NICARAGUA: In Memoriam

The talk of Nicaragua last week was a poem. Honoring the memory of assassinated Dictator Anastasio (“Tacho”) Somoza—and reminding Nicaraguans that his dynasty continues in his sons—the government newspaper Novedades offered $140 for the best verse of homage to the dead President. The winning entry was 14 lines of flowery verse (“Renowned paladin and cavalier/Glory of America!”). Managua’s citizens, by and large, read it glumly, but here and there a face lit up with malicious appreciation. Novedades’ editors ran the poem (which was signed with a pen name) for several days—until they, too, noticed that the first letters of the 14 lines spelled out the name of Tacho’s assassin: Rigoberto Lopez.