51 Facts About Violeta Chamorro

Violeta Chamorro was the first woman to hold the position of president of Nicaragua.

Violeta Chamorro's husband, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal, was a journalist working at his family's newspaper, La Prensa, which he later inherited.

When he was assassinated in 1978, Violeta Chamorro took over the newspaper.

Violeta Chamorro agreed to become part of the provisional government established under the Junta of National Reconstruction.

However, when the Junta began moving in a more radical direction and signed agreements with the Soviet Union, Violeta Chamorro resigned on 19 April 1980 and returned to the newspaper.

When Daniel Ortega announced that elections would be held in 1990, Violeta Chamorro was selected as the candidate for the opposition group known as the National Opposition Union.

Violeta Chamorro was the first elected female head of state in the Americas.

Violeta Chamorro was the second female to be elected in her own right as a head of government in the Americas, after Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica.

Violeta Chamorro's leadership covered six difficult years marked by economic strife and social unrest, but she was able to compromise with rivals, maintain a constitutional regime, re-establish international banking relationships and end the hyperinflation that had plagued the country for several years.

Violeta Chamorro Barrios Torres was born on 18 October 1929 in Rivas, a small city near the Nicaraguan border with Costa Rica, to Carlos Jose Barrios Sacasa and Amalia Torres Hurtado.

Violeta Chamorro's family was wealthy and conservative, and although she has often been claimed by the US media to be part of the Nicaraguan aristocracy, in truth, her family had large landholdings and cattle; they were more akin to the cattle barons of the western United States than the "Nicaraguan Gloria Vanderbilt" she was sometimes styled as in the American press.

Violeta Chamorro attended primary school at the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus school in Rivas and the French school in Granada.

Violeta Chamorro first attended Our Lady of the Lake Catholic High School for Girls in San Antonio, Texas, and then in 1945 changed to Blackstone College for Girls in Virginia.

In 1952, on his father's death, Violeta Chamorro's husband inherited the newspaper La Prensa.

Violeta Chamorro took over publishing and under his direction, the paper became a voice of opposition to the Somoza regime.

Violeta Chamorro Cardenal was frequently jailed between 1952 and 1957 for the content of the paper and in 1957 led a revolt against Somoza.

Violeta Chamorro's actions resulted in his exile to Costa Rica, where Chamorro joined him after settling their children with his mother.

Violeta Chamorro's life throughout the 1960s and 1970s was a repetitive cycle of reunions with either her husband or children.

Violeta Chamorro followed him; if he was forced to leave, she left the children with family and traveled to be with him; if he was jailed, she was reunited with the children and visited him.

In spite of the conflicting political views of her children, Violeta Chamorro encouraged and hosted family dinners during which she insisted political affiliations were temporarily put aside in the interest of family harmony.

Violeta Chamorro's image became a symbol of their cause and when Daniel Ortega led the Sandinista guerrillas triumphantly into Managua in July 1979, Chamorro was with them.

On 19 April 1980, Violeta Chamorro resigned from the Junta in opposition to the Sandinista's push for control, implementation of a Cuban interpretation of Marx, and failure to keep the commitments made in Puntarenas, Costa Rica for establishment of a democracy.

Violeta Chamorro's exit prompted other members of the Junta to resign and join opposition groups that were beginning to form.

Violeta Chamorro returned to her role as editor of La Prensa, driving it to become both an advocate of free speech and opposition thought.

Violeta Chamorro agreed not only to free elections, but to the monitoring of the process.

Violeta Chamorro was depicted as rich with no real experience.

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

Violeta Chamorro maintained peace by reducing the size and power of the military, ending the national draft, and demobilizing the military.

Violeta Chamorro granted unconditional amnesties for political crimes, resulting in little room for protest from the Sandinistas, and enabling a smooth transition of power.

Violeta Chamorro began a fierce weapon-buying campaign to help eradicate the threat of continuing violence; all the collected weapons were covered in concrete at the Plaza de la Paz, specifically built in downtown Managua to symbolize "Never Again".

Violeta Chamorro allowed the Sandinistas' agrarian reform movement's redistribution of land to be maintained and expanded it on the Caribbean coast to meet veterans' demands.

Unable to solve the problem, Violeta Chamorro dealt with the most egregious claims and turned the issue over to the courts to resolve individual disputes.

Violeta Chamorro claimed the position of Defense Minister and named Humberto Ortega to second-in-command as the Chief of Staff.

Violeta Chamorro appointed three FSLN cabinet members, including one for agrarian reform.

Violeta Chamorro's administration denied Helms' allegations while still trying to comply with his demands.

The aid was cut off and Helms' demands were made the month after Violeta Chamorro withdrew the compensation claims associated with the Nicaragua vs United States verdict.

Violeta Chamorro inherited an economy devastated by civil war and which had been struggling with hyperinflation since 1988.

When Violeta Chamorro took office, she was governing under the Constitution of 1987, which had been drafted by the Sandinistas and provided for a strong executive branch and a weaker, compliant legislature and judiciary.

Violeta Chamorro refused to publish the changes in La Gaceta, stating that the legislature had overstepped its authority.

Violeta Chamorro choreographed a ruling from the Supreme Court which voided the Assembly's publication of the reforms, provoking the Assembly to refuse to acknowledge the Court's authority.

Violeta Chamorro agreed to publish the new constitution, as required by law, and the Assembly agreed to allow the president to continue to negotiate foreign aid and tax measures, though no longer by decree.

Sofia Montenegro, editor of the Sandinistan paper Barricada, and others have argued that Violeta Chamorro would have dealt with past abuse if she could have.

Violeta Chamorro was not a feminist, since her beliefs prevented her from advocating many of the goals of traditional feminism.

Violeta Chamorro was against abortion and questioned cohabitation, contraception and divorce.

Violeta Chamorro did support women's rights to become property holders, and saw such ownership as a protection when divorce or widowhood deprived women of a husband's support.

Violeta Chamorro's administration did not actively prepare or encourage women's participation in political life, nor did she appoint women to governmental positions.

Violeta Chamorro rejected calls to veto the law and sent it for publication in La Gaceta, a legal requirement for a statute to become law.

Violeta Chamorro retired from politics after her presidential term ended in 1997; at the time, the Nicaraguan Constitution did not allow presidents to run for immediate reelection.

Violeta Chamorro joined the Carter Center's Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas Program which works for co-operation and peace throughout the Americas.

Violeta Chamorro suffered from poor health and had several surgeries to correct problems with osteoporosis.

Violeta Chamorro later developed a brain tumor, which has kept her out of public life.