According to Nicaragua: A Country Study, the National Guard controlled all the security, police and intelligence apparatus during the Somoza regime between 1927 and 1979, and its command "always remained in the hands of Somoza family members" (Dec. 1993). In December 1996, the Foreign Wire commented on the election victory of Arnoldo Aleman, which had prompted some to say that supporters of former dictator Anastasio Somoza would soon return to Nicaragua:

Aleman, a rotund anti-Sandinista populist whose campaign renewed Nicaragua's historic polarised politics, has denied that he is a Somozista, as Sandinistas have dubbed him, although his father and brother were widely known to have connections with the dictator. Many analysts are sceptical that he can stand independently from the political spectres of the Somoza years (4 Dec. 1996).

The report further stated that Aleman's party, Alianza Liberal, was "former political representation of Somoza" (ibid.).

Given this context, the following provides information on the treatment of family members of former National Guard members, as well as family members of the former Somoza government officials.

El Universal of Caracas reported in August 1997 that the return to Nicaragua of family members of former dictator Somoza, under the pretext of regaining political power and its confiscated real estate, had worried some sectors of Nicaraguan society that their presence in the country would again create confrontations between Nicaraguans (31 Aug. 1997). The daughter of Somoza, Lilliam Somoza, had returned to Nicaragua after years in exile in the United States to begin legal proceedings to regain some properties (ibid.). The Nicaraguan Attorney General of Justice stated that the government would oppose the return of property to Somoza family members by using legal channels and that if they chose to take the legal route, the judicial process could take from 10 to 15 years, which would cause great unrest in the country (ibid.). El Universal also reported that Somoza family members occupied a property by force that had been confiscated and reallocated to private citizens under the Chamorro government; however, the armed men were removed from the property by police and President Aleman, who refused to agree to return the properties to the Somoza family, put the matter before the courts (ibid.).

The following information is provided by reports in La Tribuna, a Managua-based newspaper.

In March 1998, the police captured five armed men who stormed the home of former penitentiary chief, Marcelo Guido (6 Mar. 1998). The house in question was also claimed by the brothers Villalta Wehmeyer, heirs of former National Guard Colonel Orlando Villalta Roa, because it had been confiscated in the 1980s under Decrees 3 and 38 (ibid.).

Another La Tribuna report in March 1998 stated that the nephews of former dictator Somoza, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Alejandro Sevilla Somoza and Javier Rivas Somoza, had made a request for bail or pecuniary aid to a Managua judge following a order to have them captured for alleged offences including seizure of private documents (ursurpación de dominio privado), seizure of title and falsification of public documents (usurpación de título y falsificación de documentos públicos) to the detriment of Marvin Antonio Mendoza and of Agroindustrial Montelimar S.A. (17 Mar. 1998). The Somoza family continued to claim property that once belonged to them when they were in power, but the only sign they had received so far from the judicial system was the arrest warrant for the Somoza nephews (ibid.). The nephews stated they were innocent and that their constitutional rights had been violated (ibid.).

Later in March 1998, the Appeals Court of Managua refused to grant the request of legal recourse (recurso de amparo) to Alejandro Sevilla Somoza and Javier Rivas Somoza, who alleged they had been threatened with illegal detention (28 Mar. 1998). The magistrates of the Appeals Court stated that the Somoza nephews' request for legal recourse was not possible because their detention orders were dictated within the confines of the judicial process, were legal, and as a result, the trial against them would continue (ibid.).

No 1999 reports on relatives of former National Guard or former Somoza government officials could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Foreign Wire. 4 December 1996. Jon Mitchell. "Nicaragua's Old Guard Plots its Revenge." http://www.foreignwire.com/aleman.html [Accessed on 15 Dec. 1999]

La Tribuna [Managua]. 28 March 1998. Eloísa Ibarra. "Tribunal niega amparo a familia Somoza." http://www.latribuna.com.ni/cron/1998/28marzo-1998/hoy/ Nacional/ 3.html [Accessed on 16 Dec. 1999]

_____. 17 March 1998. Eloísa Ibarra. "Somozas introducen fianza para evitar ir a la cárcel." http://www.latribuna.com.ni/cron/1998/17marzo-1998/hoy/Nacional/ 4.html [Accessed on 16 Dec. 1999]

_____. 6 March 1998. Mario Sanchez P. "Cuatro detenidos en conflicto de propiedad." http://www.latribuna.com.ni/cron/1998/06marzo-1998/hoy/Nacional/5.html [Accessed on 16 Dec. 1999]

Nicaragua: A Country Study. December 1993. Washington: Library of Congress. http://www.lcweb2.loc.gov [Accessed on 15 Dec. 1999]

El Universal [Caracas]. 31 August 1997. "Los Somoza generan temor en Nicaragua." http://www.el-universal.com/1997/08/31/31108EE.shtml [Accessed on 15 Dec. 1999]

Additional Sources Consulted

Central America NewsPak [Austin]. 1999.

IRB Databases

Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean and Central America Report [London]. 1999.

LEXIS/NEXIS

REFWORLD

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

La Nación [San José]. Search Engine. 1995-1999.

La Prensa [Tugucigalpa]. Search Engine. 1996-1999.

Search Engines including:

Dogpile

Fast Search

Google