21 Facts About Herty Lewites

Herty Lewites Rodriguez was a Nicaraguan politician.

Herty Lewites was Mayor of Managua and a candidate for president in the 2006 Nicaraguan general election when he died suddenly.

In Nicaragua his father owned the only gas station in town, Texaco, and two friends Herty Lewites met at the gas station became pivotal in forming his commitment to fight the Somoza dictatorship: during the April 1954 rebellion, Herty Lewites, then 15, was shocked by the murders of his friends Pablo Leal and Adolfo Baez Bone by the Somoza National Guard.

Herty Lewites joined the struggle against the Somoza dictatorship in 1958 and went into exile in Brazil in 1960 with his father following Lewites' participation in the military action taking of the Jinotepe and Diriamba headquarters.

Later Herty Lewites went to El Salvador, Mexico and Cuba, and in 1969 he joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

Herty Lewites helped form the Group of 12, a group of major Nicaraguan establishment figures who agreed to show public support for the Sandinistas, lending legitimacy to the FSLN.

Herty Lewites was twice married, first to Edda Maria Lacayo, with whom he had a son and later to Carmen Garcia, who was his secretary at the Ministry of Tourism.

Herty Lewites left his first wife and had a daughter with Garcia.

Herty Lewites was elected to Congress on the FSLN ticket in 1990, the year Daniel Ortega lost the presidency.

Herty Lewites aligned himself with Sergio Ramirez's Sandinista Renewal Movement against the faction of Secretary General Ortega in 1994.

Herty Lewites ran for mayor of Managua, the capital, in 1996 on his own "Sol" ticket, splitting the Sandinista vote to throw the election to the Liberal candidate.

Meanwhile, Herty Lewites removed corrupt members of the Ortega and Arce factions from positions in the Managua municipality.

Herty Lewites attempted to challenge Daniel Ortega for the 2006 FSLN presidential nomination, but was expelled from the FSLN in February 2005.

Herty Lewites joined forces with the dissident MRS Party as their Presidential candidate for the 2006 election.

Herty Lewites chose Edmundo Jarquin as his running mate for the vice presidency.

On July 2,2006, it was reported that Herty Lewites died of a massive heart attack at the Hospital Metropolitano "Vivian Pellas" in Managua, aged 66, four months prior to the 2006 national elections.

Some of Herty Lewites supporters suspected he was poisoned by Ortega.

Herty Lewites's wife did not ask the doctor for autopsy to identify the cause of his death and later remained silent to the press.

Herty Lewites was polling in third place before dying, trailing very closely behind Ortega and Eduardo Montealegre.

Herty Lewites was buried in his native city of Jinotepe three days after he died.

Herty Lewites's burial counted with the presence of: the president of the republic, cabinet members, diplomatic representatives, artists, politicians and entrepreneurs.