Nicaraguan soldier and politician, president 193747 and 195056. As head of the Nicaraguan army, he deposed President Juan Bautista Sacasa, his uncle, in 1936 and assumed the presidency the following year, ruling as a virtual dictator from 1937 until his assassination in 1956. He exiled most of his political opponents and amassed a considerable fortune in land and businesses. Members of his family retained control of the country until 1979, when they were overthrown by popular forces.
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