José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician who has been President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator (1979–1985) of the Junta of National Reconstruction, and then as President of Nicaragua (1985–1990). During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. In later years, Ortega's left-wing radical politics cooled significantly, leading him to pursue pro-business policies and even rapprochement with the Catholic Church. As a part of this, his government adopted strong anti-abortion policies, and his rhetoric took on a new, strongly religious tenor.
Nicaragua is a nation in Central America. It is located about midway between Mexico and Colombia, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. Nicaragua ranges from the Caribbean Sea on the nation's east coast, and the Pacific Ocean bordering the west. Nicaragua also possesses a series of islands and cays located in the Caribbean Sea.
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a left-wing political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s.
The Somoza family is a political family which ruled Nicaragua for forty-three years – from 1936 to 1979. Their family dictatorship, founded by Anastasio Somoza García, was continued by his two sons Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Anastasio Somoza García served as the President of Nicaragua from 1937 until 1956. He was succeeded by his elder son, Luis Somoza Debayle, who held the presidency from 1957 to 1963. The younger Somoza son, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, had two presidential terms: 1967–1972 and 1974–1979. Although the Somozas did not hold the presidency for the full forty-three years, they continued to rule through puppet presidents and via their control of the National Guard.
Enrique José Bolaños Geyer was a Nicaraguan politician who served as President of Nicaragua from 10 January 2002 to 10 January 2007.
José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo is a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 81st president of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002. In 2003, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to a 20-year prison term; the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Nicaragua in 2009.
Herty Lewites Rodríguez was a Nicaraguan politician. He was Mayor of Managua and a candidate for president in the 2006 Nicaraguan general election when he died suddenly.
The Republic of Nicaragua elects on the national level a head of state—the president—and a unicameral legislature. The president of Nicaragua and his or her vice-president are elected on one ballot for a five-year term by the people.
La Prensa is a Nicaraguan newspaper, with offices in the capital Managua. Its current daily circulation is placed at 42,000. Founded in 1926, in 1932 it was bought by Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Zelaya, who had become editor-in-chief. He promoted the Conservative Party of Nicaragua and became a voice of opposition to Juan Bautista Sacasa, for which the paper was censored. He continued to be critical of dictator Anastasio Somoza García, who came to power in a coup d'état.
The Conservative Party was a conservative political party in Nicaragua. Its slogan is “Dios, Orden, Justicia”, often depicted on the three sides of a triangle.
General elections were held in Nicaragua on 5 November 2006. The country's voters went to the polls to elect a new President of the Republic and 90 members of the National Assembly. Daniel Ortega (FSLN) won the election with 37.99% of the vote, Eduardo Montealegre (ALN) trailing with 28.30%, José Rizo (PLC) with 27.1%, Edmundo Jarquín (MRS) with 6.29%, and Edén Pastora (AC) with 0.29%.
Eduardo Montealegre Rivas is a Nicaraguan politician. He ran for president in the 2006 general election as the candidate of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN-PC) a split-off of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) in alliance with other liberal parties and the Conservative Party. He finished in second place after Daniel Ortega, receiving 28.3% of the vote.
The Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance is a political coalition in Nicaragua. It was started in 2005 by Eduardo Montealegre and other members of the Constitutional Liberal Party who opposed former President of the country Arnoldo Alemán's continued control of the PLC even after he had been found guilty of misuse of public funds, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Montealegre also opposed the political alliance, commonly referred to as 'El Pacto', between Alemán as head of the PLC and Daniel Ortega, head of the Sandinist National Liberation Front.
The Independent Liberal Party is a Nicaraguan political party, which separated from Somoza's Nationalist Liberal Party (PLN) in 1944 and took part in the probably fraudulent election of 1947, won by Somoza's favored candidate. The PLI participated in the 1984 election, winning 9.6% of vote for President with its candidate Virgilio Godoy. In 1990 it was part of the National Opposition Union (UNO) - a broad alliance of Sandinista regime opponents - with Virgilio Godoy running as the vice-presidential candidate. UNO won the elections with 54% of the vote. The UNO alliance split in 1993, and in the 1996 elections the PLI, under the candidature of Virgilio Godoy, suffered its worst electoral debacle, receiving only 0.32% of the vote. It joined with Enrique Bolaños' PLC for the 2001 elections, and was part of Montealegre's Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance in the 2006 elections.
The Alliance for the Republic is a centre-right liberal-conservative Nicaraguan political party founded in 2004 by dissident liberals from the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) and the Conservative Party (PC) including Enrique Bolaños, who was President of Nicaragua at the time.
Jaime Rene Morales Carazo is a Nicaraguan politician who was the Vice President of Nicaragua between January 2007 and January 2012.
The Nationalist Liberal Party was a political party in Nicaragua.
General elections were held in Nicaragua on 6 November 2011. The incumbent president Daniel Ortega, won a third term in this election, with a landslide victory.
Convergencia Nacional or the National Convergence alliance was a coalition of a number of Nicaraguan political organizations, formed in support of Daniel Ortega's bid in the presidential election of 2001. Despite losing the presidential election, the FSLN-led alliance made steady gains in the 2004 municipal elections, and Ortega was elected president in 2006. The alliance included Ortega's FSLN, Nationalist Liberal Party, Popular Conservative Alliance, Marxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement, Nicaraguan Christian Democratic Union, as well as the Unidad Social Cristiana PUSC and dissident minority factions of the Sandinista Renovation Movement, Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, Constitutionalist Liberal Party, Nicaraguan Resistance Party and YATAMA. Majority factions of the latter 6 organizations have joined the anti-Ortega coalition Alianza PLC founded in 2008.
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios is a Nicaraguan journalist and politician. He began his career in journalism working at La Prensa, following the 1978 assassination of its editor, his father, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal. Working on the side of the Contras in exile in the 1980s, he returned to the country in 1989 when his mother Violeta Barrios de Chamorro ran for president, and following her election, served as a Nicaraguan ambassador. He later became defense minister. In the 21st century, Chamorro has been a city councilor for Managua and deputy in the National Assembly, also for Managua. On 25 June 2021, he became part of a wave of arrests of opposition and civic figures in Nicaragua.
