Anastasio Somoza Debayle
President of Nicaragua (1967–72; 1974–79)
Who is Anastasio Somoza Debayle?
Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (Spanish: [anasˈtasjo soˈmosa ðeˈβajle]; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was a Nicaraguan politician, military officer, hydraulic engineer, and dictator who served as the 53rd President of Nicaragua from 1967 to 1972 and again from 1974 until his fall in 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. Somoza Debayle succeeded his older brother, Luis Somoza Debayle, in office. He was the last member of the Somoza family to be president, ending a dynasty that had been in power since 1937.
After insurgents led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Spanish: 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.