Violeta Chamorro

Violeta Chamorro
Chamorro in 1993
55th President of Nicaragua
In office
25 April 1990 – 10 January 1997
Vice President
  • Virgilio Godoy
    (1990–1995)
  • Julia Mena
    (1995–1997)
Preceded byDaniel Ortega
Succeeded byArnoldo Alemán
Member of the Junta of National Reconstruction
In office
17 July 1979 – 19 April 1980
Personal details
Born
Violeta Barrios Torres

(1929-10-18)18 October 1929
Rivas, Nicaragua
Died14 June 2025(2025-06-14) (aged 95)
San José, Costa Rica
Political partyDemocratic Union of Liberation
Other political
affiliations
National Opposition Union
Spouse(s)
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal
(m. 1950; died 1978)
ChildrenPedro, Claudia, Cristiana and Carlos

Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro (18 October 1929 – 14 June 2025) was a Nicaraguan politician. She and was President of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1996.[1] Her husband, Pedro Chamorro, was a newspaper editor. He was assassinated in 1978. She took over as editor of the paper, La Prensa.

Early life

Violeta Barrios Torres was born on 18 October 1929 in Rivas, a small city near the Nicaraguan border with Costa Rica, to Carlos José Barrios Sacasa and Amalia Torres Hurtado.[2][3][4] Her family were rich and conservative.[4]

Presidency

Chamorro ran for president in 1990. When she announced her candidacy, many people and the media thought she could not win because she did not have any experience.[5] She was running against President Daniel Ortega.[6]

On 25 February 1990, Chamorro won the election with a 54.7% of the vote, beating Ortega.[7][8] She became the first elected woman president in the Americas.[9][10] Her victory was seen as an upset victory.[11][12] Ortega accepted the results and peacefully transferred power over to Chamorro.[13]

Two months after the election, on 25 April 1990, Chamorro was sworn into office.[14]

Death

Chamorro died on 14 June 2025 in San José, Costa Rica at the age of 95.[15]

References

  1. "Indigenous Internet Chamber of Commerce". iicoc.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  2. Jalalzai, Farida (28 March 2013). Shattered, Cracked, Or Firmly Intact?: Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-994353-1.
  3. Pallais, María L (March–April 1992). "Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. La reinamadre de la nación" (PDF). Nueva Sociedad (in Spanish) (118). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Fundación Foro Nueva Sociedad: 89–98. ISSN 0251-3552. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Violeta Barrios de Chamorro". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  5. "The Electoral Process Gears Up". Revista Envío. 100. Managua, Nicaragua: Central American University. November 1989. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  6. Wattenberg, Ben (15 February 1990). "Media Piranhas, Where Are You Now?". Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  7. Uhlig, Mark A. (27 February 1990). "Turnover in Nicaragua; Nicaraguan opposition routs Sandinistas; U.S. pledges aid, tied to orderly turnover". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  8. "El legado de doña Violeta" (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: Confidencial. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  9. "The women presidents of Latin America". London, England: BBC. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  10. "Violeta Chamorro, first female president of Nicaragua, who brought peace after years of civil war". Yahoo. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  11. "After the Poll Wars – Explaining the Upset". Revista Envío. March 1990.
  12. Gunson, Phil (15 June 2025). "Violeta Chamorro obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  13. Uhlig, Mark A. (28 February 1990). "Turnover in Nicaragua; Sandinista Leaders, Facing Defeat, Didn't Argue, Carter Says". The New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  14. Pallmeyer, Hannah (18 December 2006). A Surprising Defeat?: Using the Importance of People to Create a Better Understanding of the 1990 Electoral Defeat of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua (PDF) (Thesis). Saint Paul, Minnesota: Macalester College. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  15. "Fallece expresidenta Violeta Barrios de Chamorro". La Prensa (in Spanish). 14 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.

Other websites

Media related to Violeta Chamorro at Wikimedia Commons