PASTORA GMEZ, EDN

born 1937? byname Zero, or Commander Zero Nicaraguan guerrilla leader and legendary fighter. A military commander of the Sandinista movement, Pastora led the assault on the national palace in Managua on Aug. 22, 1978. Twenty-three men under his command took about 1,000 hostages, about half of them legislators and other government officials, including Jos Somoza Abrego, nephew of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle, and Somoza's cousin, Luis Paillais Debayle. The government capitulated to the insurgents' demands, freeing 59 political prisoners and paying a reputed ransom of $500,000. The guerrillas, including Pastora, were flown to exile in Panama. This episode initiated a period of heightened political strife that resulted in Somoza's departure from the country and the assumption of power by the Sandinista junta on July 20, 1979. Pastora was named deputy interior minister. The junta never allotted Pastora much political power, but because of his enormous popularity with the masses he was prominent in every national celebration. In July 1981 Pastora resigned as vice minister of defense and voluntarily exiled himself. He later condemned the junta that he had helped to power for its repressiveness and failure to live up to its ideals and founded an insurgent group, which eventually disbanded because of Pastora's refusal to join the U.S.-supported rebels.