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 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro
President, Nicaragua, 1990-1996
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was the first and only female president of
Nicaragua, and the first Latin American woman elected to office in a democratic
election. Chamorro was involved in the Sandinista revolution in 1979, and after
nearly a decade of civil war and economic sanctions, Chamorro was chosen as
the presidential candidate of the National Opposition Union, a coalition that ran
against and defeated the Sandinistas and then-President, Daniel Ortega.
Although the alliance broke up after the election, Chamorro brought peace to
Nicaragua, worked to strengthen political institutions, and instituted a number of
military and economic reforms. After her term ended, Chamorro left politics and
now lives at home in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua.
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