Leonardo Argüello was elected president to succeed Anastasio Somoza. The new president was removed (May 27) when he showed signs of independence; in September, Somoza made Victor Román Reyes president. Under Reyes the new labor code went unenforced, and strikes were completely forbidden.
Gen. Somoza resumed the presidency. During subsequent years the Somoza “kleptocracy” dominated the economy. The Somozas appeased elites by splitting profits from economic ventures and foreign aid with a small number of families.
Pres. Somoza died of gunshot wounds inflicted on Sept. 22. He was succeeded by his son Luis, elected to serve until May 1957, and then reelected for a six-year term. Luis, with the help of his brother ANASTASIO SOMOZA DEBAYLE (1925–80), known as Tachito, who controlled the National Guard, continued the graft and terror initiated by his father. The cotton boom drew large capital investments, driving peasants off their land. Among the only sources of opposition allowed was the mildly critical paper La Prensa, published by conservative Pedro Joaquín Chamorro.
Carlos Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, and Tomás Borge founded theFRENTE SANDINISTA DE LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL (FSLN), composed largely of students, which sought to overthrow the Somozas through guerrilla warfare. The Sandinistas were almost wiped out by the late 1960s.
Luis Somoza died. His massive holdings reflected the expansion of cattle ranches, which bred cattle for U.S. markets. Peasants who had lost their land to cotton were now driven off by large-scale cattle ranching. Deforestation occurred, 60 percent of the peasants were left landless, and urban slums swelled.
