ABSTRACT
Morale- and loyalty-building policies included the creation of an air force and a navy in 1938. Thus nepotism provided the dictator with loyal commanders and trustworthy spies in key places, while establishing the foundations of the dynasty. One means of enhancing the loyalty and effectiveness of the National Guard was to cater to its institutional interests. The negative face of Anastasio Somoza's Garcia control over the National Guard involved management techniques that stimulated servile loyalty through fear but undermined professionalism. The National Guard became both the extension of the tyrant's own personality and a microcosm of Nicaraguan society—corrupted and repressed, an accomplice in the crimes of the regime. During the regime of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, the Nicaraguan economy passed through two distinct cycles that vastly affected the distribution of wealth, the class system, and the fortunes of the regime. Under the regime of Somoza Garcia, Nicaragua's old political-economic factions and their parties continued to deteriorate.
