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The Constitutionalist Liberal Party is the political successor of the Democratic Party, a faction which has existed since Nicaragua became independent during the 1830s. After being defeated by the Legitimists (future members of the Conservative Party) in a civil war in the 1850s, the Democratic Party returned to power in 1893 under President José Santos Zelaya, who lost power in 1909.
Under pressure from American troops who had occupied Nicaragua, the Democrats lost power the following year, and remained out of power until 1926 when, following another revolt, they forced the Conservatives into a coalition government. Some factions of the Democratic Party, along with some factions of the Conservative Party, supported Anastasio Somoza García, who gained power in the 1930s, defeating another Democratic faction led by Augusto Sandino, who continued fighting after the 1926 coalition agreement. The Democrats and Conservatives were both marginalized by the Somoza family, who formed the Nationalist Liberal Party, and continued to be out of power when the Somozas were overthrown by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in 1979.
In 1968, Ramiro Sacasa Guerro, a relative of the Somozas and education minister, opposed Anastasio Somoza Debayle's re-election bid and formed the Constitutionalist Liberal Movement (MLC) faction within the Nationalist Liberal Party. The formation of this faction, which believed in opposing Somoza by political means instead of through armed struggle, led to Somoza dismissing Sacasa from his position.[4] After the Sandinista victory in 1979, the MLC earned a seat on the Council of State which was founded following the end of Somoza's rule, but that seat was soon revoked following the FSLN's accusations of the MLC's lack of representation. After Sacasa's death in a car accident, the MLC became a political party in 1983, and again gained a seat in the Council of State, occupied by Public Prosecutor Julio Centeno.
The Democratic Party had by this time split into many Liberal groups, many of whom supported the United Nicaraguan Opposition which successfully opposed the Sandinistas in the 1990 elections. By the late 1990s, led by Arnoldo Alemán, most of the Democratic/Liberal groups consolidated to form the Constitutionalist Liberal Party, which was at first known as the Liberal Alliance. In 1996 Alemán won the presidential election and served as president until 2002, while the party won 42 of the 93 seats in the 1996 congressional elections, more than any other party. At the November 2001 elections, the party gained a majority in Congress, winning 47 of 92 seats. The same day, its candidate Enrique Bolaños won the presidential elections.
Though still a strong force in Nicaragua, there have been many disputes within it since 2001 which, by 2006, had caused it to lose its majority in Congress and the presidency. Bolaños broke with the PLC to form the Alliance for the Republic. José Rizo was nominated as the presidential candidate and José Antonio Alvarado was nominated as the vice-presidential candidate for the November 2006 elections. Eduardo Montealegre, another presidential candidate for the elections, was a former member of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party and formed the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance which includes other former PLC members. Montealegre and Rizo were both defeated, as Sandinista Daniel Ortega finished far enough ahead of both of them to avoid a runoff. Rizo came in third place with 26% of the vote. The party came in second place in the congressional elections, winning 25 of 92 seats in the National Assembly.
The party was a member of the Liberal International, but left that organization in 2005.
For the 2011 Nicaraguan general election, the PLC nominated Arnoldo Alemán for president again, who had been acquitted for fraud and corruption charges, after nobody else ran in the party's primaries. Alemán was able to collect 80,000 signatures in support of his candidacy.[5] With Alemán as the PLC's candidate for president, the party went on to have its worst electoral result ever since it started participating in elections in 1990, ending up with slightly under 6% of the votes. In the National Assembly, the party lost 23 seats.
For the 2016 Nicaraguan general election, the party nominated congressman Maximino Rodríguez for the presidency, who distanced himself from former president Alemán. Rodríguez had said that "there were no conditions to hold elections", but ultimately decided to participate in the elections anyway.[6] The party had a better showing in these elections, winning slightly over 15% of the votes.
In the lead-up to the 2021 Nicaraguan general election, the party registered Walter Espinoza as its presidential candidate, following a controversial series of events. Espinoza had been involved with the PLC ever since the 1990s, starting in the party's youth wing. Initially, Espinoza participated in the party's primary elections but later withdrew his nomination. Subsequently, he supported PLC leader María Haydée Osuna in requesting the cancellation of the Citizens for Liberty party's legal status, a move that effectively eliminated Nicaragua's only significant opposition party. This led to the resignation of the PLC's original candidate, Milton Arcia, in protest, after which Espinoza was registered as the new candidate.[7] Espinoza ultimately received over 14% of the votes, in an election that was regarded by international observers as a sham.
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and the 58th president of Nicaragua since January 10, 2007. Previously, he was leader of Nicaragua from July 18, 1979 to April 25, 1990, first as Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from July 19, 1979 to January 10, 1985, and then as the 54th President from January 10, 1985 to April 25, 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. However, in 2022, Ortega resumed repression of the Church, and has imprisoned prelate Rolando José Álvarez Lagos.
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 Christian socialist 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.
Enrique José Bolaños Geyer was a Nicaraguan politician who served as President of Nicaragua from 10 January 2002 to 10 January 2007.
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.
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of Nicaragua founded in January 1985.
The Conservative Party was a conservative political party in Nicaragua. Its slogan was "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 of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was elected president with 38% of the vote, defeating Eduardo Montealegre with 28%, José Rizo with 27%, Edmundo Jarquín with 6%, and Edén Pastora with 0.3%. The FSLN also emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly, winning 38 seats.
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.
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.
General elections were held in Nicaragua on 6 November 2016 to elect the President, the National Assembly and members of the Central American Parliament. Incumbent President Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was re-elected for a third consecutive term amid charges he and the FSLN used their control of state resources to bypass constitutional term limits and hamstring political rivals. The FSLN benefited from strong economic growth and relatively low levels of crime compared to neighbouring countries.
Vilma Núñez de Escorcia is a Nicaraguan lawyer and human-rights activist. Born to a single mother, she developed an early concern for social justice. As an undergraduate studying law at National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in León, she met future senior government officials Carlos Tünnerman and Sergio Ramírez, and became one of the survivors of the 23 July 1959 student massacre by the Somoza National Guard. She joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front around 1975 and in 1979 was imprisoned and tortured by the Somoza regime. She was freed days before the FSLN insurrection succeeded on 19 July 1979. When they took power, she served as vice-president of the Supreme Court of Justice, then as director of the National Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
Victor Hugo Tinoco Fonseca is a Nicaraguan politician and former Sandinista guerilla. He was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs with the Sandinista National Liberation Front, ambassador to the United Nations and a deputy in the National Assembly. In the late 1990s he grew critical of Daniel Ortega and was expelled from the party in 2005, joining the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) instead and later its successor, the Democratic Renewal Union (Unamos) party. In June 2021, he was part of a wave of arrests of opposition figures, including seven aspiring opposition candidates for president in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election.
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.
References
1 2 Tornhill, Sofie (2010). Capital Visions: The Politics of Transnational Production in Nicaragua. Stockholm: Elander. p.12. ISBN978-91-7447-052-9. ISSN0346-6620. A couple of months after Pirates of the Caribbean II had its Managua premiere, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN) won the Nicaraguan national elections after 16 years in opposition, replacing the neoliberal/conservative government of Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (Liberal Constitutionalist Party, PLC).
↑ Paena, Paola (2014). "The Politics of the diffusion of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America". BWPI Working Paper. 201. University of Manchester: 13. ISBN978-1-909336-19-3. The Red de Protección Social was finally implemented in 2000 once the loan from the IADB was approved. President Arnoldo Aleman from the Right-wing Constitutionalist Liberal Party implemented the Red de Protección Social, which is well known as a successful CCT programme.
↑ Tomalin, Emma; Sweetman, Caroline (2011). Gender, Faith, and Development. Practical Action Publishing Ltd. p.115. ISBN978-1-85339-726-4. The legislation was supported by parliamentarians from the two dominant parties, the right-wing Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), both of which were vying for seats in the election and stood to gain needed support by currying favour with the Catholic Church.
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