastasio shared his father’s cold intolerance of dissent.

His rule soon resembled his father’s in all significant respects, with harsh repression of dissent.

It has been claimed that with regard to educating the workforce, Somoza replied, "I don't want an educated population; I want oxen".

In 1968, Prince Rainier III bestowed Somoza with the Order of St. Charles, Monaco's highest honor.

Somoza and his triumvirate drew up a new constitution that was ratified by the triumvirate and the cabinet on April 3, 1971.

He was due to leave office in May 1972; at the time, Nicaraguan presidents were barred from immediate re-election.

He stepped down as president on May 1, 1972.

However, prior to that, Somoza worked out an agreement that allowed him to stand for re-election in 1974.

He would be replaced as president by a three-man junta consisting of two members of his Nationalist Liberal Party and one member from the opposition Conservative while he retained control of the National Guard.

After insurgents led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional; FSLN) were closing in on Managua in July 1979, Somoza fled Nicaragua.

Power was ceded to the Junta of National Reconstruction.

He was assassinated in 1980 while in exile in Paraguay.

As is customary in most Spanish-speaking countries, he was given both his parents' last names, Somoza being his father's last name and Debayle being his mother's. Debayle was of French origin.