Word: ramirez
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...This is a polite revolution" With those words Sergio Ramirez Mercado, soft-spoken leader of Nicaragua's revolutionary junta, summed up all the changes in his nation since the overthrow of Dictator Anastasio ("Tacho") Somoza Debayle five weeks ago. Polite has meant, above all, merciful. After 46 years of stifling one-man rule, the pervading atmosphere of fear is gone. There has been no reprisal by the victors; not a single member of Somoza's national guard has been executed, though its members killed thousands during the revolt. Despite predictions to the contrary, the unity of diverse political...
...every friend in my telephone book until I had a staff," one harried official told TIME Correspondent Roberto Suro. To ensure that the bureaucracy does not fall back into the predatory pattern of the past, the junta enacted a tough anticorruption law that provides hefty fines for malfeasance. Says Ramirez: "A government official today can stick his foot in his mouth, but not his hand in the cookie...
...only organized armed force in the country and by far the dominant political faction, the F.S.L.N. has refrained from stacking the new government with its own adherents. From the junta down, each body has included not only leftists but also representatives of such moderate groups as Ramirez's Broad Opposition Front and the probusiness Superior Council for Private Enterprise. The unlikely coalition of moderates and leftists could well split if businessmen grow disenchanted with the socialist policies advocated by the Sandinistas. Surprisingly, the first serious threat came from the extreme left. Dissatisfied with the government's plans...
...will become the country's only effective force for maintaining law-and-order, looked on. Whether Nicaragua's revolution proves to be a moderate one or a reproduction of Castro's coup depends in large measure on the emerging leader of the new provisional government, Sergio Ramirez Mercado...
Word of Somoza's resignation reached San José at 2:15 a.m. last Tuesday. It was a cause of quiet celebration for the junta, four of whose five members had gathered at the home of Sergio Ramirez Mercado to await the news. With victory seemingly at hand, Nicaragua's new leaders prepared to board two private planes provided by the Costa Rican government. Their triumphant entry into Managua, they announced, would take place "within 24 hours." But that...