The Regime of Anastasio Somoza, 1936-1956

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To many observers, Anastasio Somoza, who ruled Nicaragua from 1936 until his assassination in 1956, personified the worst features of a dictator. While not dismissing these characteristics, Knut Walter argues that the regime was in fact more notable for its achievement of stability, economic growth, and state building than for its personalistic and dictatorial features. Using a wide range of sources in Nicaraguan archives, Walter focuses on institutional and structural developments to explain how Somoza gained and consolidated power.

According to Walter, Somoza preferred to resolve conflicts by political means rather than by outright coercion. Specifically, he built his government on agreements negotiated with the country's principal political actors, labor groups, and business organizations. Nicaragua's two traditional parties, one conservative and the other liberal, were included in elections, thus giving the appearance of political pluralism. Partly as a result, the opposition was forced to become increasingly radical, says Walter; eventually, in 1979, Nicaragua produced the only successful revolution in Central America and the first in all of Latin America since Cuba's.

The Regime of Anastasio Somoza, 1936-1956 Review

The book explains the long 20 year rule of Somoza in Nicaragua. Very detailed study of events that candidly most people outside the country could not care less about. An overall picture emerges of a minor nation largely insulated from the tumultuous events of the world. In part this was due to the backwardness of the country and the low level of integration into the global economy.

The isolation also meant that Somoza had wide leeway in controlling many aspects of the country's politics and economy. For the latter, there seems to have been no overarching ideology. Though we see that even as dictator, he was concerned about the impact of inflation on the populace. There was also no personal income tax. Instead the government kept afloat mostly though customs duties on imports. The latter were typically finished goods from the US. The government also owned the railroad. This let it affect [ie. control] the profitability of the businesses involved in export or import.

Most of the book goes into the political struggles. How leftists and some intellectuals sought to end Somoza's rule. It would take decades more, against his son.

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