Latin America: Meet the Press

When portly George P. Shaw, the new U.S. ambassador, deplaned in Managua last month, Nicaraguan reporters pounced on him for a statement. “Glad to be here,” breezed Shaw in safe diplomatic language. Then he turned to an aide, boasted: “Well, I guess I’m going to get along all right with the Nicaraguan press.”

At his first press conference, a few days later, Shaw learned that it was not going to be that simple. This time newsmen peppered him with hot questions about Nicaragua’s explosive political situation. Questions like that, snapped Shaw, were out of bounds. Next morning the Managua press let him have it. “Former U.S. ambassadors used to turn away our questions with a smile,” wrote one correspondent. “Shaw does it with austerity.”

Angry Ambassador Shaw charged over to Dictator Anastasio (“Tacho”) Somoza’s palace to demand that the press be scolded for such rudeness. Last week, gossips in Managua (and Washington, too) were telling how, when Shaw left, Somoza had leaned back in his chair and roared with laughter. “Well,” boomed Tacho, “I guess we won’t have a free press in Nicaragua any more. The U.S. ambassador won’t permit it.”