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Somoza Garcia doesn’t run for reelection but supports Arguello
Somoza Garcia chose to not run for re-election after being met with criticism from groups like PLI. So instead, Somoza decided to manipulate the presidency by backing Arguello whom he could manipulate into making his decisions without having to take accountability for them. However while in office, Arguello chose to start allowing and promoting critics of the Somozas to maintain positions in the government. Somoza Garcia wasn’t happy about this and forced him out of office -
Nicaragua joined the CACM
Luis Somoza Debayle decided to be a contributing partner in the central American Common Market. This was a group that promoted economic trade between the countries and it led to increased exports and a stimulated economy. By doing this, Somoza’s anticommunism was highlighted and the US decided to support him and his regime. The CACM was created because of economic difficulties in its respective countries, however because of instability they decided to take a pause in 1983. -
Earthquake in Nicaragua
An earthquake occur ed in Nicaragua that killed and stranded thousands but while the relief aid was sent with good purposes, Somoza family members and part of the national guard stole the money to line their own pockets. This enraged those in Nicaragua when they found out. To add to the irritability of the citizens with the Somoza family, there were thousands who didn’t have access to food and electricity following the earthquake. -
The US slowly stops supporting the Somozas
Carter decided to start focusing on human rights issues in other countries with military support. Due to the human rights infringements in Nicaragua at the time, Carter publicly denounced allies for their human rights violation in places like East Europe and South Korea. In order to combat this, he began to send less aid until they changed their approach.Somoza desperately tried to hold on to his support in any way he could, like stating that the area was no longer under siege. -
Chamorro's Assasination
The leader of a popular newspaper that would criticize the Somoza regime was mysteriously assassinated. Later on, there was evidence that members of the Somoza family and the National Guard were responsible. People were obviously enraged and protested against the regime.He was shot 20 times and although he was actually behind it, Somoza claimed to launch an investigation. He was also a founder and leader of the democratic liberation union. -
Picture Links
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/images/candidates/b123/FullC123213D0000-00-00.jpg
http://slideplayer.com/slide/242206/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Nicaragua_earthquake
https://davidmasciotra.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/jimmy_carter-1280x960.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/548092300346548224/zp8tO7an.jpeg -
Justifications 1-2
1.This was an important event because it marked the beginning of Somoza Garcia’s manipulation of presidents at the time and the corruption in the Nicaraguan government. It also brought US attention to the flaws in the presidential appointments in Nicaragua.
2. This event led to the US supporting Nicaragua further and helped the US in it’s anticommunist stance. It was also a beneficial organization for the Nicaraguan economy which prospered as a result. -
Justifications 3 & 4
- Once the people of Nicaragua found out that government officials had been embezzling money, they lost any support and hope they had for the regime. It also turned popular opinion against the Somozas.
- This marked the beginning of people’s recognized criticism of human rights issues in Nicaragua. It also shocked Somoza into realizing how reliant he was on the US’s protection.
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Justification 5
This event was the downfall of the Somoza regime. After already being implicated for the embezzlement with the earthquake, the people of Nicaragua could no longer trust the regime and decided that they were done with the Somozas. -
Origin of Outside info 1 & 2
- Encyclopedia.com is a fairly neutral website that reports facts of events, with it being an encyclopedia and such. The material covered is fairly brief but no opinions are presented in the piece.
- Britannica.com is an online encyclopedia so it reports facts instead of presenting opinions. It’s also an aggregate of other information so that leads to more variety in background information.
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Origin of outside info 5
The Washington post is an established newspaper that has been around for a long time, it’s regional but delivers news all over the country. They tend to lean towards the left in their reporting. -
Sources
http://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arguello-leonardo-1875-1947, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Central-American-Common-Market, https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1972_12_23.php, http://millercenter.org/president/biography/carter-foreign-affairs#nav-small, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/01/11/nicaraguan-publisher-critic-of-somoza-killed-by-gunmen/ad37f844-bdd3-49ba-8ff9-94285ed19ebc/?utm_term=.038471a3456e -
Origin of outside info 3 & 4
- This website is an earthquake science website that documents damage following earthquakes and records the earthquakes that have occurred over the years. It is a federal agency so the information is more credible.
- The Miller center is a branch of the University of Virginia that is nonpartisan and reports on global issues. Their pieces tend to be a factual recollection of events that occurred with a focus of the US’s approach.
