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The Chamorros--Divided Family in a War-Torn Country
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14400 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1988 |
2,180 Words |
| Author
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Clemens Michel
Clemens Michel is a senior research fellow at the Council for
Inter-American Security. He previously worked as a Latin
America specialist for West Germany's Christian Democratic
Party and has interviewed members of the Chamorro family on
several occasions. |
Chamorro, one of Nicaragua's most prominent and influential family names, has become almost synonymous with the country's struggle against dictatorship and oppression. Yet the family itself is as torn as the country, with brothers and sisters on opposite sides of the political spectrum.
Since the 1930s, the family-owned newspaper La Prensa has been the voice of the Nicaraguan people and a symbol of their resistance to dictatorships on the Right and the Left.
The man who probably deserves most of the credit for the tireless fight against the brutal and corrupt Somoza regime is Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal, who became publisher of La Prensa after the death of his father in 1952.
By then, Pedro Joaquin had been active in the struggle against Somoza for many years. In the 1940s, he led a student group called "The Generation of 1944" and participated in anti-Somoza demonstrations. Later, Pedro Joaquin and his family went into exile in Costa Rica. He returned to Nicaragua in 1948 and undertook a number of unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Somoza dictatorship.
Even after becoming the publisher of La Prensa, Pedro Joaquin did not limit his activities to the newspaper. Between 1954 and 1957, he spent more than 18 months in prison for various acts against the Somoza regime. He later went back to Costa Rica, where he worked for the newspaper Prensa Libre.
Mightier than the sword?
In 1958, Pedro Joaquin tried to organize an invasion, which he hoped would take people to the streets and spur a rebellion against the regime. The invasion failed however, and he ended up in jail again. He then abandoned the violent approach and concentrated on La Prensa as the vehicle to oppose the regime.
In the following decades, La Prensa became a constant target of government harassment and censorship. Pedro Joaquin continued his struggle for democratic rights, and over the years his firm stand against repression made him a symbol of liberal resistance and a national hero.
As opposition to Somoza grew in the 1970s, Pedro Joaquin operated behind the scenes as coordinator of opposition activities. From the very beginning, however, he avoided direct contact with the
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