The Nationalist Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Nacionalista, PLN) was a political party in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. When

Anastasio Somoza García Anastasio Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was the leader of Nicaragua from 1937 until his assassination in 1956. He was only officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 19 ...

took power in 1936, the party aligned itself with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and other

caudillos A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, like

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...

Oswaldo López Arellano Oswaldo Enrique López Arellano (30 June 1921 – 16 May 2010) was a Honduran politician who twice served as the President of Honduras, first from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1972 until 1975. Early life Lopez was born in Danlí to Enrique Ló ...

and

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

. From 1936 to 1979, the office of

President of Nicaragua The president of Nicaragua ( es, Presidente de Nicaragua), officially known as the president of the Republic of Nicaragua ( es, Presidente de la República de Nicaragua), is the head of state and head of government of Nicaragua. The office was ...

was held by members of the Nationalist Liberal Party. When the first phase of the

Nicaraguan Revolution The Nicaraguan Revolution ( es, Revolución Nicaragüense or Revolución Popular Sandinista, link=no) encompassed the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Fr ...

was won by the

FSLN The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...

, the PLN was dissolved by the new government. Many

Somoza The Somoza family ( es, Familia Somoza) is a former political family that ruled Nicaragua for forty-three years from 1936 to 1979. Their family dictatorship was founded by Anastasio Somoza García and was continued by his two sons Luis Somoza D ...

loyalists later supported or joined

Contras The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 fol ...

rebel groups.

History of the party

Whilst initially it still featured a liberal agenda (the Liberals having been one of the two main parties of Nicaragua since the 19th century along with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

), the Nationalist Liberal Party later developed into little more than a political vehicle for the

kleptocracy Kleptocracy (from Greek κλέπτης ''kléptēs'', "thief", κλέπτω ''kléptō'', "I steal", and -κρατία -''kratía'' from κράτος ''krátos'', "power, rule") is a government whose corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use political ...

of the Somoza clan. The party suffered several splits: in 1944, opposing

's intentions to re-run for the presidency, dissident party members such as Manuel Cordero Reyes, Roberto González Dubón, Carlos Morales, Gerónimo Ramírez Brown (minister of public education from 1939 to 1944) and Carlos Pasos formed the new Independent Liberal Party, that functioned for decades to come as a legal, centrist opposition party and briefly sided with the Sandinistas to overthrow Somoza Debayle and cement the victory of the

. In 1968, another group of members, led by

Ramiro Sacasa Guerrero Ramiro is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ramiro I of Asturias (c. 790–850), king of Asturias * Ramiro II of León (c. 900–951), king of Leon * Ramiro III of León (961–985), king of Leon * ...

(former minister for labor), split from the Nationalist Liberal Party, disagreeing with

Anastasio Somoza Debayle Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the 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 ...

's ambition to re-run. They formed the Constitutionalist Liberal Movement, which later evolved into the

Constitutionalist Liberal Party The Constitutionalist Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, PLC) is a political party in Nicaragua. At the 2006 Nicaraguan general election, Nicaraguan general election of 5 November 2006, the party won 25 of 92 seats in the N ...

. The party was banned after the FSLN takeover in 1979.The_World_Factbook_(1982)/Nicaragua

_Notable_members

*_José_María_Moncada
*_Juan_Bautista_Sacasa.html" ;"title="José María Moncada">The World Factbook (1982)/Nicaragua

Notable members

* José María Moncada
* Juan Bautista Sacasa">José María Moncada">The World Factbook (1982)/Nicaragua

Notable members

* José María Moncada
* Juan Bautista Sacasa *

* Luis Somoza Debayle *

Leonardo Argüello Barreto Leonardo Argüello Barreto (29 August 1875 – 15 December 1947) was a Nicaraguan politician who, after several attempts, became the President of Nicaragua in 1947. He served from 1 May to 27 May 1947. His older brother was the noted poet Santia ...

* Benjamín Lacayo Sacasa *

Víctor Manuel Román y Reyes Víctor Manuel Román y Reyes (13 October 1872 – 6 May 1950) was the President of Nicaragua from 15 August 1947 to his death on 6 May 1950. His Vice President was Mariano Argüello Vargas, a former Foreign Minister and President of the Senate ...

René Schick René Schick Gutiérrez (23 November 1909 – 3 August 1966) was President of Nicaragua, President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1963 to 3 August 1966, but was considered a puppet politician of Luis Somoza. He was born in León, Nicaragua and was a re ...

* Orlando Montenegro Medrano *

Francisco Urcuyo Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños (30 July 1915 – 14 September 2001) was a Nicaraguan politician, who served as Vice President of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from May 1967 to May 1972. He was born in Rivas. Urcuyo was the president of the lower chamb ...

Lorenzo Guerrero Lorenzo Guerrero Gutiérrez (13 November 1900 – 15 April 1981) was a Nicaraguan politician and a close associate of Somoza family. Guerrero was the president of the upper chamber of National Congress of Nicaragua 1949–1950, 1953–1954, 1956- ...

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

1936 establishments in Nicaragua 1979 disestablishments in Nicaragua Banned political parties Conservative parties in Nicaragua Defunct political parties in Nicaragua Nationalist parties in North America Organizations of the Nicaraguan Revolution Political parties disestablished in 1979 Political parties established in 1936 {{Nicaragua-party-stub

History of the party

_Notable_members

Notable members

Notable members

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

See also

References