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Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (born October 18, 1929) is a Nicaraguan political leader and publisher. She was the forty-eighth President of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1996, and the first (and as of 2006, only) woman to hold that office. Chamorro was the second woman elected in her own right as a head of government in North America (behind Eugenia Charles of Dominica), and the first in Latin America.
Early years She was born in the south-western city of Rivas. In 1952, Chamorro's husband, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, took over the anti-Somoza newspaper La Prensa and was frequently jailed for its content. She took over the newspaper after her husband's assassination on Jan. 10th 1978. *La Prensa participated in the Sandinista-led revolution that overthrew the government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, and Chamorro became a member of the interim Junta of National Reconstruction that replaced Somoza. In April 1980, however, she resigned from the junta, angry over Sandinista power in the government. During the 1980s, Chamorro and La Prensa vigorously attacked Sandinista policies and President Daniel Ortega. In turn, the Sandinistas accused Chamorro of taking money from the United States and thus supporting the US-backed overthrow of the government. La Prensa was also heavily censored by the FSLN during their stay in power. Presidency In 1990, after nearly a decade of Contra warfare and economic sanctions, Chamorro became the presidential candidate of the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO), a coalition of 14 political parties that ran against the Sandinistas in that year's national elections. UNO received 55 percent of the vote, and Chamorro thus defeated Ortega in the presidential election. Although the alliance broke up after the election, Chamorro brought peace to a country that had been divided by war for over 10 years. Obligatory military service was eliminated, the military was reduced to about 25%, thousands of weapons were burnt, and the name of the military was changed. She also liberalized the economy and strengthened political institutions. At the time Chamorro was severely criticized by many who claimed that she was controlled by the Sandinistas, but it was her reconciliatory mindset that led to this misunderstanding. Although Nicaragua still has many political and economic problems today, it is the safest country in Central America thanks to President Chamorro. Chamorro left politics after her term, and now lives a quiet life in her home in Managua. | ||||||||
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