| Luis Somoza Debayle |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT LUIS SOMOZA DEBAYLE | |
| presidents of nicaragua | |
| nicaraguan anti-communists | |
| opposition to fidel castro | |
| roman catholic politicians | |
| 1922 births | |
| 1967 deaths | |
| cold war leaders | |
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Luis Somoza Debayle ( November 18 , 1922 – April 13 , 1967 ) was the fortieth president of Nicaragua from 1956 – 1963 . Following the assassination of his father, Anastasio Somoza García , Luis was tapped as acting president and was elected president in his own right later that year. By most accounts, his rule was much milder than that of his father. However, civil liberties remained restricted and corruption remained widespread. After leaving office, he remained the real power behind puppet presidents until his death in 1967 from a massive Heart Attack at the age of 44. His brother, Anastasio Somoza Debayle , headed the National Guard and was the second most powerful man in the country during his older brother's rule. He was elected president himself in 1967 after helping see to it that the presidency was held from 1963 onward by politicians loyal to his family. Under Luis Somoza Debayle's regime, Nicaragua was a key player in the ushering of the creation of the Central American Common Market , with the Alliance For Progress backing that common market's creation. During the Bay Of Pigs Invasion , he allowed the CIA -trained Cuba n rebels to embark from Puerto Cabezas , on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast. The Sandinistas began their struggle against the government in 1963 --a struggle that would topple his brother in 1979 .
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