Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Who was Anastasio Somoza Debayle?

Anastasio Somoza DeBayle was a Nicaraguan dictator and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979. He was the last member of the Somoza family to be President, ending a dynasty that had been in power since 1936. After being overthrown in an insurrection led by the FSLN, he fled Nicaragua in exile and power was ceded to the Junta of National Reconstruction. He was eventually assassinated while in exile in Paraguay.